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Seems the Marines have decided to update their marksmanship training due to a large study done on the subject. Sounds like though they have over 80% of the Corps qualifying as “Expert” on static ranges, they want more real-world skillsets to come out of training. Complacency seems to be the watchword – with so many qualifying as “expert”, why fix what ain’t broke?<\/p>\n
Several shooting challenges were isolated as pain points for the Marine Corps, including shooting at night, hitting moving targets, and leading targets, or aiming in front of a target so the bullet trajectory intersects with the target\u2019s travel path, according to multiple sources who reviewed the full Marine Corps Rifle Marksmanship Lethality Capabilities-Based Assessment report.<\/p>\n
The service rolled out a new rifle qualification program in 2021<\/a> that required Marines to wear combat gear, hit moving targets and fire on targets in sequence. It was challenging enough that the Corps this year changed policy<\/a> to give more Marines a chance to shoot expert if they missed it the first time.<\/p>\n
The new ASALTs (advanced small arms lethality trainers, ed.), however, will give Marines a chance to train regularly on scenarios too complex or dangerous to execute on a range, such as \u201cshoot\/don\u2019t-shoot\u201d dilemmas and high-pressure, rapidly changing decision-making drills that introduce more of the stressors of combat.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t train that at scale [on a range],\u201d Hamilton said.\u00a0 Marine Times<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Space constraints dictate “read the linked article” .\u00a0 It’s interesting.<\/p>\n
And, on what I would have to call the down side – December 15 the Marines graduated the last 8 students from Scout Sniper school.<\/p>\n
The graduation marks the end of a long era that stretches back as far as World War I, when the Marine Corps first used scout snipers, according to retired Master Sgt. Tim Parkhurst, CEO of the USMC Scout Sniper Association.<\/p>\n
In February, the Marine Corps announced it was cutting infantry battalions\u2019 scout sniper platoons and replacing them with scout platoons specifically focused on reconnaissance.<\/p>\n
The decision kicked up controversy in the scout sniper community.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been fairly widely recognized as one of the most cost-effective, force-multiplying assets on the battlefield for many, many decades,\u201d Parkhurst said.<\/p>\n
But scout snipers have been met with a lack of top-down leadership and oversight for decades, according to Parkhurst, who noted he wasn\u2019t speaking for the USMC Scout Sniper Association. If scout snipers needed to get better at the \u201cscout\u201d aspect of their job, the Marine Corps should have provided more specific guidance to them along those lines, the veteran said.\u00a0 Marine Times II<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Hmmm – don’t work with the units to train them with a combat capability, then redefine their mission because they haven’t been trained. Some how this seems to echo the Air Force’s de-emphasis on CAS, doesn’t it?<\/p>\n
No matter what, scout snipers were known as bada$$\u00a0\u00a0 MFers throughout the military, and I hate to see an 80 year tradition trashed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"