Rifleman

You are the rifleman. The fire team runs on your back, your eyes, and your ability to do the boring thing exactly the same way every time — because every Marine is a rifleman and you are the literal one.

You step off the 7-ton at your battalion, your sea bag still smelling like MCRD, and the team leader puts you on a sector, a weapon, and the rotation of working parties that holds the company together. Most of your week is weapons cleaning, ranges, MCMAP, humps, the company gunny's police call, and whatever working party the 1stSgt needs filled — armory guard, barracks duty, range support, motor-T washrack. Field ops are where the actual job lives: you dig, you sleep cold at Pendleton or Lejeune or up at MWTC Bridgeport, you eat MREs, and you run squad and platoon attacks until your team leader stops correcting your sector of fire.

• 01Zero and qualify the M27 IAR or M4 to the Annual Rifle Training (ART) standard — Expert is the floor you chase, not the ceiling.
• 02Function-check, load, reduce stoppages, and clear every weapon in the fire team — M27/M4, M240B/L, M203/M320, M72 LAW, M67 frag.
• 03Land nav day and night to the Infantry Marine Course / NAVMC 3500.44 individual standard — you will be tested before your first squad-level eval.
• 04Execute the squad immediate-action drills from MCRP 3-10A.3 — react to contact, break contact, react to ambush, enter and clear a room.
• 05Run a TCCC casualty assessment — MARCH-PAWS — and apply a CAT tourniquet under fire without watching your hands.
• 06Maintain your war belt and pack so they survive a 20-mile hump: dummy-cord what you cannot lose, waterproof what cannot get wet, and ditch the gucci nice-to-haves.

• —MCDP 1 — Warfighting (every Marine reads it; you will be quizzed on the ideas, not the page numbers).
• —MCDP 1-3 — Tactics.
• —NAVMC 3500.44 — Infantry Training and Readiness Manual (the source of every individual and collective task you are evaluated against).
• —MCRP 3-10A.3 (Marine Rifle Squad) and MCRP 3-10A.4 (Marine Rifle Platoon).
• —MCO 6100.13 — Marine Corps Physical Fitness, Body Composition, and Military Appearance (your PFT/CFT lives here).
• —MCO 1500.59 — T&R Program (the umbrella over your training).

• —1st-Class PFT and CFT under MCO 6100.13 — anything below 1st-Class and your squad leader is having a different conversation about you.
• —Annual Rifle Qualification: Expert badge on the blouse, with a slug score your squad leader will know without looking.
• —Tan Belt out of MCRD, Gray Belt before you make LCpl, Green Belt before you sit a Cpl board — MCMAP under MCO 1500.54.
• —Earn the LCpl on the first look; second-look promotions are noted and remembered.
• —Pass the company-level Marine Corps Combat Readiness Evaluation (MCCRE) lanes your squad runs you through.

• —Treating weapons cleaning as a formation event. The team leader who finds carbon in your bolt during a snap check remembers it for every working-party assignment after.
• —Skipping your PCC/PCI because "I had it last time." You did not, and the squad leader is about to find what you missed.
• —Buying high-speed gucci kit before you own the issued kit. The IBA / FLAK, plates, helmet, and assault pack get graded; your aftermarket plate carrier does not.
• —Going to medical only when something is already broken. Document the rolled ankle off the hump now or the VA fights you about it in fifteen years.
• —Posting OPSEC-relevant content on social media — unit patch, deployment manifest, weapon serial, geotag. The PAO and the S2 both run sweeps.

The good boot Marine is invisible the right way: war belt squared, weapon clean, sector covered, mouth shut, and asking the questions during AAR instead of during the brief. By month nine the team leader is letting him run drills cold; by month eighteen he is the LCpl the squad leader pulls for the company Marine of the Quarter board and the next Corporals Course slot.

You are an NCO. In this Corps the chevron means it the first time you pin it — Cpl is not "almost a Sgt," it is the first rank where the rifle squad runs on what you decide.

You own a fire team — three Marines and yourself — and you are responsible for their training, their gear, their conduct on liberty, and their proficiency on every weapon in the team. You run PCC/PCIs that actually inspect, you brief a five-paragraph order before the squad leader has to ask, and you write the proficiency and conduct marks that feed your Marines' composite scores. You are also still on the line: pointman, breacher, automatic rifleman section lead, and the Cpl the platoon sergeant pulls for the working party he needs done right the first time.

