USMC trains it's final Scout Snipers

[SeriousStudent]

The Armor branch used to have a very, very demanding school with about an 80% attrition rate.
Took me two tries to make it through, it was seriously no joke.
My understanding is that now 25 years later the school survived, but it's nothing compared to what it was and neither are the graduates.
So you either want the best and demand the best from the Students or you water things down to the point where everyone is a graduate and the school and skill become meaningless.

Was that for the Master Gunner program? I am just curious. I had a buddy that had that rating back when I lived in Kentucky.

They did some fascinating stuff at Knox. He was an SFC who was an instructor there.

[SeriousStudent]

I think it's the Corps' adaptability and ability to reinvent itself which has largely allowed it to be relevant, especially in relation to the other services. Unlike what the boogeyman likes to say, 'they' were never going to disband the Corps, but the Corps has been in position to be told what to do, but avoided so by its adaptability. It's one of the best things about the Corps.

That the Corps can do this while being underfunded and with certain MOSs undermanned is nothing short of remarkable. They really do more with less. As my dad would say (USMC 1954-1975), "that's the Marine Corps way."

I am all for more agility and lethality, but I hope the Redesign 2030 is not cutting off the nose to spite the face. I am not optimistic that the changes with the sniper community isn't just that.

I do think that one of the unofficial mottos of the Corps is "250 years of tradition, unhampered by progress."

Sigh.....

[Averageman]

Was that for the Master Gunner program? I am just curious. I had a buddy that had that rating back when I lived in Kentucky.

They did some fascinating stuff at Knox. He was an SFC who was an instructor there.

Yup, that's correct.
More than 50% of every Class left the first day.

[chuckman]

Related. Phase II of redesigned infantry battalions is underway. More here:

https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/new...cal%20resupply.

[SeriousStudent]

Yup, that's correct.
More than 50% of every Class left the first day.

Very cool!

I got a guided tour of that range at Knox, and got to watch some of the shoots. Really, really impressive! A bunch of the cadre were vets of the first Iraq invasion, and could really, really shoot. It was a literal blast to watch them work.