Marksmanship Instructor

[Haffner]

Good evening, all. Thank you in advance for any insightful (or funny) replies that I get.I've been thinking about trying to knock out a B billet as soon as I pick up Sgt and the one I really want to do is Marksmanship Instructor (8531).From what I could gather, you have to of officially held the secondary MOS of 8530 (Marksmanship Coach) to get the chance to earn 8531.Since I went to bootcamp I had the idea that I might really enjoy teaching marksmanship to recruits; being (in many cases) the first person to teach those nasty recruits anything about rifles in their whole life :-pI havn't gone to the CMT course yet to get 8530 (please correct me if I am using outdated MOS codes or they are incorrect) however I do hold multiple awards expert (lowest was 233) and am currently coaching on the range. As an added bonus, I've been told that I've been doing that rather well by all to whom I am assigned.If anyone could give me any advice how to go about this, what their experiences were like, if you've taught marksmanship to recruits, was it rewarding? Etc etc. Also, very importantly, I know that a B billet is strongly recommended to pick up SSgt and beyond. Are B Billets such as Marksmanship Instructor weighed the same as Drill Instructor or Recruiter when it comes to promotions?I know I just got promoted to Cpl a couple of weeks ago and I'm getting ahead of myself, however, when the days done I'm in charge of my career, no one else And I love teaching, helping, and instructing with marksmanship. It makes me feel a little bit better about being a data guy haha.Semper Fi!

[Haffner]

I apologize for no breaks in that endless paragraph. I put them in there it just seems that the internet wants to more realistically portray my enthusiasm lol.

[greensideout]

"No breaks in that endless" pull of the trigger---lol---if you were not suprised when it went off, you screwed up!

[thewookie]

Good evening, all. Thank you in advance for any insightful (or funny) replies that I get.I've been thinking about trying to knock out a B billet as soon as I pick up Sgt and the one I really want to do is Marksmanship Instructor (8531).From what I could gather, you have to of officially held the secondary MOS of 8530 (Marksmanship Coach) to get the chance to earn 8531.Since I went to bootcamp I had the idea that I might really enjoy teaching marksmanship to recruits; being (in many cases) the first person to teach those nasty recruits anything about rifles in their whole life :-pI havn't gone to the CMT course yet to get 8530 (please correct me if I am using outdated MOS codes or they are incorrect) however I do hold multiple awards expert (lowest was 233) and am currently coaching on the range. As an added bonus, I've been told that I've been doing that rather well by all to whom I am assigned.If anyone could give me any advice how to go about this, what their experiences were like, if you've taught marksmanship to recruits, was it rewarding? Etc etc. Also, very importantly, I know that a B billet is strongly recommended to pick up SSgt and beyond. Are B Billets such as Marksmanship Instructor weighed the same as Drill Instructor or Recruiter when it comes to promotions?I know I just got promoted to Cpl a couple of weeks ago and I'm getting ahead of myself, however, when the days done I'm in charge of my career, no one else And I love teaching, helping, and instructing with marksmanship. It makes me feel a little bit better about being a data guy haha.Semper Fi!

Oh man this is going to be long....

Fist off, things may have changed but I still don't think PMI duty or working as a range coach counts as a B Billet. Definitely not as a range coach. I may be wrong but the only B Billets that I know of are: DI, MSG, or Recruiter. If you're permanently assigned to the range, any range, it's not a B Billet, it's a secondary MOS.

When I was in they didn't require you to be a 8530 to become an 8531, but you had to be a 8531 to be a 8532.

8530 - Range Coach
8531 - PMI
8532 - Small Arms Weapons Instructor

I held the 8531 secondary MOS for 6 of the 8 years I was in. I went to that school twice, once in Kaneohe in 91, and then I had to go through again at Damneck in 95, in order to teach PMI school there. The first few years I worked as a typical range coach that worked with the shooters in the Battalion that I was in (1/3.) Later, I worked at Damneck rifle/pistol range as range staff, which is one of the places that teaches 8531 school. We also held annual rifle and pistol quals, and taught DM school in between all of that. We didn't have much down time in between. And when we did we were either doing teachbacks, getting ready for the next school/range detail, or we were trying to get some rounds down range to stay proficient.

