Marine Corps seeks troops with small drone and AI expertise for warfighting lab fellowship
The Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory is looking for Marines with expertise in small unmanned aerial systems and artificial intelligence to join the organization’s fiscal 2026 fellowship program.
The solicitation for nominations, released Friday via a MARADMIN message, comes as the Corps is trying to ramp up its drone arsenal and AI prowess and integrate those types of capabilities across the enterprise.
The service aims to expand its first-person view UAS capabilities this year by purchasing 10,000 new platforms and increasing the number of Marines who are trained on them.
Troops have even been developing their own 3D-printed drones.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has made “drone dominance” a top priority for the Pentagon, with the aim of proliferating small UAS across the military. The first “Gauntlet” competition among contractors for that effort is slated to begin later this month.
Activities at the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab in Quantico, Virginia, play a key role in informing future force design, development and the requirements process.
“Fellows will participate across the lab, functioning in roles as diverse as science and technology development; live-force experimentation; and wargaming development. As a result, fellows will gain valuable insight on the development of future concepts; the development and employment of future technologies; develop skills necessary for conducting live-force experimentation, exercise planning, and adjudication; and develop better understanding and insight into the development and construct of wargames in support of lab activities. These activities are invaluable tools for the warfighter by enhancing personal and professional development,” officials wrote in the new solicitation.
For the science and technology division, the lab is seeking small UAS operators with a 7316 military occupational specialty at the rank of E4/E7; small UAS specialists with an 8623 MOS at the rank of E5/E6; and hospital corpsman with an 8404 MOS at the rank of E4/E6.
Marines with degrees or certifications in AI, data science, or weapons robotics/controls engineering are also “strongly encouraged” to apply, regardless of their rank or MOS, the message noted.
For last year’s fellowship program, the Corps did not include a call for Marines with those small UAS specialties.
For the the lab’s experiments division, officials overseeing the fiscal 2026 program are looking for network administrators, aviation radar technicians, tactical systems administrators, tactical air defense technicians, and hospital corpsman.
For fellowships with the modeling and simulations division, the lab wants reconnaissance Marines and M&S experts.
“MCWL fellows contribute to the lab’s assessments and recommendations by providing their technical MOS expertise and operational experience in observation, analysis, and reporting along MCWL’s lines of effort. Fellows will participate in the planning, execution, and reporting of activities associated with each Division’s area of responsibility. In short, the fellowship provides Marines the opportunity to be a part of shaping the future of the Marine Corps,” officials wrote in the solicitation.
The message, which was approved by Lt. Gen. Eric Austin, the deputy commandant for combat development and integration, is applicable to the total force, the document noted.
