Reconnaissance Sniper

You have the 0322 designation but you have not yet earned the community's trust in the scope. The sniper credential is the beginning of scrutiny, not the end of it.

You completed Basic Recon Course (BRC), held 0321 long enough to earn trust in the Recon community, and attended Scout Sniper Basic Course (SSBC) at Quantico — a demanding course with a genuine attrition rate where the Marine who arrives thinking the Recon background is sufficient regularly learns otherwise. You now carry both the Recon and sniper skill sets simultaneously. In garrison, your daily work is sustaining both competencies: long-range marksmanship drills, ballistic data validation, stalking rehearsals, ghillie maintenance, spotter/ shooter iteration, and the full Recon patrol and amphibious sustainment requirements that do not disappear because you added a secondary skill. In the field, you are typically operating as a two-Marine sniper team or as part of a combined Recon/sniper element — observation post establishment, long-range target acquisition, and reporting that feeds the battalion commander's decision cycle. The honest reality at this tier: the SSBC taught you the technique; the team is now teaching you judgment, and those are not the same lesson.

• 01Engage man-sized targets at distance with the M40A6 or MRAD to SSBC qualification standards — cold bore first-round hit is the standard, not the exception.
• 02Run a complete ballistic firing solution using Kestrel weather data, current DOPE, and manual back-computation — because the ballistic solver dies at the worst moment.
• 03Conduct a stalking exercise to MCRP 3-11.2 standards — movement, approach, final firing position construction, shot delivery, and undetected extraction under observation.
• 04Build and maintain a ghillie suit to the vegetation profile of the operational area — not the training area, the operational area.
• 05Operate as a qualified spotter: call the observation post report, range and mark the target, read wind at distance, and provide the shooter with a complete data packet before the trigger breaks.
• 06Sustain all 0321 Recon competencies in parallel — patrol planning, communications, amphibious sustainment, reporting formats — because the sniper element that cannot operate independently in the Recon framework is a liability, not an asset.

• —MCRP 3-11.2 — Marine Sniper: the primary doctrinal authority for sniper employment, stalking standards, observation and reporting procedures.
• —NAVMC 3500.55 — Reconnaissance T&R Manual: the 0321 qualification requirements that remain in force for 0322 Marines; the sniper designation does not replace the Recon T&R requirements.
• —NAVMC 3500.44 — Infantry T&R Manual: the broader infantry framework the sniper element operates within at the battalion level.
• —FM 3-05.222 / MCWP 3-11.3 — Scouting and Patrolling: the patrolling foundation that a Recon sniper element uses to move to and from the objective area.
• —Kestrel Applied Ballistics / TRASOL documentation and the unit's approved ballistic solver training materials: your technical reference for solving firing problems the manual cannot pre-compute for you.
• —MCO 1610.7 — Performance Evaluation System: FitRep mechanics — as a junior 0322 you receive FitReps and the language the team leader writes about your sniper competency is read against the 0322 community standard.

• —1st-Class PFT and CFT under MCO 6100.13 — the Recon/sniper community reads anything below 1st-Class as a warning label; the sniper whose body fails the physical standard is not trusted with the patience required to do the technical work.
• —SSBC completion recorded in MCTFS with 0322 MOS awarded — the credential that opens the sniper billet assignment; verify the recording against your master brief sheet after PCS.
• —Current DOPE book maintained and validated at the team's last range session — the sniper without a current confirmed DOPE book is an operator who has not done the work.
• —Stalking lane completed to MCRP 3-11.2 standards at the unit's most recent training evaluation — the community's visible test of whether SSBC proficiency is being sustained.
• —All 0321 T&R events current per NAVMC 3500.55 — the Recon competency checklist does not stall because you are a 0322; the team chief tracks both.

• —Trusting a ballistic solver output without a manual back-computation check at a new range or under changed atmospheric conditions. The solver is a tool; the round does not negotiate with the tool.
• —Letting ghillie construction drift toward "good enough for the training area" rather than matching the operational target area vegetation. The stalking failure that ends a mission is usually the ghillie that worked at Quantico and does not work in the deployment environment.
• —Defaulting to the shooter role and letting spotter skills atrophy. The 0322 who cannot run a competent spotter data package is half a sniper team — and field conditions will make you switch roles at the worst moment.
• —Treating the 0321 sustainment requirements as secondary. A Recon sniper team that cannot operate independently in an austere environment because one Marine let swim qualifications or patrol planning proficiency lapse has negated the value of the sniper skill set.
• —Confirming a firing solution verbally with the shooter before the trigger breaks and then correcting it mid-engagement. Say the number once, correctly, with the data verified — the correction that arrives after the shot is not a correction.

