"Rogers said MARSOC candidates are screened and recruited, then are assessed based on a course they take.

Beginning in fiscal year 2008, selected Marines will take an individual training course beyond the initial course, he added.

The first phase of the course will run for about 65 days and include training and education in combat medicine, communication, fire support, special reconnaissance, planning, weapons and tactics and survival, escape, resistance and evasion procedures, Rogers told ITP.

Lasting about 44 days, the second phase will involve ?further training and practical application in training, communication, special reconnaissance, weapons/tactics,? he said. This stage calls for two weeks of training in direct action.

Moreover, the third phase will focus on foreign internal defense, followed by training in information operations, advanced special operations, unconventional warfare, further planning and culminate in a 14-day exercise.

The final stage is comprised of 50 training days and will instruct Marines in language (about 300 hours) and culture training, as well as several days of sustainment training in the areas addressed during steps one through three, he said.

Marines will graduate during this phase.

The course will credential a Marine like a Navy SEAL or a U.S. Army Special Forces soldier, Rogers said.

To that end, the longer training and indoctrination period offers Marines ?the appreciation of independent operation, maturity, teamwork, specialized skills, language, culture -- so they can operate fluidly on their own when assigned these special operations missions around the world.?

This year will also see MARSOC extend tours for its troops to five years, said the command?s chief of staff, explaining that the tour length refers to the period a Marine assigned to an operational unit will remain with MARSOC before moving on to another position elsewhere.

?The purpose of a five-year tour rather than the traditional three-year tour is to ensure the best return on MARSOC?s training investment,? he added. He said many specialized skills like language require up-front development and are ?highly perishable.?

From bits and pieces it seems that

a)      There is going to be a common Individual Training Course for every operational MARSOC Marine, regardless of MOSs ( not just for 03XX anymore).

b)      The curriculum is very ?Special Forces like? with language training a formal lengthy part of it. AND this is the big difference btween SF and other SOF ( language, cultural awareness and the "by, through, with" others  staff)

c)      There is pressure for a MARSOC MOS bc 5 year tours ?are not enough since an operator needs 3-4 years just to be an able part of the team? which applies to Unconventional Warfare more than to classic SR/DA missions.

d)      SOCOM needs UW fighters in the GWOT context more than it needs ?Door Kickers?.

What I am getting at is that MARSOC will follow the SF example of UW-centric teams, some of them specialising more in DA/SR and some in FID/COIN but with same baseline training like in SF and- at least theoretically- interchangeable.

In both cases primary mission will be UW and ability to conduct other missions comes as a by product of the core capability, with some extra effort.

This is a long way away from traditional SEAL/FR training which is centred around DA/SR and vice versa.

So, I think soon the relationship of the Recon Community with MARSOC will be like the one between Rangers and SF. Some of the former choose to move on to the later and never comeback, while the later counts on other Moss and specialties to fill the bulk of the ranks.

But this way the best people from FR and Recon are almost surely going to move to MARSOC ( more money, more gear more training bc of SOCOM) and stay there.

On the other hand I might be wrong and things may evolve the way envisioned by a big part of the USMC, meaning that people get to move back and forth between the communities (guys specialising in DA/SR moving to FR or RECON and guys with more UW-FID experience moving to SC MAGTF Battalions and MCTAG) carrying their experience with them.

IMO this could be a better solution for the Institution (USMC), given the Marine Corps Tradition, but not many people (from the actual operators) seem to like it.

I think the danger of trying to see it as being like SF or being like SEALs is that you've now limited seeing them thru the narrow prism u've just set-up.  b/c then as other facts are added u'r forced to run off on an infinite # of tangents trying to make sense of it & make all the pieces fit.

Here's my pt, if their were no such thing as an SF or a SEAL team u would take the info given & let it make sense w/out it having to end up in either a SEAL or SF box.

Clear u'r mind, think about the Marine Corps.  The USMC has always viewed things full spectrum, always developed units to the overall mission.  U'r on the right track w/ UW, but the DASRs primary mission is & will remain DA/SR; the MSOAG MSOTs is & will remain SOF-FID.  So how does all that jive..

I'l give u an example.  The USMC has an ability to morph itself for all types of missions but if u look over its history especially the last 50yrs its mostly been used as a Crisis Response/Quick Reaction Force to any clime/place, hence the emphasis on Expeditionary.  But... if u look at its mission training time(not incl' the recent OIF Deps) it dedicates most of its training time to its least likely mission; Amphibious Assault.  

Why...?  Are they stupid, slow, not as smart & can't see what everyone else does?? 

No, its b/c AA is the most Complex Military Manuever in modern warfare.  Training for it encompasses almost all the Tactical & Technical training of the other missions the USMC trains for.  And when done right is virtually unstoppable.

So should they shift more training time to  CR/QRF... No, they have the training mix just right, they're at the top of the game in the CR & QRF missions.  Adding more Response training time would do very little to improve on that.  It would detract fr/ a more complicated overall more effective training mission.

Its the same w/ UW, its the hardest mission of SO to teach & more than likely the least likely to encounter.  So why train to it..?  B/C it empcompasses nearly all other SO skills combined & when done right, its virtually unstoppable.

So for the DASR, DA & SR will always remain their primary missions.  Its the missions they'll see most often during any deployment.  So... just b/c the DASR MSOTs have added FID into there training cirriculum does that mean that they are some how less DA & SR focused then the SEALs or old FR... NO, here's why.

MarSoc made clear fr/ the beginning that the standards of the MSOCs(DASR) would not drop fr/ the Old Force Recon training Req's and that the would meet or exceed that of any SOF Unit.  Now if look at what the JSOU(Joint Special Operations Univ) report said about FR.  It said that in the area of Direct Action and Special Reconnaissance their skills are on par w/ Tier 1 SOF.

So when you have Operators coming into a unit already trained to that level of DA/SR u can pick & choose among them on whose going to be more suitable for the more complicated(but not primary) mission of UW by making them learn FID in their ITC.

Those that don't have the knack for FID won't make it and roll back to the Mother Corps & continue doing DA/SR for the Mother Corps.  Does that somehow make MarSoc's DASR any less DA/SR focused than the old FR or SEALs, No.  It does however ensure that personnel who make up the MarSoc DASRs are capable of learning, then if called on, executing the Much More complicated UW.

Does that mean that the 0321's that make MarSOC's DASR are better than the ones that don't, No.  Some of the best Reconnaissance Men/Shooters may never make MarSoc.  Not b/c they weren't tough enough or skilled enough DASR's but b/c they may have never been cut out to learn the very finesse/diplomatic skill/art of UW.