by Tom Clancy
Following OCS, officers go through another training course at Quantico called the Basic School. Here they learn the skills needed to run a rifle platoon. This training includes not only weapons and tactical instruction, but lessons in the inevitable supervisory and paperwork skills necessary to keep any bureaucracy running. Infantry officers must complete Camp Lejeune's twenty-six-week School of Infantry as well. From there, they head out into the Corps to their MOS schools and their first assignments. Like the enlisted Marines they will lead, there is one common thread: Whatever their primary specialty (pilot, logistics officer, etc.), they are all riflemen first. They are all capable of fighting on the ground. This makes the USMC different from any other U.S. military service. It is also why the national leadership trusts Marines above any other military force to get a tough job done. You can trust Marines!
A pair of Marine officer candidates transit the "Quigly" stream at Quantico, VA. This course is designed to train Marine officers how to transit water obstacles silently and still keep their weapons dry and ready to fire.
JOHN D. GRESHAM
Taking young men and women and turning them into Marines is hard work, and General Krulak would tell you that the Corps only entrusts such work to its best members. From the recruiters like Gunny Hazzard at the Fairfax Station, to Series Commanders like Captain Whitney Mason at Parris Island, to the instructors at the Basic Warrior School, the process of building new Marines is the toughest job you can imagine. It goes on and on, and the process cannot be allowed to end, lest the very survival of the Corps be put into jeopardy. It remains in good hands.
When I was visiting the Fairfax recruiting office, Gunny Hazzard showed me a special corner. On a crowded bulletin board were dozens of letters, snapshots, and postcards from some of the young Marines he and the other recruiters had sent to Parris Island. Every letter I saw was a message of deep, personal gratitude from the new Marine, thanking the recruiter for showing the path to a new life. This is the payoff for a recruiter who has had too many rejections and not enough commitments. Or, as Gunny Hazzard likes to point out, this is what the Corps is all about — finding young people and showing them a path to a life of service and honor.
Small Arms
THIS IS MY RIFLE. There are many like it but this one is mine. My rifle is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I master my life.
My rifle, without me, is useless. Without my rifle, I am useless. I must fire my rifle true. I must shoot straighter than any enemy who is trying to kill me. I must shoot him before he shoots me. I will….
My rifle and myself know that what counts in this war is not the rounds we fire, the noise of our burst, nor the smoke we make. We know that it is the hits that count. We will hit….
My rifle is human, even as I, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn its weakness, its strength, its parts, its accessories, its sights, and its barrel. I will keep my rifle clean and ready, even as I am clean and ready. We will become part of each other. We will….
Before God I swear this creed. My rifle and myself are the defenders of my country. We are the masters of our enemy. We are the saviors of my life.
So be it, until victory is America's and there is no enemy, but Peace.
— My Rifle: The Creed of a United States Marine, by Major General William H. Rupertus, USMC
The ethos of the Marine Corps is not found in the technology of its weapons, but in the character and morale of the individual Marine with a rifle in the presence of an enemy. Back in the 1970s, when the Marines were still short on the new anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs), there was a Marine officer training a class on anti-armor tactics. When the instructor was asked what weapon was best against heavy enemy armored vehicles, he showed a slide of the Marine Corps emblem, saying, "Gentlemen, this is your best weapon." Just being Marines was their best weapon. Themselves.
While better equipped than a quarter century ago, today's Marine Corps is still taking young men and women and making each one into a lethal fighter. Marines are also taught that they are likely to find themselves thinking and acting on their own in situations requiring great responsibility-operating alone, making decisions, and taking actions that represent American policy. A recent recruiting poster showed a Marine sniper and his rifle in full camouflage, with the words "Smart Weapon."
The Corps ideal. A Marine on exercise at Camp Lejeune, holding a position with his M 16A2 combat rifle. The USMC still values the individual Marine with their personal weapons as their basic building block.
JOHN D. GRESHAM
Tribal Elders: The USMC Weapons Training Battalion
We're going to spend some time telling you about the weapons that Marines carry into battle. We'll visit an outfit dedicated to the idea that, even in a world full of laser-guided bombs and missiles, there is still a need for one well-aimed shot from a weapon held by human hands. The place is the Marine Corps Base at Quantico, Virginia, and the unit is the Marine Corps Weapons Training Battalion. On the Quantico reservation, inland from Interstate 95, stands a small cluster of buildings, mostly of World War II vintage. This is the home of the Weapons Training Battalion, the U.S. Marine Corps' premier shooting unit. Established in 1952 after the nightmare of the Korean War proved how much the Marine Corps needed to hone its shooting skills, the battalion operates sixteen different shooting ranges, classroom facilities, an ammunition loading and packing plant, and a complete gunsmithing and machine shop. Here the Corps trains the best shooters in the U.S. military, while maintaining a capability to build and maintain customized firearms. If you are a gun enthusiast like me, this is Firearms Heaven.