• 01Brief a fire team order in five paragraphs from a terrain model your boots can actually read — SMEAC, no notes, no slides.
• 02Run a PCC/PCI as a real inspection with consequences — sensitive items, water, ammo, comm, casualty plan — not a head-nod ritual.
• 03Call for fire to the MCWP 3-16.6 / MCRP 3-31.6 standard, even though you are not a forward observer — every fire team needs another Marine who can.
• 04Operate the squad radios — PRC-117G, PRC-152, PRC-153 — and load CEOI without a printed cheat sheet.
• 05Run a M240B/L or Mk19 from a foot-mobile position or a vehicle mount; headspace and timing on the M2 in the dark if your battalion runs them.
• 06Walk a casualty through a 9-line MEDEVAC and conduct a TCCC handoff the corpsman actually wants to receive.

• —MCRP 3-10A.3 — Marine Rifle Squad (own it cover to cover; this is the manual the squad leader quotes back to you).
• —MCRP 3-10A.4 — Marine Rifle Platoon.
• —MCWP 3-01 — Offensive and Defensive Tactics.
• —NAVMC 3500.44 — Infantry T&R (chapter on Cpl/Sgt collective tasks).
• —MCRP 3-31.6 / MCWP 3-16.6 — Call for Fire and Supporting Arms.
• —MCO 1610.7 — Performance Evaluation System (you sign proficiency / conduct marks now; the FitRep is coming).

• —Green Belt MCMAP at minimum; Brown Belt is the bar you should be chasing before Sergeants Course.
• —Corporals Course graduate — required and gated; do not let the slot drop.
• —1st-Class PFT and CFT; your Marines do not respect a fire team leader who falls out of a hump or hits 2nd-Class on the test they have to pass.
• —Composite score tracked monthly in TFRS — pull the current cutting score for 0311 to Sgt before you ask your squad leader where you stand.
• —Be the team SME on at least one crew-served system or specialty — comms, breaching, designated marksman — owned, not just qualified.

• —Coasting on the Cpl chevron. The composite score does not coast; the Sergeants Course slot does not coast; your Marines notice the day you stop training them.
• —Skipping the Corporals Course packet because the slot is "probably next quarter." Slots evaporate; cutting scores do not move for you.
• —Running a PCI on your boots without reading their counseling. They are watching whether the standard is real or a paperwork drill.
• —Mishandling a sensitive item — weapon, NVG, radio — even once. The 1stSgt knows your name now, and not the way you want.
• —Posting OPSEC-relevant photos from a workup, a MEU, or a Twentynine Palms ITX. The S2 runs the sweep; your platoon pays the price for what you put online.

The good Cpl is the Marine the squad leader puts on the most important slot in the team without thinking — pointman on the breach, automatic rifleman in contact, terminal guidance on the support-by-fire. His boots are squared away because he counsels them honestly, not because he yells, and the platoon sergeant has already mentioned him to the company gunny for the next Sergeant board.

The squad is yours. Three fire teams, three Cpls, nine to thirteen Marines, and the platoon sergeant is mentoring you while the platoon commander leans on you to translate his intent into something the boots can rehearse.

You run a 12-13 Marine rifle squad — three fire teams plus you — and you are responsible for their training, their equipment, their families, and their careers. You write FitReps on your three Cpls (yes, FitReps — in this Corps everyone E-1 to O-10 gets one annually under MCO 1610.7), you defend a squad scheme of maneuver in the platoon back-brief, you sign for serialized gear, and you translate the lieutenant's intent into a SMEAC the fire team leaders can rehearse without you in the room. You will be in the COC and the company office more than you remember being on the line — but the line is still where the job lives.

• 01Develop and brief a squad scheme of maneuver that the platoon commander does not have to rewrite — graphics, control measures, fire support plan, sustainment.
• 02Run a squad attack or defense live-fire as the squad leader — risk assessment (ORM), surface danger zones, MEDEVAC plan, ammo accountability — to the NAVMC 3500.44 collective standard.
• 03Write a clean Section A on FitReps for your three Cpls — observed behavior, action-result-impact, no inflation that the reporting senior cannot defend.
• 04Run a squad through MCCRE-graded lanes and recover from a thumping AAR without losing the squad on the way out.
• 05Mentor your three Cpls into Sergeants Course-ready candidates — fire team leadership, FitRep prep, composite score management.
• 06Walk a Marine through a financial problem (predatory lender, garnishment, command financial specialist referral) without making it the platoon sergeant's problem first.

