“Don’t underestimate your enemy.  They know the land and spend all day preparing to kill you.  Whenever you’re tired of training and rehearsing, ask yourself if the enemy is resting.”  – Sergeant Matt Yohe, Instructor, MSOS Advanced Sniper Course.

Sgt. Yohe speaks with authority based on personal experience from months of serious operations as a MARSOC sniper with the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force – Afghanistan against hardened Taliban forces fighting on their home turf.  This tall and rawboned 29 year old fits most anyone‘s idea of a battle-hardened Marine, the product of eight years in the Corps’ most hard-charging units including 2nd Recon Battalion before his assignment to 2nd Marine Special Operations Battalion

He also typifies the quality of the combat experienced Marine operators who are hand-picked for instructor duty at Marine Special Operations School.  According to MARSOC sources, they come from Marine Special Operations Teams after two deployments or more, and are nominated by their Battalions.

SADJ met and talked at some length with Yohe and several other instructors during our visit to MSOS, MARSOC’s “Schoolhouse” at Camp Lejeune’s historic Stone Bay.  These NCOs are an impressive lot who exemplify the right stuff by appearance, demeanor and no-nonsense interaction with outsiders.

Victoria per Scientiam
Marine Special Operations School is a regimental level command, formally activated in June 2007 but already operational months earlier.

Its distinctive unit crest evokes the heritage of WWII Marine Raiders in a blue shield emblazoned with five stars, an iconic Fairbairn-Sykes stiletto fighting knife and a motto in Latin that translates to “Victory through Knowledge.“

7 April 2009, Reno, Nevada. This photo puts us shoulder-to-shoulder with an operator from MARSOC’s 2nd Marine Special Operations Battalion as he hammers silhouette targets with precisely aimed shots in rapid fire during Dynamic Assault training drills at the Washoe County Regional Shooting Facility. MSOS instructors provided SADJ with identification of his gear and weapons from head to toe: Peltor headset for MBITR radio, 5.56mm M4A1 SOPMOD Carbine with 14.5 inch barrel and telescoping buttstock with battery compartments, EOTech SU-231 reflex sight, PEQ-15 or LA-5 laser aiming module, SU-233 white light, Grip-Pod foregrip with drop-down bipod, M45 MEU-SOC .45 cal. pistol in Safariland 6004 1911 holster, Eagle Industries body armor load carrying system. (USMC photo by Lance Corporal Stephen Benson)

Most of its initial training cadre was composed of elements transferred in from the Special Missions Branch of the Marine Expeditionary Forces Special Operations Training Group.  These skilled and savvy Marine trainers are credited in large part with the amazingly short period from MARSOC’s creation to its first elements being certified by U.S. Special Operations Command as fully mission capable.

MSOS, informally known as the “Schoolhouse,” screens, assesses, selects and trains Marines and Sailors for Special Operations assignments in MARSOC; provides advanced individual special operations training; plans and executes the component exercise program.  It serves as MARSOC’s training and educations proponent and is the link between MARSOC, USMC and SOCOM component SOF schools.  Additionally, it develops MARSOF standards, doctrine and TTP (Tactics, Techniques and Procedures), and serves as MARSOC’s proponent for weapons and optics requirements

MSOS is organized with a Headquarters Company and five branches, each responsible for specific taskings that are critical to MARSOC‘s wide-ranging missions:

• Assessment and Selection Branch is the entry point for personnel seeking to come aboard MARSOC.
• Personnel Recovery/SERE Branch specializes in training programs that maximize survival, evasion, resistance and escape skills.
• Exercise Control Branch develops and executes complex and ever-changing scenarios that challenge and validate mission readiness for MARSOC elements; notably the Marine Special Operations Battalions from teams to tailored task forces.
• Language Branch teaches a wide range of tongues native to locations worldwide from Arabic to Urdu, with emphasis on those common to areas of particular interest to U.S. Special Operations Command.
• Special Operations Training Branch conducts ITC (Initial Training Course) for NCOs and company grade officers who will be assigned as “operators” (properly known as CSOs – Critical Skills Operators) in the Marine Special Operations Regiment and it’s the home for Special Operations advanced and specialty courses

Initial Training Course

The focus of our visit to MARSOC‘s Schoolhouse was Special Operations Training Branch, currently housed in an orderly formation of a dozen or so modular classrooms while construction is underway nearby on a more traditional campus.  There, Lieutenant Colonel Clark Watson, SOTB’s Director, walked us through the high points of the Initial Training Course, a comprehensive SPECOPS basic training program that is the next step following Assessment and Selection for those seeking to become CSOs.