Colonel Mick Nance commands the Weapons Battalion. He will tell you that he has one of the best jobs in the Corps. Backing him up is Sergeant Major F.W. Fenwick, command NCO for the battalion. The unit is the Corps' repository of corporate knowledge on the subject of shooting all kinds of portable weapons and using explosives as breaching tools. Preserving and improving the shooting skills of the Corps is no small job, and Colonel Nance's Marines work hard. Some of their missions include the following. They:
• Write and maintain all the training courses for marksmanship and small-arms training in the USMC.
• Run the Marine Marksmanship Training Program and supervise the Common Skills Qualification Data Base across the Corps.
• Train every Marine officer candidate from the officer's school (on the other side of the Quantico base) in marksmanship. Both men and women come to the Weapons Training Battalion in mixed companies to master weapons skills.
• Train and qualify Marine personnel in several Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) codes related to marksmanship and small arms.
• Participate in operational testing and evaluation of all new small arms, ammunition, and breaching and demolition systems fielded by the Corps.
• Assist in training and arming Marine Corps rifle and pistol competition shooting teams.
• Run an ammunition load and pack facility. Every year, this facility loads over 100,000 rounds of ammunition for the Marine shooting teams.
• Develop specialized weapons, demolition, and breaching tools for unique Marine applications.
• Manufacture, modify, issue, and maintain a variety of Marine Corps firearms, including the M1911 .45-caliber MEU (SOC) pistol.
• Conduct the "High Risk Personnel" anti-terrorism course for diplomats and other personnel assigned to overseas posts.
• Maintain weapons and ammunition storage for the FBI, CIA, DEA, and other agencies that utilize the Quantico range complex.
The Weapons Training Battalion has an impressive cadre of trained and experienced personnel. Like the elders of a tribe, the men and women of the battalion have a broad and deep base of practical knowledge, whether acquired in the classroom, at the workbench, or on the battlefield.
Consider the training of rifle marksmanship for new officers at Quantico. The course looks like this:
Marine instructor
s on the "High Risk" training course at Quantico, VA. This course is designed to teach diplomats and other high-risk personnel defensive field techniques.
JOHN D. GRESHAM
Phase I— Familiarization: Officer candidates are introduced to the M 16A2 combat rifle, with particular emphasis on cleaning, maintenance, and aligning the sights (called "zeroing" the sights). The classroom basics of shooting are taught, as well as some practice in shooting house simulators, which use modified weapons firing compressed gas.
Phase II— Known Range Firing: This is actual range training and qualification at known ranges in a variety of postures, with fixed (stationary) targets. During this phase, the proper grips on the weapon, use of the sights, and compensation for crosswind, elevation, and weather are taught and certified.
Phase III— Unknown Range Firing ("Ironman") Training: This is the really hard part of the training, with firing against moving targets at unknown ranges. The officer candidate must rapidly assess the range and crossing rate of a pop-up target. Each candidate is given two magazines, with a total of thirty-five rounds, and twenty-nine targets to hit. A score of twenty-five out of thirty-five is considered good; sixteen is poor.
By teaching basic concepts, mixing in a dash of simulated skills training (Phase I), building upon these with actual dynamic training (Phase II), and then testing in a real-world context (Phase III), the Marines produce a rifle combatant who can take and hold a position, and make an enemy think twice about trying to take it back.
The Marines of the battalion pass along the hard-earned knowledge that goes with their trade to the new generations on the way up in the Corps. Some of the courses (designated by MOS numbers) that they run include:
A Marine with an instructor on the Quantico rifle range. This new range uses computer-controlled targets to teach combat shooting skills.
JOHN D. GRESHAM
• MOS 8531—Rifle Range Coach/Instructor: This course qualifies an enlisted Marine to safely run a firearms range and to teach the current doctrine and skills to recruits or officer candidates.
• MOS 8532-Small Arms Weapons Instructor: An advanced version of the 8531 course, it emphasizes additional skills and concepts over a wider range of weapons and environments, particularly follow-up and proficiency training. Each MEU (SOC) would likely have one or more of these instructors.
• MOS 9925—Range Officer: Assigned to supervise and manage the official training and shooting ranges of the Corps. Only thirty-two Marines can hold this designation at one time.
• MOS 0306-Infantry Weapons Officer: The officer version of the 8532 course. A MEU (SOC) or regiment would likely have one such officer assigned.
• MOS 8541-Scout/Sniper: This is the famous eight-week course that turns a Marine into the most deadly shooter in the U.S. arsenal, an 8541 Scout/Sniper. With a 40 % dropout rate, it is one of the toughest courses in the U.S. military. Once a Marine completes this course, he is qualified to be assigned to a Scout/Sniper platoon in a MEU (SOC) or other unit.
• MOS 8542—Advanced Scout/Sniper: This five week follow-up to the 8541 course teaches more advanced leadership, tracking, navigation, shooting, and weapons skills.