• —MCRP 3-10A.3 — Marine Rifle Squad (own this manual; the platoon sergeant will quote it back to you).
• —MCRP 3-10A.4 — Marine Rifle Platoon (you operate at platoon level now in the planning phase).
• —MCWP 3-01 — Offensive and Defensive Tactics for the Marine Air-Ground Task Force.
• —NAVMC 3500.44 — Infantry T&R (Sgt / squad-level collective tasks; you are evaluated against this).
• —MCO 1610.7 — Performance Evaluation System (you write FitReps now, not just receive them).
• —MCO 1400.32 — Marine Corps Promotion Manual (composite scores, cutting scores, board eligibility for SSgt).

• —Sergeants Course graduate — required and gated, no exceptions on the path to SSgt.
• —Brown Belt MCMAP minimum; Black Belt is what the company gunny notes on the next FitRep.
• —1st-Class PFT and CFT; your squad average is watched and reported.
• —Squad MCCRE / pre-deployment evaluation rated at the unit standard or above — the platoon commander's next FitRep depends on it.
• —Composite score tracked monthly; pull the current MARADMIN / TFRS cutting score for 0311 to SSgt before you ask where you stand.

• —Verbal counseling only. If it is not in writing — page-11 entry or formal counseling — it did not happen and the company commander cannot defend you when it matters.
• —Letting your team smoke the platoon sergeant's sensitive-items count because you did not pre-inspect on Sunday.
• —Doing the work yourself instead of teaching the Cpl to do it. The fire team will fail when you go to Sergeants Course and you will be the reason.
• —Hiding a SAPR, EO, or self-harm-ideation issue from the chain. The Marine, the squad, and your career all need it in the system inside 24 hours.
• —Going around the platoon sergeant to the company gunny or 1stSgt. The chain runs through your platoon sergeant for a reason; the company will hear about it before you walk back to the squad.

The good Sgt is the squad leader the platoon sergeant gives the worst Marine in the company to, because that Marine comes back a Marine instead of a paperwork problem. His Cpls are FitRep-ready, his squad scores the company's top MCCRE lane, and the platoon sergeant can take 30 days of leave knowing the platoon will not embarrass anyone on the calendar.

You are the senior NCO of a 30-45 Marine rifle platoon. The lieutenant signs. You execute. The company gunny is watching, and the SSgt-to-GySgt board is the career hurdle that defines your next decade.

You run the platoon's enlisted side — training, evaluations, schools, promotions, MCMAP belt progression, discipline, equipment accountability, family readiness. You write three to four Sgt FitReps per cycle, you defend the platoon's scheme of maneuver in the company back-brief, you build your lieutenant into a company commander, and you cover his blind spots without ever publicly correcting him. You operate at company and battalion level — the company gunny and the CO know your name, the S-3 schedules training around what your platoon can support, and the BSgtMaj is reading your FitRep against every other platoon sergeant in the battalion.

• 01Build a platoon training plan that survives contact with the S-3 long-range training calendar — T&R-aligned, resource-bid, locked in the calendar.
• 02Write three to four Sgt FitReps per cycle that the reporting senior can defend at the battalion review — clean Section A, defensible attributes.
• 03Run a platoon-level collective live fire or MCCRE event to the NAVMC 3500.44 collective standard — risk assessment, surface danger zones, casualty rehearsal.
• 04Mentor three Sgts into SSgt-board-ready candidates without losing your edge on your own Career Course prep.
• 05Run a casualty notification or serious-incident response that the family and the company can live with — composed, scripted, and on the company's timeline.
• 06Act as company gunny in his absence — accountability formation, sick call, working parties, training calendar, all of it.

• —MCRP 3-10A.4 — Marine Rifle Platoon (own this cover to cover).
• —MCRP 3-10A.5 / MCRP 3-10A.6 — Marine Rifle Company.
• —MCWP 3-01 — Offensive and Defensive Tactics for MAGTFs.
• —NAVMC 3500.44 — Infantry T&R (platoon-level collective standards you run training against).
• —MCO 1610.7 — Performance Evaluation System (FitRep policy you now write against, not just receive).
• —MCO 1400.32 — Marine Corps Promotion Manual (SSgt-to-GySgt board mechanics, FitRep relative-value impact).

• —Career Course (resident or distance) completed; SNCO Academy slot for GySgt-level resident as soon as the board signals.
• —Black Belt MCMAP — at the SSgt level the platoon expects you to be one of the senior instructors in the company.
• —Platoon PFT/CFT pass rate at or above 95%; the BSgtMaj sees the unit health-of-the-force report and knows whose platoon is dragging.
• —Platoon MCCRE rating in the top tier of the company; ITX/SLTE evaluation that the company commander can brief without an apology.
• —FitRep relative value above battalion average — the SSgt-to-GySgt board is FitRep-driven, and one weak cycle moves the timeline by years.

