This 3-phase study was conducted to: (1) ascertain the essential education, training, and classification characteristics of marine technicians and technologists, (2) suggest their implications to educators, oceanographers, and labor administrators, and (3) develop a taxonomical schema for classifying these personnel. The methodology included direct observations at sea, extensive interviews with scientists, technicians and technical educators, and the testing of two hypotheses. Statistical tests included the Pearson r for determining the significance of correlation among marine scientists and oceanographers as to how they classified marine technical personnel, and the Sign test on selected personnel characteristics. A 5-level hierarchy was described for marine technical personnel. (Author/JS)