Being on the range TAD as a 8530 for a week or two is fun, it's a nice break from the daily grind. But when you're permanent personnel assigned to a range, it's still fun, but it's a lot more work. As you already know, as a range coach your duties are pretty much to make sure the shooters are ready to fire when it's their time for their relay. You go over knowledge with them, help them/teach them to adjust their dope, and basically watch out for safety violations. However, as a PMI assigned to the range, you're going to have many, many more responsibilities. More classes to teach, more work before the range starts, and once everyone goes home you're still working either re-qualling unks or working on getting ready for the next week of shooters.

I loved working on the range. It's very rewarding to help those who want it, some of them think they know it all and will continue to earn their annual pizza box. Yet others will listen, and if you know how to deliver the information to them clearly; making one of them non-shooting focks into a good shooter is a great feeling. My favorite job was running the line or the tower for relays. But I also enjoyed the basics of taking a non-shooting fock and making him or her into a top notch shooter.

And just remember, just because you can shoot, it doesn't mean you can teach. And that goes both ways. A lot of young guys make the mistake of assuming they can just rub off their shooting abilities to their shooters. You really have to work on delivering the right info to each shooter to be a good PMI. A lot of guys can perform; they can shoot, but they can't teach someone else to do it. Some of them shooters require a lot of patience. But, when you put it all together, and you can teach it and shoot it, it's very rewarding.

PM me if you want anything else more specific or otherwise. Good luck Marine, have fun!

[CplKJSpevak]

Cpl. Haffner congratulations on your recent promotion.....I'll tell you this, do you plan on staying in as a career? if so be a DI they are considered the cream of the crop professionals, plus, you'll be the ultimate teacher those nasty recruits will never forget!! good luck devil dog..

[Whitey]

my kill hat was a PMI before drill instructor and said PMI school was harder

[Haffner]

Thanks, Cpl, it's much appreciated. Anyways, being a DI would definently be sweet; we'll see if I'm ready for that someday. I truly believe not just any old devil dog can take on that responsability.

Also, back on the PMI subject, tomorrow is qual day for my first time ever range coaching. The Marines in my charge say I'm doing pretty well, actually, and I've seen alot of improvement in them from my instruction; I'm pretty competent in teaching things that I know how to do.

Whether it is a B billet or not, I still want to do it for a while (PMI for recruits preferrably).

To answer the question, I've been thinking more and more about going career as the days go by. I think once I picked up Cpl I started to realise a little bit more what the Corps is all about (for lack of better explanation) and began to really see that not only do I do good for the Corps, but it really does some damn good for me too =p

[Big Jim]

Being a PMI was the most rewarding job I've ever had in my life!!! If ever I had the choice of doing something that I absolutely LOVED to do...going back in and training Marines to shoot and re-qual is what I'd pick!!! I wouldn't trade it for love or money!!!

PMI school was difficult...you had be able to do some quick figuring in your head and accurately as well as be able to understand and explain how ballistics are effected by wind, heat and cold and effectively employ that training. It was a tedious school...

[Haffner]

I can only imagine that it's very tedious and mentally challenging, but I'm up for it as soon as I'm able. Pass the course or die trying, right? (...maybe I shouldn't joke like that when it comes to a school involving ammo and rifles...lol).

It feels rewarding already just being a coach on the range (not by MOS, yet, but acting) and watching the improvement. I'm more excited for their own qual day tomorrow, more than I am usually for my own. I've got two Marines that recently unq'ed and today they were shooting low 220''s. If they get expert (even though for the fiscal year it'll only count for them as a 190 for promotion points) I'll **** bricks.

[Quinbo]

When coaching just remember muzzle to toe. Look at everything from muzzle to toe. Tiny little things get missed and you aint shooting for score but that is your pupil. Does your shooter have the low light aperature up? Is the sling adjusted correctly? Position muscle on bone vs bone on bone. Are they slapping the trigger or easing it back. Flinching or blinking? Rapid fire magazine exchange. Slow fire are they looking up to see their score before follow through on their target? Natural respiratory pause on every shot and not rushing? As a coach you can say don't worry about saved rounds ... the ones you fire in the black will count. As a PMI you can say I want to see this Marine fire 10 more from here and hand him another mag.