The Perfect Soldier: Special Operations, Commandos, and the Future of Us Warfare by James F. Dunnigan
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Dirty Little Secrets
Marines Raise Combat Training Standards
by James Dunnigan
November 18, 2005
Discussion Board on this DLS topic
The U.S. Marine Corps is raising the training standards for its personnel,
by making it mandatory that everyone go through a more intensive weapons
training program each year. Until recently, every marine had to pass a pretty
basic shooting test each year. Now everyone will get a test similar to the one
every recruit has to pass in boot camp. This includes shooting in combat type
situations. Failure to meet minimum qualifications in this weapons test can get
you booted out of the marines.
The marines are tightening up combat skills training for the same reason the
army, and even the air force, have been doing so. Experience in Afghanistan and
Iraq has made it clear that during wars against irregulars and terrorists,
everyone in uniform may find themselves in combat situations. The army was the
first to get caught by lack of preparedness in this area. Army support troops
had let their combat training slide over the last decade. Thus army support
troops often found themselves fatally unprepared when they ran into a combat
situations over the last few years. Marine support personnel had far fewer
problems in this area, as the marines always maintained higher combat training
standards for non-combat troops. But the new rifle training routine is intended
to raise those combat skill levels even higher.
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