Military Security & Law Enforcement

Military police, special agents, dog handlers, embassy guards, and nuclear security troops, plus the civilian federal police who protect defense sites.

Top pay: highest pay, longest training

• Military Police Officer: Officer who leads military police, security forces, and corrections units. Typical pay $122k.
• AFOSI / Army CID Special Agent (Officer & Warrant): Federal law enforcement agent in uniform or plain clothes who investigates major crimes, fraud, and espionage in the military. Typical pay $122k.
• NCIS Special Agent: Civilian federal agent who investigates felonies, terrorism, and espionage involving the Navy and Marine Corps. Typical pay $115k.
• Coast Guard Investigative Service Special Agent: Federal agent who investigates crimes involving the Coast Guard and at sea, from drug smuggling to murder on ships. Typical pay $120k.

Mid pay: solid pay, degree or apprenticeship

• Army CID Special Agent (Enlisted): Enlisted criminal investigator who handles serious crimes on Army installations worldwide. Typical pay $70k.
• Military Working Dog Handler: Partners with a trained dog to detect explosives or drugs, track suspects, and patrol. Typical pay $70k.
• Marine Security Guard (Embassy Duty): Marine assigned to protect U.S. embassies and classified information around the world. Typical pay $70k.
• Military Working Dog Trainer: Trains the dogs and new handlers in the Defense Department's working dog program. Typical pay $62k.
• Military Police: Enforces laws and protects people and property on military bases and in combat zones. Typical pay $62k.
• Master-at-Arms: Navy police and security specialist who protects ships, bases, and ports and enforces laws. Typical pay $62k.
• Corrections Specialist: Supervises prisoners in military prisons and detention facilities. Typical pay $62k.
• Missile Field Security Forces: Air Force security troops who guard ICBM launch facilities and nuclear weapons across the Great Plains. Typical pay $62k.
• Coastal Riverine Force Sailor: Navy sailor who drives fast patrol boats to protect ports, ships, and rivers from attack. Typical pay $62k.
• Pentagon Police Officer: Civilian federal police officer who protects the Pentagon and other Defense Department buildings. Typical pay $80k.
• Army Protective Services Special Agent: Army CID agents who protect the Secretary of Defense, top generals, and visiting dignitaries. Typical pay $75k.
• Phoenix Raven (Aircraft Security): Specially trained Security Forces airmen who fly with cargo aircraft to guard them at dangerous airfields worldwide. Typical pay $62k.
• Military Customs Inspector: Inspects cargo, vehicles, and personal gear returning to the U.S. from deployments to stop contraband and pests. Typical pay $62k.
• Antiterrorism / Force Protection Officer: Plans how a military base defends against terrorist attacks, from gate barriers to active-shooter drills. Typical pay $95k.
• Combat Arms Instructor: Runs Air Force firing ranges, teaching airmen to shoot rifles and pistols safely and repairing the base's weapons. Typical pay $62k.

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.