• MOS 2112-Gunsmith: This is, perhaps, the most traditional course in the Weapons Training Battalion curriculum. It is designed to make a Marine into a completely qualified machinist and gunsmith. You would likely find a 2112 in every MEU (SOC), regiment, or major training base in the Corps. More than a course, it is a virtual apprenticeship. The first six months are spent teaching trainees to build their own tools and jigs. After that, they learn everything from welding broken parts to turning blanks into rifle barrels.
Marines are not limited to taking and qualifying on just one of the MOS courses listed above. During an enlisted Marine's career he may qualify for many MOS codes, not unlike the way a Boy Scout collects merit badges on the way to Eagle Scout rank. The Corps values weapons skills, and encourages Marines to master them, ensuring that individual marksmanship will continue to be a living part of the Marine ethos.
The Weapons Training Battalion is both an armory and a schoolhouse. Yet the battalion is not just sitting on its laurels. Innovations during the past year included moving targets on the qualification courses at Quantico, firing from inside nuclear/chemical/biological (NCB) suits, and a new night combat syllabus. Colonel Nance and his Marines are looking forward to the 21st century. In the next ten years, they expect to specify, test, field, and train a new combat rifle, a new combat shotgun, ammunition, and other systems.
Firearms
A Roman centurion evaluated his legionaires by their proficiency with sword and javelin. Genghis Khan judged his Mongol warriors by their skill at archery from horseback. Air Force pilots judge one another according to the quality of their "hands" on the stick. Among Navy aviators flying skills are judged by how well a pilot can "trap" during carrier landings. Every Marine is a rifleman, and the measure of a rifleman is marksmanship — the ability to cause a weapon to project a metal pellet across a volume of space so that it strikes a target with precision. I happen to like this way of sizing people up, because it is a skill that no one is born with. Shooting skills have to be learned. Unlike baseball or other sports which use the same innate reflexes as throwing rocks or swinging branches, there is no natural equivalent to shooting a firearm. Doing it well requires speed and precision — as well as stress and risk — greater than nature could ever evolve. Shooting skills are also gender-independent. The upper body strength required to shoot well is minimal. Despite the cultural traditions and legal barriers that restrict them from combat, women can learn to shoot just as well as men. Some of the top-scoring Russian snipers of World War II were women, and women compete equally with men in a number of Olympic shooting events.
Within the Marine Corps, the ability to put metal onto a target is taught as a common skill. Every officer and enlisted Marine who graduates from the OCS or the Basic School learns to fire and qualify on a variety of firearms. Without an acceptable level of marksmanship, they cannot graduate, or for that matter, stay in the Corps. This emphasis on shooting benefits the Corps in many ways, both obvious and hidden. Most evident is the reluctance of our enemies to face Marines in combat. Before the first shots of the 1991 Gulf War were even fired, many Iraqi soldiers expected to be annihilated by the Marines facing them, so they surrendered when the ground war began. More practically, Marines who can accurately deliver aimed fire will use less ammunition, reducing the load on hard-pressed combat logistical systems.
What follows is a look at Marine small arms today and tomorrow. We'll explore the heavier stuff later, but first we will learn about the weapons that define "Marine."
M16A2 Combat Rifle
The M 16A2 rifle is the standard weapon in Marine combat units. Basic marksmanship skills are established and evaluated with this rifle; and every Marine in the Corps, from the newest Private to the Commandant, can fire the M16A2 with precision. The M16 had its origin in German assault rifles, like the MP44, developed during World War II. The MP44 combined the precision of a semi-automatic bolt-action rifle with the firepower of a fully automatic submachine gun or machine pistol. The assault rifle allowed troops to lay down a heavy volume of fire with good accuracy and still have the mobility of light infantry.
Following the war, many armies developed their own assault rifles (today called combat rifles), but with mixed results. The Russian AK-47, designed by Mikhail Kalashnikov, set the pattern for the modern combat rifle. Designed for cheap mass production, the AK-47 could fire semi-automatic (single-shot) or full-automatic (pull the trigger and get a stream of bullets). Because it was simple and rugged and easy to obtain, it became the symbol of Third World "popular liberation" movements during the Cold War. Western armies lagged behind Russia in combat rifle design during the 1950s, but began to catch up in the 1960s. Belgium's Fabrique Nationale (FN) and Germany's Heckler & Koch (H&K) produced 7.62mm combat rifles on the AK-47 model, but the United States still lagged.
Because the U.S. Army had sunk a huge amount of money into a new semi-automatic rifle, the 7.62mm M 14, the Army rejected an experimental FN-type weapon, the T-48. The M 14 could be readily assembled by the same plants that built the Garand M-1 during World War II while the T-48 would have required massive industrial retooling.
A 26th MEU (SOC) Marine test-fires an M16A2 combat rifle in the hangar bay of the USS Wasp (LHD-1). He is wearing the new AN/PVS-7B night-vision-goggle system, and the PAC-4C night-spotting system is attached to the top of the rifle's barrel.