Also called: Army 68M, Military Diet Technician
Helps Army dietitians plan and prepare special diets for patients in military hospitals and teaches soldiers about fueling for performance.
Specialists build patient menus for diabetic, heart or tube-fed patients, prep and check meals in hospital kitchens, and record what patients eat. In the field they help plan feeding for units and teach soldiers about nutrition for fitness tests.
Regular military compensation (RMC = base pay + housing and food allowances + their tax advantage) for typical E-1 to E-6 ranks, 2026 estimate. Junior troops often live in free barracks, so cash in hand is lower early on.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
High school diploma, about 0.5 years after high school. High school diploma, Army basic training, then about 9 weeks of nutrition care training at Fort Sam Houston. Free-college benefits: Tuition Assistance (up to $4,500/yr) while serving, the Post-9/11 GI Bill (36 months of tuition + housing stipend) afterward, and SkillBridge internships before separating.
Ways in: Military, On-the-job training. Training cost: Get paid while you train.
Majors to look at: Nutrition and Dietetics, Food Science.
Growing about average. Military specialties are not in BLS projections. The services recruit for this job every year and openings track force size and retention rather than market growth.
Medium risk for 10 years. Software builds menus; checking patients and hands-on food prep stay human.
Classes: Health, Culinary arts, Biology.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.