What It Takes To Become A Recon Marine

By John Canfield


US Marine Corps Reconnaissance provides division level ground and amphibious reconnaissance for the ground combat element of the Marine Corps. A division is a military unit of 10,000 to 15,000 Marines and is made up of several regiments. A division is further divided into smaller organic units. Amphibious reconnaissance is a combination of both land and naval reconnaissance that is concerned with maritime interests for collecting information. These Marine Corps Reconnaissance units are normally used to observe and report on all opposition actions and acquire information for government intelligence in close operation. Force Reconnaissance, or Force Recon for short is s division of Marine Corps recon that has additional organic reconnaissance assets that act as additional units for the commander to fulfill his mission. One such resource is the scout sniper assets that give long range accurate shooting as well as provide long range surveillance and acquisition of objectives. They are also known as Surveillance Target Acquisition STA snipers. STA units are organic to Marine Infantry Battalions.

The mission of a Marine Corps Reconnaissance unit is to provide the MAGTF with reports and military intelligence information in time for them act and alter battleground decisions. Recon units deliver assistance to infantry units in combat. Infantry are those Marines who are personally in the fight. The following are some of the missions of a Marine Corps Reconnaissance organization: * The principle objective is to plan, synchronize and conduct amphibious and ground reconnaissance missions that will help them obtain military intelligence and monitor, recognize and report all opposition actions. * Their mission is to conduct special surveillance that could let them have specifics about under the sea reconnaissance or demolitions, beach permeability and topography, routes, bridges and structures. They also provide surveillance on countryside and urban areas, chopper landing areas, parachute drop zones, airplane forwarding sites and mechanized recon. * When they're arranged with other forces they provide assistance with radio, specialized engineering, and mobile and other special reconnaissance missions. * They offer surface, sub-surface and airborne operations to infiltrate mission areas. * Their mission is also to provide counter reconnaissance. * They will execute initial terminal guidance for helicopter, landing craft, parachutists, air-delivery and re-supply. * To conduct post-strike reconnaissance to assess the damage and gather further data. * Raids and ambushes of limited scale are part of their mission too.

Marine Corps Reconnaissance Selection and prerequisites. There are some specifications that are needed for being picked for Recon: 1. Up to date and current physical. 2. A GT score that is minimum 105. 3. A first class score on the physical fitness test. 4. First class swim qual. 5. 20/20 vision is absolutely vital. Of course it is okay if you're able to achieve this with laser surgery. If you are color blind as long as you can distinguish between red and green you may be accepted. 6. Once you have done the basic reconnaissance course you need to have remaining at least 18 months on your current enlistment contract. 7. Must be eligible to get a secret security clearance. 8. Need to have completed the infantry rifleman training at the infantry battalion training.

As soon as the preliminary selection process is done you'll proceed to the testing process. The screening process for Marine Corps reconnaissance is to test all the prospective prospects. The screening board will screen all potential candidates for combat swimming skills, and physical stamina and endurance. This screening process happens over a period of 2 days at MCB Camp Pendleton or MCB Camp Lejeune every last Thursday of each month. If a Marine fails they can be encouraged to try again at the next screening should they desire to. Also midway through the testing process if a candidate wants to drop out they are able to do so and try again at the subsequent screening process.

The assessment process will involve combat water exercises since Marine Corps reconnaissance is amphibious by nature. They must do a 25m under the water swim, deep water rifle retrieval which depending on which screening you could have to do it with cinder blocks. The next step involves a 25 foot tower jump with full combat equipment while treading water for Half an hour as a follow up. There are a few more stages in this water test to complete. Once that is completed they will move on to a physical fitness test in which the prospect would have to score over 225 to get a first class. The following day involves a few obstacle courses and sprinting with a 50 lb sand bag in a backpack. In addition they must maintain a speed of 4 or 5 miles an hour and if they slow down they are dropped. Should they complete the screening program they are sent for a psychological screening examination followed by interviews. If they're fit for training they are interviewed by the Marine Corps reconnaissance staff. If all goes well they start working on the indoctrination program. They're then qualified further for amphibious reconnaissance, patrolling, communication and land navigation. They are then made to go through a training pipeline that will likely include a minimum of two schools and a time period of 1.5 to 2 years before they become a fully qualified Marine Reconnaissance operator.




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