23 October 2008, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. A pair of Marines from MARSOC’s Special Operations Support Group practice M4 Carbine handling and aiming techniques with the Rifle Combat Optic, a 4 power Trijicon ACOG day scope, in preparation for live fire exercises in the Trainers Course of Instruction. “Every Marine is a rifleman” and that goes double for all members of MARSOC. (MARSOC photo by Private First Class Stephen Benson)

It’s broken down into four phases of instruction, practice and evaluation, Watson explained, that require learned skills to be applied under increasingly adverse conditions.

As can be expected, students who have already demonstrated high levels of physical and mental toughness as an entry requirement are pushed much further in the first phase.  Escalating challenges include endurance, functional fitness and highly aggressive combatives.

During these first few weeks of long hours with heavy physical and mental stress, some otherwise “gung-ho” CSO candidates are likely to question if they have the right stuff for the job.  This is, of course, exactly as it must be.

We’re told that amphibious training is often the most difficult for many otherwise tough and capable Marines.  Combat Water Survival Level Two is a prerequisite, but Watson emphasized that the realities of training for waterborne warfare require significantly higher capability.

The Assessment and Selection Preparation Guide emphasizes that swim requirements are done in utilities (fatigue jacket and trousers) but aspirants get a break by shedding their boots.  There’s an “abandon ship” drill requiring a leap into the water from a six meter high platform, a 300 meter swim, ten minutes of treading water, and five minutes of survival float.

But that’s just to get in.  It gets harder and harder in preparation for the course’s amphibious exercises.

Watson also explained that the current class was only the third under the ITC designation and the curriculum had undergone some changes based on input from various sources including student evaluations, operational realities and other factors.  Also, because ITC is open to Marines in all MOSs (Military Occupational Specialties), the first part of the course acts as a sort of abbreviated and intensified version of the Marine Corps’ School of Infantry.

“If we describe an all-volunteer force of warriors who share the core values of honor, courage and commitment and who are renowned for their professionalism, expertise, innovation, and superior physical fitness, you would be hard-pressed to decide whether we described Marines or SOF (Special Operations Force) operators.  We found plenty of common ground to build on, but … the question at the heart of the issue is what is a MarSOF warrior”  – MARSOC Information paper

It defies logic that United States Special Operations Command did not include the Marine Corps until a little over five years ago.  All the more so because the Corps is arguably the most nimble, aggressive and experienced component of the U.S. Armed Forces in the dirty and demanding business of fighting “small wars” in remote corners of the world.

Marines, also colorfully known as Leathernecks and Devil Dogs, are proud to be major players in more conventional aspects of the Global War on Terrorism, launched by the U.S. and allies following the murder of thousands of innocent Americans in horrific suicide attacks by Islamic extremists on September 11, 2001.  But, until recently, SPECOPS missions against freedom’s many foes have been the exclusive domain of soldiers, sailors and airmen.

Lucky for USSOCOM – and not so lucky for bad guys around the globe – the puzzling omission of the Corps, with a long and rich history of success in expeditionary warfare and home to hard-charging, superbly trained Marine Force Recon, was corrected by President George W. Bush.

January 1944, Bougainville, Solomon Islands. U.S. Marine Raiders, gathered in front of a Japanese dugout they helped to take on Cape Totkina, have earned the bloody reputation of being skillful jungle fighters. Today’s Marine Corps Special Operations Command carries forward the Raiders’ proud heritage. (U.S. Navy/National Archives)

In October 2005, Donald H. Rumsfeld, the Bush administration’s Secretary of Defense, directed the formation of a 2,500 man Marine Component to serve with USSOCOM.  Four months later, on February 24, 2006 Marine Corps Special Operations Command, led by Major General Dennis Hejlik, was formally activated at Camp Lejeune, NC.

Fast, Steep Climb
MARSOC immediately moved forward at double time with a small but highly motivated headquarters staff, drawn primarily from personnel who became available following deactivation of the 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade (Anti-Terrorism).  Urgent demands of the GWOT necessitated building force structure and conducting initial operations at the same time, which one insider said was like “painting a car while driving 50 miles per hour.”

The Foreign Military Training Unit (FMTU) was the first fully operational element, tasked with hands-on training as well as conduct of Foreign Internal Defense missions to assist friendly nations struggling against terrorist networks.

FMTU was fortunate to have quickly attracted a heavy concentration of experienced and capable NCOs with proficiency in relevant foreign languages and ability to effectively teach a wide range of practical military skills.  It grew to two companies, began taking on some Unconventional Warfare/Foreign Internal Defense taskings, and its teams regularly deployed to train and advise several developing countries engaged in counter-terrorism operations.