The good junior 0322 is the sniper team member the team chief does not think about until the engagement window opens — because the DOPE book is current, the ghillie matches the terrain, the spotter data was ready before the shooter asked, and after the evolution the AAR is honest about what the team's zero drift was and why. The Recon competencies are current because this Marine never treated them as optional.

You are the Cpl who has earned the scope and is now accountable for another Marine's marksmanship, judgment, and survival in the same hide.

You are running a two-Marine sniper team as the senior Marine — which means the reporting discipline, the target selection, the entry and extraction planning, and the go/no-go decision in the final firing position are yours. You brief the sniper employment annex to the Recon platoon or company commander, you validate your subordinate Marine's firing data and DOPE book, and you run the observation post rotation and reporting cycle that keeps the intelligence picture flowing to the battalion COC. You are also building your Corporals Course packet, managing your composite score, and sustaining the full 0321 qualification currency in addition to the 0322 sniper tasks — which means your training calendar is fuller than a standard Recon Cpl and the maintenance of both skill sets is non-negotiable. The demanding truth at this tier is that the Cpl who lets sniper marksmanship work drift while they focus on the team leadership piece is not a senior sniper — they are a senior Recon Marine who used to shoot well.

• 01Plan and brief a sniper team employment scheme for a Recon element — insertion method, observation post site selection, engagement criteria, reporting format, extraction route.
• 02Validate the junior Marine's ballistic data independently before the team moves to the final firing position — your name is on the reporting that follows the engagement.
• 03Run a complete observation post cycle: site selection, establishment, reporting format submission, sector coverage, and occupied OP rotation during extended surveillance.
• 04Engage a moving or partially obscured target at extended range under time pressure — the engagement the SSBC talked about and the field will eventually produce without a warning order.
• 05Conduct an after-action review of a sniper employment that includes honest analysis of target engagement decision quality, not just shot placement.
• 06Maintain 0321 qualification currency at the Cpl level: patrol planning, HRST/airborne/dive qualifications where held, communications, and reporting formats the Recon element depends on.

• —MCRP 3-11.2 — Marine Sniper: own this manual; the platoon commander will quote it back to you in the back-brief.
• —NAVMC 3500.55 — Reconnaissance T&R Manual: Cpl-level individual and collective tasks for both the 0321 and 0322 qualification requirements.
• —MCRP 3-10A.3 — Marine Rifle Squad: the infantry framework the sniper team operates within when attached to a rifle unit.
• —FM 3-05.222 / MCWP 3-11.3 — Scouting and Patrolling: the patrolling framework for sniper team independent movement.
• —MCO 1400.32 — Marine Corps Promotion Manual: composite score construction for the Sgt board — in a small MOS like 0322, the cutting score is visible and the Corporals Course slot is not optional.
• —MCO 1610.7 — Performance Evaluation System: you write proficiency and conduct marks on your junior Marine now, and Section A of the FitRep is the observable performance of a sniper team, not a rifle squad.

• —Corporals Course completed before the Sgt board cycle; no exceptions in the 0322 community.
• —1st-Class PFT and CFT sustained; the Recon/sniper community does not negotiate on physical standards at Cpl level and the team chief is watching.
• —DOPE book validated at the last range session under current atmospheric and equipment conditions — the Cpl who cannot produce a verified DOPE book at team chief's request is the Cpl who does not take the team to the final firing position.
• —Junior Marine's 0322 and 0321 T&R events current per NAVMC 3500.55 — the Cpl team leader is accountable for the team member's qualification currency.
• —Composite score current for the 0322 to Sgt board cycle; pull the TFRS cutting score before telling anyone "I'm close."