• —Writing a FitRep as a wish list instead of an evaluation. The reporting senior remembers the SSgt who inflated, and so does the next board.
• —Skipping the risk assessment on a live-fire. The CO will not stand behind you when a Marine loses a hand and the ORM worksheet is blank.
• —Letting your senior Sgt run wild because "he is your guy." That is favoritism on the next IG complaint and a relief on the next.
• —Allowing sensitive-items or armory accountability to slide during a movement day. One missing serial number eats the company training calendar for a week.
• —Hiding platoon problems from the company gunny to look good. He will find out — usually from the lieutenant, in the worst possible meeting.

The good SSgt platoon sergeant runs a platoon that performs identically whether he is at MEDEVAC or in the COC. His three Sgts are SSgt-board ready. His Marines re-enlist for the right reasons, the school slots they wanted, and the company commander is willing to lose him to B Billet because the entire battalion knows he comes back as the GySgt the Corps needs.

You are the company gunny — or the operations chief, or the senior platoon sergeant of the toughest platoon. Whatever the billet, you are the noncommissioned officer the entire company runs through, and the 1stSgt is the only Marine in the building above you.

You run the company's training and tasking calendar in concert with the 1stSgt and the company commander. You manage 100+ Marines through your platoon sergeants, you advise the CO on every enlisted decision, and you set the standard in formation that the boots watch and the SNCOs follow. You write three to five SSgt FitReps per cycle, you sit on the company training board with the operations officer, you run the company through pre-deployment training (ITX at Twentynine Palms, MCCRE, SLTE), and you start the conversation with the 1stSgt and the BSgtMaj about the MSgt-vs-1stSgt path before the next board cycle.

• 01Build and defend a company quarterly training schedule that the CO can brief at battalion BUB without surprises — T&R-aligned, resource-realistic, with bench-warming events built in.
• 02Write three to five SSgt FitReps per cycle that the battalion FitRep board can defend — clean attribute rationale, defensible relative value.
• 03Run a company through an ITX rotation at Twentynine Palms (MCAGCC) or a Bridgeport / Okinawa training package as the senior NCO on the manifest.
• 04Mentor three or four SSgts into Career Course graduates and GySgt-board-ready candidates; identify the one or two who should be steering toward 1stSgt vs. MSgt.
• 05Brief the company commander honestly on enlisted morale, retention, family readiness, and discipline trends the CO cannot see from his desk.
• 06Run a Red Cross or casualty notification with the dignity it requires — the family sees your face first.

• —MCRP 3-10A.5 / MCRP 3-10A.6 — Marine Rifle Company (your operational manual now).
• —MCDP 1 — Warfighting; MCDP 1-3 — Tactics (you teach the next generation off these, not consume them).
• —NAVMC 3500.44 — Infantry T&R (company-level collective tasks you build the training plan against).
• —MCO 1610.7 — Performance Evaluation System (FitRep mechanics you now teach to your SSgts).
• —MCO 1400.32 — Marine Corps Promotion Manual (GySgt-to-MSgt/1stSgt board mechanics, MOS roadmap).
• —MCO 5354.1 / MCO 1000.9 — Marine Corps SAPR and Equal Opportunity policy (you enforce these, the IG checks them).

• —SNCO Academy Advanced Course (Career Course) graduate; SNCO Academy Senior Course slated when MSgt board approaches.
• —Black Belt Instructor (MCMAP) is the bar at this rank — Black Belt Instructor-Trainer (BBIT) if your career path supports it.
• —1st-Class PFT and CFT; the formation watches the company gunny's scores more than anyone's except the 1stSgt.
• —Company MCCRE / ITX rating that the battalion can brief without apology; pre-deployment training delivered on the timeline the CO signed for.
• —FitRep profile that the senior reporting official can defend at MSgt/1stSgt board — relative value, attributes, and rationale all aligned.

• —Letting one platoon sergeant drift because you trust him. That is the platoon the IG inspection lands on and the company gunny absorbs.
• —Confusing being tight with the CO with being aligned with the CO. The company needs you to push back honestly, in his office, with the door closed.
• —Carrying a personal feud with a peer GySgt into the company. The BSgtMaj notices, the FitRep board notices, and the slate writes itself.
• —Skipping the family readiness piece because "the spouses run that." You sign the unit health-of-the-force input for a reason.
• —Going around the 1stSgt to the BSgtMaj. You will be wrong on the facts and relieved on the spot — and the Corps does not forget that promotion.

