As part of the Marine Corps' ongoing and controversial attempt to reinvent the service for future warfare, it had decided to get rid of the scout sniper, a decision that has already raised concerns from within the ranks about the loss of such capabilities, Military.com has reported.
As part of the plan, all three training locations for the grueling three-month Scout Sniper course will stop accepting new students starting in fiscal 2024, according to an official message leaked to social media.
Marine Corps spokesman Capt. Ryan Bruce confirmed that the scout sniper platoons would be axed, but insisted the underlying skill set would be integrated elsewhere in the service.
"Precision rifle capability will remain within the infantry company, and the Marine Corps will continue to maintain school-trained snipers within Marine Reconnaissance and Marine Special Operations units," Bruce said.
Marine Corps' commandant Gen. David Berger has been adamant about his desire to have infantry Marines become well-versed in multiple weapons systems, less specialized and more "commando-like."
But some Marines told Military.com on condition of anonymity that Berger's mindset highlights a misunderstanding of the extreme capabilities snipers provide and the importance of their uncompromising training.
A senior enlisted sniper said that "snipers can't be mass-produced. They're trying to mass-produce capabilities and cutting corners, thinking that numbers on a spreadsheet is what will win wars. But it's not; all it's going to do is fill body bags."
A Marine gunner, who is a weapons expert, added that "we're talking out of both sides of our mouth here. We don't want to divest the equipment, because we know we need that capability. You just can't pick up an advanced sniper rifle and hand it to somebody and expect them to be able to do what a trained sniper can do."
A main push for the change is apparently the two-year-long "Infantry Battalion Experimentation" the Corps undertook, which "showed the scouting capabilities in the newly designed Infantry Companies were insufficient to offer the battalion continuous all-weather information gathering."
Instead, new "scout platoons" will consist of 26 Marines. Infantry companies will no longer have Marines trained as snipers, but they will keep "designated marksmen."
But it is unclear how "scout platoons" will be trained, as there is currently no stand-alone "scouting" course within the Marine Corps.