• —Approving a final firing position that satisfies the SSBC stalking checklist but does not provide adequate extraction concealment. The engagement is 20 seconds; the extraction is where teams get compromised and the Cpl chose the hide.
• —Allowing the junior Marine's DOPE book to go unvalidated for two range cycles because "the rifle is zeroed." The zero is not the DOPE — atmospheric drift and barrel wear accumulate between sessions.
• —Deciding to engage without confirming with the higher element that the target meets the engagement criteria and the timing is clear. The Cpl who takes an unauthorized engagement in the sniper role creates an incident report, not a confirmed kill.
• —Delegating the observation post report to the junior Marine without review before transmission. The reporting that leaves the OP carries your name upward to the COC.
• —Going to Corporals Course without current firing data from the last range session. The course covers leadership; the team chief still checks the DOPE book when you come back.

The good Cpl 0322 is the sniper team the Recon platoon commander uses for the first priority target in the objective area, because the engagement criteria have never been misapplied, the reporting from the OP is in the right format before the COC asks for it, and the junior Marine on the team is getting better every cycle instead of coasting on the Cpl's reputation.

You own two sniper teams and the Recon section's long-range kill chain. The commander depends on the employment recommendation you make before the mission launches.

You are the sniper section leader — typically responsible for two sniper teams, their training, their employment planning, and their accountability within the Recon company structure. You brief the company commander on sniper employment during the order, you integrate sniper targeting into the company fire support plan, you run section-level gunnery training events, and you write FitReps on the two team leaders under you. You advise the company commander and the battalion S-3 on long-range target acquisition and precision engagement in the objective area — which means you are in planning meetings before the platoon commanders are and you need to understand the commander's scheme of maneuver well enough to recommend where precision fire adds value versus where it complicates the direct action scheme. The Recon competencies are still fully required: you are planning and executing independent Recon patrols alongside the sniper employment mission. The honest weight of this tier is that you are simultaneously a sniper and an NCO, and both roles demand full attention — the Sgt who decides one is more important than the other has made the wrong call.

• 01Develop a sniper employment annex for a Recon company operation — team task organization, insertion and extraction methods, engagement criteria, reporting format, exfiltration plan — and defend it at the company back-brief.
• 02Run a section-level sniper gunnery event: range planning, safety coordination, DOPE validation for all teams, firing data analysis, and an after-action that identifies the technical gaps the section will train against next quarter.
• 03Write FitReps on two Cpl sniper team leaders — Section A entries based on observable sniper employment outcomes and team training quality, not personal rapport.
• 04Advise the company commander on the integration of sniper employment with organic Recon patrol tasks — where the two overlap, where they conflict, and what the second-order effects of either choice are.
• 05Conduct a long-range target identification and reporting cycle using AN/PAS-13 thermal and laser rangefinder as the primary targeting tool, and produce a target report that the battalion COC can use to build a fire support decision.
• 06Sustain the section's 0321 qualification currency while managing the 0322 sniper training calendar — two training programs on one calendar is the logistics problem the section leader solves.

• —MCRP 3-11.2 — Marine Sniper: the employment doctrine your section annex is built against and the standard the company commander references when he questions your employment recommendation.
• —NAVMC 3500.55 — Reconnaissance T&R Manual: Sgt-level collective tasks for both 0321 and 0322; the section leader is accountable for all events across both skill sets.
• —MCO 1610.7 — Performance Evaluation System: you write FitReps on Cpl team leaders now; the reporting language for a sniper team leader is precision engagement outcomes and target reporting quality, not general infantry leadership.
• —MCWP 3-16 / MCRP 3-16-series — fire support and fires integration: the sniper section leader at Sgt level must understand how sniper employment integrates with and deconflicts from supporting arms.
• —MCO 1400.32 — Marine Corps Promotion Manual: composite score for the SSgt board; Sergeants Course slot; in a small specialized MOS the cutting score and the FitRep relative value are both visible against a narrow pool.
• —NAVMC 3500.44 — Infantry T&R Manual: the broader infantry framework the Recon sniper section operates within when attached to the battalion.

• —Sergeants Course completed; required and gated for SSgt board eligibility in the 0322 community.
• —Section gunnery event completed with documented DOPE validation for all assigned sniper teams — the standard the company gunny and the battalion S-3 use to evaluate whether the section leader can run the section without supervision.
• —1st-Class PFT and CFT sustained by the Sgt and all assigned team leaders; the company gunny sees the section's physical scores and they are not separated from the sniper qualification in the readiness brief.
• —FitRep relative value above company average in consecutive cycles; the SSgt board in a small MOS reads the 0322 pool against itself and the Sgt whose FitRep is average in a small community is below-average in the selection.
• —Sniper section training calendar integrated with the Recon company training plan — synchronized against the S-3 long-range training calendar and not generating conflicts the company commander has to resolve.

