I would like to speak to a Marine rifleman and assaultman.

I want to ask some questions.

Post your questions and when one shows up, I'm certain one or more will respond.

If you do well in rifle training, and you turn down a position for sniper, is it possible to be issued a different rifle than the M16?

Also, are assaultmans something every unit has, or are they rarer than that? They are issued M9s, correct? What determines which launcher you will end up with?

Im not a Marine but I am sure you have a chance of being assigned the SAW gunner or if your mobile maybe a 50cal or TOW. Either way I'd rather have an M4 or AK. Why didnt you want the sniper slot?, nothing to worry about unless you got some sandbaggers covering your rear.

Once your a Marine, you are also a rifleman no matter what MOS rating you eventually get assigned to.

As for sniper duty, you'd need a few years of seasoning under your belt before they would consider you.

Qualification during Boot Camp will not get you assigned to sniper duty, no matter what your score....even if you shot 250 out of 250 each and every day you are on the range. 5 days running. Even then you wouldn't qualify for sniper duty. Ain't never been done before by anybody, not even Carlos Hathcock, and he was the best there ever was.

I was infantry. You don't "turn down" a sniper billet. They only accept volunteers, and the screening process is quite challenging-- I didn't make the cut.

Assaultman usually carry a SMAW rocket, but there were others as well....it's been quite a while since I was infantry (1989), so I can't remember...and I was never an assualtman. You go to training for assaultman simply as "weapons platoon training" after basic infantry. You're trained on multiple systems, so I guess it's the luck of the draw.

As infantry, they just randomly handed me the M203 and --poof-- I was a Grenadier. They later assigned me as a Team Leader, and made all team leaders grenadiers as well, carried the same weapon for five years. And, yep, infantry carry the M16A2. No choice.

Thanks for all of the responses so far, keep 'em coming.

quote:

Originally posted by patoloco:
I was infantry. You don't "turn down" a sniper billet. They only accept volunteers, and the screening process is quite challenging-- I didn't make the cut.

Assaultman usually carry a SMAW rocket, but there were others as well....it's been quite a while since I was infantry (1989), so I can't remember...and I was never an assualtman. You go to training for assaultman simply as "weapons platoon training" after basic infantry. You're trained on multiple systems, so I guess it's the luck of the draw.

As infantry, they just randomly handed me the M203 and --poof-- I was a Grenadier. They later assigned me as a Team Leader, and made all team leaders grenadiers as well, carried the same weapon for five years. And, yep, infantry carry the M16A2. No choice.

What i'm told is that if you do well in rifle training, and they think you may have sniper capability, they will get you to do some other tests and if you pass them, then it's possible to be offered the chance to go to sniper training. You can volunteer however, and if they have a position open, and think you want it, they would get you to do the other tests.

I read on Wikipedia that there are at least two assaultmans in each unit, one will load the rocket, and the other fires.

Is this true? All of the videos i've seen of assaultmans are of only one. (of course, the videos don't show loading the rocket, and etc.; just firing)

I guess I need to talk directly to an assaultman.

quote:

What i'm told is that if you do well in rifle training, and they think you may have sniper capability, they will get you to do some other tests and if you pass them, then it's possible to be offered the chance to go to sniper training. You can volunteer however, and if they have a position open, and think you want it, they would get you to do the other tests.

Pretty much correct, though this won't happen in basic training. During yearly rifle qualifications, the best shooters are screened for both competition shooting and sniper training (in the infantry-- once I left the infantry I was never approached to be a sniper, though competition shooting was still an option). Once you're screened and volunteer, there are several tests-- most of them very physically demanding. If you pass, then you can go on to sniper training.

And yes, assaultman, machine-gunners, and a few others work in teams of two. Gotta have someone who will serve as an "A-gunner" (assistant gunner), and (more importantly) to help lug all that heavy ammo around. He also serves as a quasi-bodyguard as these types of weapons systems are usualy targeted by the enemy. He keeps an eye out while the gunner focuses on the target. It's not a difficult job (A-gunner), so is usually filled by a rifleman.

Each missile system is different. With A TOW Missile (0352 MOS in the Marines) you have the TOW Gunner who fires the missile and the assistant gunner who loads the missile and secures the backblast area. The Gunner also mans the TOW Missile system in the turret of the HUMVEE, using the optical sights to gather intelligence and find targets while the assistant gunner drives the vehicle. Usually the assistant gunner is a newer Marine (E-2, E-3) and the Gunner is an E-3 or E-4. Can't remember if the Dragon has a dedicated assistant gunner, but I don't think so. Same thing with a SMAW.

Videos of assault teams at work. Notice, they almost always have that second man there. And the last thing he does is look behind them before he signals the triggerman to fire. He's "checking the backblast" to make sure no friendlies get caught by the rocket backblast. One of my squad members ran behind a a LAAW during firing, he was blown off his feet and thrown about 10 meters. All of his facial hair was removed (including his eyebrows and eyelashes). Can't even remember his name, because from that point on he was forever known as "Backblast".

http://www.militaryspot.com/videos/video162.htm