The good GySgt is the SNCO the BSgtMaj is willing to send to the worst billet in the battalion because the unit comes back better and the FitReps come back clean. His SSgts get GySgt, his platoons hit the MCCRE standard, and the BSgtMaj is already mentioning his name to the regimental SgtMaj before the next 1stSgt slate goes up.

You are the standard-bearer for the formation. Marines know whether the unit is broken or fixed by watching how you stand at colors. The split between 1stSgt/SgtMaj (troop leadership) and MSgt/MGySgt (occupational SME) is the defining career decision of your final decade.

As 1stSgt you run the company — 130-180 Marines, the company office, the platoon sergeants, the training calendar, and the boundary between what the CO needs and what the company can actually deliver. As MSgt you are the senior occupational SME — operations chief, regimental gunny, MOS roadmap owner, or a battalion staff senior who shapes the next generation of GySgts. As SgtMaj you advise the battalion or regimental commander on every enlisted decision and you set the standard for hundreds to thousands of Marines by what you walk past in formation. As MGySgt you are the occupational pinnacle of the field, the Marine the MMPB calls when the MOS roadmap needs rewriting. You write fewer FitReps but they are the ones that pick the next 1stSgt and SgtMaj slates.

• 01Run a 1stSgt's call that produces actions, not anxiety — accountability, sick call, training, discipline, family readiness, finance — in 30 minutes flat.
• 02Build a company training and tasking calendar with the CO and the GySgt that survives the battalion BUB without losing the platoons.
• 03Mentor four GySgts and the senior SSgts as the next 1stSgt / MSgt cohort, with honest reads on who is troop-leadership and who is SME track.
• 04Walk the line during a battalion MCCRE or ITX and identify the broken systems in the platoons before the evaluators do.
• 05Run a Red Cross / casualty notification or memorial service with the dignity it requires — you are the face the family and the formation will remember.
• 06Brief the BC and the BSgtMaj on enlisted morale, retention, climate, and the second-order effects of policy decisions they cannot see from the conference room.

• —MCDP 1 — Warfighting; MCDP 1-3 — Tactics (you teach these, not consume them).
• —MCO 1610.7 — Performance Evaluation System (you are the rater or reviewing officer on the FitReps that decide the next slate).
• —MCO 1400.32 — Marine Corps Promotion Manual (1stSgt / SgtMaj / MGySgt board mechanics).
• —MCO 1900.16 / MCO P1900.16 — Marine Corps Retirement / Separation (you are the resource the unit comes to for transition questions).
• —MCO 5354.1 — SAPR Program; MCO 1000.9 — Equal Opportunity (you enforce both, the IG validates both).
• —The Sergeants Major Symposium reading list, the Commandant's Reading List, and the current Planning Guidance — you are now expected to consume strategic doctrine and translate it down to LCpls.

• —SNCO Academy Senior Course graduate; Sergeants Major Course (USMC SgtMaj Academy at Marine Corps University, Camp Geiger NC) before competing for command SgtMaj slate.
• —Company UCMJ rate, retention rate, and SAPR/EO climate index in the top tier of the battalion — the BSgtMaj reports up against every peer 1stSgt.
• —Personal FitRep profile that the reporting senior can defend at HQMC — the bar at this rank is whether your rated GySgts get selected for 1stSgt and MSgt.
• —Zero senior-enlisted-level integrity incidents — financial, fraternization, OPSEC. One ends the career permanently at this rank and the Corps does not relitigate.
• —Post-service transition plan running 24-36 months out — VA disability claim filed pre-EAS, SkillBridge slot identified, no retirement walked into cold.

• —Going public with disagreement with the CO. You take the disagreement in his office with the door closed; you walk out aligned, every time.
• —Confusing seniority with leverage. The Corps keeps senior enlisted who serve the formation, not the ones who run their own program off the company commander's back.
• —Stopping personal PT because you are "too senior." Marines stop respecting the chevrons when the body stops carrying them, and the 1st-Class PFT is still the bar.
• —Letting a GySgt run a bad climate because he is your guy. The BSgtMaj finds out, the regimental SgtMaj finds out, and the next slate gets read off without your name on it.
• —Confusing the warm-up to retirement with the job. Until you walk out of the formation for the last time, the formation is your job — boots are still watching how you carry it.

The good 1stSgt / SgtMaj is the senior Marine every boot in the formation knows by face and reputation. He is the reason the re-enlistment line forms after a hard ITX rotation. The CO trusts him with the worst news at 0200; the Marines trust him to walk away from a fight he cannot win for them only when he absolutely cannot win it. The good MGySgt is the Marine the MMPB calls when the 03XX occfield roadmap needs rewriting — and the GySgts in the regiment quote him without realizing they are doing it.