• —Recommending sniper employment in an objective area without confirming the surface danger zones and observer/target baseline geometry are compatible with the company's scheme of maneuver. The sniper employment that generates a friendly-fire safety violation is the recommendation the section leader briefed.
• —Doing the work yourself instead of building the team leader's capacity to run the section during Sergeants Course. The section that fails when the Sgt is away is the section the Sgt failed to train.
• —Hiding a sniper team's long-range qualification drift from the company gunny because it reflects on the section leader. The company gunny who finds it at the pre-deployment evaluation has a different level of confidence problem.
• —Writing a FitRep for a Cpl team leader based on personal loyalty rather than observable sniper employment outcomes. The small 0322 community reads FitRep inflation within two cycles and the section leader whose ratings no longer mean anything has lost a leadership tool permanently.
• —Separating the sniper training from the Recon training in planning as if they are two independent programs. The 0322 Marine who is current on sniper skills but behind on 0321 T&R events is not a Recon sniper — they are a sniper who was previously a Recon Marine.

The good Sgt 0322 is the section leader the company commander uses for the targeting annex in the operations order because the employment schemes come back with the right geometry, the team leaders are building better products every cycle, and after a hard exercise the AAR identifies the section's actual technical gaps instead of confirming what everyone already suspected. Both FitReps are written on time and the company gunny did not have to ask twice.

You are the senior enlisted sniper in the company. The sniper section's training program, its qualification standards, and its employment doctrine are your product. If the section is broken, that is also your product.

You are the company sniper chief — the senior SNCO responsible for the company's entire sniper capability, typically overseeing two to four sniper teams, writing FitReps on the Sgt section leaders, and advising the company commander on precision engagement integration in the company's operational scheme. You run the company sniper training program against MCRP 3-11.2 and NAVMC 3500.55 T&R standards, you coordinate sniper employment with the fire support coordinator at battalion level, and you are the company gunny's technical advisor on everything crew-served and precision-fire. You are also running your own Career Course packet, building the FitRep profile for the GySgt board, and managing the career development of the Sgt-level team leaders who are building their SSgt packages while simultaneously learning how to run a sniper section. The honest reality at SSgt is that the sniper skill set is no longer the most important thing you bring to the company; the section leader's ability to translate that skill set into a trained, employed, and reported capability is what the company commander is paying the SSgt for.

• 01Build and defend the company sniper training plan against NAVMC 3500.55 T&R standards — events scheduled, range time resourced, DOPE validation cycles built in, and the plan synchronized with the S-3 long-range training calendar before the company commander signs it.
• 02Write FitReps on two to four Sgt sniper section leaders that the battalion reporting senior can defend at the regimental review — observable precision employment outcomes, honest relative value ranking.
• 03Advise the company commander on sniper integration with the battalion fire support plan — deconfliction of sniper engagement areas with supporting arms, observer/target baselines, and the employment scheme that supports the scheme of maneuver without creating a fratricide risk.
• 04Run a company sniper live-fire gunnery event as the responsible SNCO — ORM, surface danger zones, medical plan, DOPE validation, performance analysis, and the after-action that drives the next training cycle.
• 05Mentor Sgt section leaders toward SSgt-board-ready sniper employment planning and FitRep writing proficiency; the section leader who cannot write a Section A entry for a precision engagement outcome is not ready for the SSgt board.
• 06Maintain personal sniper marksmanship currency — the company sniper chief who cannot shoot to the standard the section is being trained against has no floor from which to hold the standard.