22 May 2008, Camp Lejeune, NC. Marines with MARSOC’s Special Operations Advisor Group sight in an M40A3 rifle on distant targets during two weeks of scoped weapons training. This is part of the weapons subject matter expert course for selected SOAG students. (MARSOC photo by Sergeant Steven King)

Hejlik, appearing before a congressional committee in January 2007, noted with pride a particular success that followed MARSOC assistance to the African nation of Chad.  A major assault the previous year by Islamist rebel forces advancing on the capitol was stopped and pushed back, he said, by two battalions of the Chadian military that had been trained by FMTU teams.

With FMTU’s expanding and evolving role came a name change to Marine Special Operations Advisor Group, and it has most recently restructured to become the Marine Special Operations Regiment’s Headquarters and its 3rd Marine Special Operations Battalion, both close to MARSOC‘s flagpole aboard Camp Lejeune.

Door Kickers
The Corps’ Force Reconnaissance companies – repeatedly proven effective for the most demanding missions launched from land, sea and air – were essential assets in the fast and steep climb to full operational capability.  In the months after the activation of MARSOC, the structure and personnel of both 1st and 2nd Force Reconnaissance Company transferred to MARSOC to form the 1st and 2nd Marine Special Operations Battalions.  Both MSOBs retained their traditional home bases, with the 1st at Camp Pendleton, California, and the 2nd at Lejeune.

2007, Afghanistan. In a very interesting photo that appeared only briefly on official Department of Defense news outlets, a MARSOC operator is seen picking off Taliban fighters with the exotically rare HK 417 rifle. This accurate, reliable and heavy-hitting 7.62x51mm semi-auto was developed by the respected German gunmaker Heckler & Koch in response to a request from ‘unspecified elements’ of U.S. Special Operations Command. (U.S. Army photo by Specialist David Gunn)

In the beginning, all operators in these “tip of the spear” companies already held the 0321 Reconnaissance Man MOS (military occupational specialty), designating them as elite Recon Marines.  The current training pipeline for what are now called Critical Skills Operators (CSO) accepts experienced Marines and Sailors from any MOS who can meet a long and serious list of requirements.  Graduates of the Individual Training Course may eventually receive an Additional Skill Identifier signifying qualification as a CSO, but for the time being a special code on their training record notes this achievement.

Marine Special Operations Teams are the basic building block for highly flexible and tailorable employment in a wide array of taskings.  Marine Special Operations Company structure calls for four Teams, each usually consisting of 12 Marines plus two Navy Corpsman, all qualified CSOs with a common set of capabilities and each having additional special skills.

Teams usually deploy as part of a task-organized MSOC that is augmented by detachments from Marine Special Operations Support Group.  MSOSG specialists provide necessary skill sets such as EOD (explosive ordnance disposal), K-9 working dogs, targeted intelligence, sophisticated communications, and others.

7 April 2009, Reno, Nevada. Marines and Sailors with a company from 2nd Marine Special Operations Battalion ventilate targets in a rapid fire shooting drill that’s part of the Dynamic Assault Course at the Washoe County Regional Shooting Facility. Note the EOTech holographic red dot sights on their SOPMOD (Special Operations Peculiar Modification) M4A1 Carbines. (USMC photo by Lance Corporal Stephen Benson)

Operational tempo for these first two hard-charging battalions – colorfully known as “door kickers” for the Direct Action part of their mission capabilities – started fast and quickly grew.  The first Marine Special Operations Company stood up in June 2006 and deployed to GWOT in December with 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable).  Their role was similar to the MEU’s Maritime Special Purpose Force, well equipped and manned with specialists in the conduct of maritime interdiction, deep recon, direct action, and close quarter battle.

Security requirements necessarily cloud details of most subsequent missions but cross-referencing various sources reveals the number of operational activities rapidly increasing each year, most notably in Iraq and Afghanistan.  By March 2009, the third anniversary of MARSOC, Marine Special Operators were regularly deploying for dozens of missions in support of Operations Enduring Freedom Afghanistan, Philippines, Horn of Africa, and Trans Sahara.  The number and variety of deployments continues to grow and task forces are operating in at least four of USASOC’s Theater commands including Central, Europe, Pacific, and South.

Essential Training and Support
Providing intensively trained operators to round out all twelve “door kicker” companies in the regiment’s three battalions is the responsibility of the Marine Special Operations School.  Building on the structure and field work of 1st and 2nd Special Missions Training Branch, MSOS was activated in June 2007 at Camp Lejeune.