Marine Scout Sniper Reservist
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  1. #1

    Marine Scout Sniper Reservist

    Marines thank you for this excellent site and your service.

    I am interested in joining the USMC as a reservist. I made this decision because I have a wife and new born and feel it is best to be with them as much as possible but at the same time I want to be apart of The Few and The Proud. As a reservist I want to try out for the Scout Snipers. From what I have read this is possible for a reservist, but if I am wrong please correct me. The process I believe is the same as an active duty Marine, choose Infantry MOS, obtain Lance Corporal, first class PFT and shoot expert and be a top notch infantryman. Let's say as a reservist I successful complete SS School and become a Marine Sniper, where will my weekend training be held? I believe the scout snipers are in Quantico so is that where I be going for weekend drill? and are there anymore scout sniper locations in the US?

    Any information is greatly appreciated. I believe I have filled out my profile correctly, but if not I'm sure someone will let me know. Again thank you for your time and service.


  2. #2
    Yes you can become a sniper as a reservist. It all depends on whether or not your unit needs snipers. You'll conduct your training with the rest of your unit. Whether or not each training evolution will include separate training for the snipers in your unit is dependant on the s3 and the training schedule they put together.


  3. #3
    Are you serious?

    All that training *months of it* just to go back home and not utlize of it no time soon?


  4. #4
    My unit has something scheduled for our snipers pretty much every evolution. I can't say whether or not every unit is the same.


  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by IHaveEGA843 View Post
    Are you serious?

    All that training *months of it* just to go back home and not utlize of it no time soon?
    Really, I thought the reserves were the new active?

    Marine Corps Reserve Snipers Decimate Enemy Platoon in Iraq

    1/23 is a Marine Corps Reserve unit from Texas


    1/23 snipers reclaim city from insurgents
    Submitted by: 1st Marine Division
    Story Identification #: 2004102463516
    Story by Cpl. Randy Bernard



    HIT, Iraq (Oct.10, 2004) -- Marines from Scout Sniper Platoon, Headquarters and Support Company, 1st Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 7, won a decisive battle against a heavy insurgent threat recently.

    The snipers were called to action after they received reports that hundreds of heavily armed insurgents, dressed in black garb, were occupying the city.

    "We are the eyes, ears and trigger finger for the battalion commander," said Sgt. Herbert B. Hancock, the chief scout sniper for the platoon. "Anything that he sees as a threat, we are sent out to check up on."

    The snipers were the first Marines to enter the city and observe the threat. Once the snipers had located the insurgents and established positions to assess the situation, the snipers realized just how right the reports had been.

    "They were all out in the open doing whatever they wanted to," said Hancock, 35, a native of Bryan, Texas. "They were in control of that side of the city, rerouting traffic, threatening to kill people and terrorizing people.

    "Any convoy that looked like it had anything to do with the coalition was attacked and hit by (improvised explosive devices). There were civilians and civilian cars in the area, but they didn't care. They were being blatant about the fact that they were in control."

    After witnessing the insurgents pull people from their cars, shoot at civilians and detonate IEDs in the traffic circle, the snipers began to fire at them.

    Sergeant Milo S. Afong, a sniper with the platoon, took the first shot.

    "I had a perfect silhouette of his body and his weapon," said Afong, 23, a native of Vista, Calif. "It had been the first time I saw people out here with weapons."

    After the first shots were fired and a few insurgents were hit, the masked men in the traffic circle realized they were under attack.

    "Even more of them showed up carrying (rocket propelled grenades) and AK-47s," said Cpl. Stephen R. Johnson, an assistant team leader with the platoon. "That is when they started shooting back. At first they were fighting us out in the open and behind cars. That wasn't working for them so they got up in the buildings and tried to set up concealed positions and shoot at us."

    According to Gunnery Sgt. Timothy J. Dowd, the platoon commander, this battle marks the first time in history that snipers from 1/23 engaged enemy troops and was also one of the largest scale sniper missions in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

    That was the heaviest firefight in the city, according to Johnson. That particular firefight lasted approximately 45 minutes. However, the sniper battle against the insurgents in the area lasted several more days, until their extract.

    "The whole time it was like we were in a shooting gallery with people shooting at us," said Afong.

    The Marines proved themselves as valuable assets to the battalion.

    "We showed how (a handful of) guys basically eliminated a whole platoon," said Johnson, 24, a native of Woodlands, Texas. "We have proven that snipers are cost effective with lives and rounds. There are no substitutes for snipers on the battlefield."

    The snipers made it out of the fighting with only minor injuries.



  6. #6
    hmmmm very well....I'm not downing the reserves because I'm a reservist myself but I'm currently kicking the brick wall everyday for not going active.

    Reserve or Active....we get the job done


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