• —MCRP 3-11.2 — Marine Sniper: the authority you enforce across the company and the document the regimental inspector pulls during the pre-deployment sniper program review.
• —NAVMC 3500.55 — Reconnaissance T&R Manual: the collective task standards the company sniper program is evaluated against.
• —MCO 1610.7 — Performance Evaluation System: FitRep policy at the SNCO level — precision engagement outcomes are observable, defensible, and verifiable; write them that way.
• —MCWP 3-16 / MCRP 3-16-series — supporting arms and fires integration: the fire support coordination framework the company sniper chief must operate inside at the battalion fires planning level.
• —MCO 1400.32 — Marine Corps Promotion Manual: GySgt board mechanics and FitRep relative-value impact in a small specialized MOS.
• —MCO 5354.1 / MCO 1000.9 — SAPR and EO policy: the company sniper section is a high-stress, high-cohesion environment where misconduct is both more likely to be covered and more likely to damage the section if it is not addressed.

• —Career Course (SNCO Academy) enrolled or slated; required before competing for GySgt in the 0322 community.
• —Company sniper qualification records current per NAVMC 3500.55 for all assigned teams — the standard the regimental inspector checks at the pre-deployment review and the benchmark the company commander uses to evaluate the sniper chief.
• —Black Belt MCMAP under MCO 1500.54 — at SSgt the expectation is MCMAP instructor, not student; the sniper section is not exempt from the company MCMAP culture.
• —1st-Class PFT and CFT; the section's physical scores are a direct reflection of the sniper chief's standard.
• —FitRep relative value above battalion average in consecutive cycles; in the 0322 community the SSgt-to-GySgt board is reading a narrow FitRep pool and average is not a safe position.

• —Approving a sniper employment scheme that meets the mission requirement but whose engagement area has not been deconflicted with the battalion fire support coordination measures. The fratricide incident that traces to the sniper employment annex the SSgt approved is the last training event this SSgt runs.
• —Delegating the section's DOPE validation to the Sgts and not personally verifying the process was completed correctly before the pre-deployment gunnery evaluation. The section that fails the evaluation because the DOPE books have not been confirmed since the last rotation is the section the SSgt submitted.
• —Treating personal marksmanship maintenance as optional because the SSgt role is supervisory. The company sniper chief who cannot demonstrate the standard they are enforcing has no authority over the Sgt who argues the standard is wrong.
• —Writing Section A FitRep language that inflates a Sgt team leader who is managing the section administratively but letting the snipers drift technically. The GySgt board can read the gap between the FitRep language and the section's gunnery metrics.
• —Going to Career Course without having personally verified the company sniper program can sustain itself in the SSgt's absence. The section that fails during the SSgt's school absence is the SSgt's fault for leaving without ensuring continuity.

The good SSgt 0322 is the company sniper chief who can hand the section to a Sgt team leader for 60 days of Career Course and return to find the gunnery metrics holding, the T&R events current, and the FitRep cycle on track — because the training program was built to run without daily supervision, not because the SSgt was trusted and lucky.

You are the senior enlisted sniper practitioner in the battalion. The sniper employment doctrine that the infantry battalion applies to its precision engagement problem is your technical product.

You are the battalion sniper chief — typically overseeing two to four company-level sniper sections, managing the battalion's sniper program against regimental standards, and advising the battalion commander and S-3 on precision engagement integration across the battalion's operational plan. You write FitReps on the company sniper SSgts, you coordinate with the battalion fires officer on sniper employment deconfliction, you run the battalion's sniper qualification evaluation and the pre-deployment gunnery standard, and you are the senior SNCO at the battalion level who holds the 0322 community's technical standard in place when the operational tempo creates pressure to lower it. You are also beginning the transition from community technical expert to formation leader — the GySgt whose identity is entirely centered on sniper marksmanship is not the GySgt the 1stSgt and battalion SgtMaj are recommending for the MSgt / 1stSgt track. The battalion needs your technical expertise and your enlisted leadership simultaneously, and the GySgt who confuses one for the other is leaving something important on the table.

• 01Build and defend the battalion sniper program — training plan, qualification standards, T&R currency, pre-deployment evaluation — at the regimental review as the battalion's senior sniper technical authority.
• 02Write FitReps on two to three company sniper SSgts per cycle that the reporting senior can defend at the regimental FitRep review — observable precision employment outcomes, defensible relative-value ranking.
• 03Advise the battalion commander and S-3 on sniper integration in the battalion combat plan — engagement area assignments, fire support coordination measure deconfliction, observer/target line geometry, and the employment scheme that supports the scheme of maneuver without creating fratricide risk.
• 04Run the battalion sniper pre-deployment gunnery evaluation as the responsible GySgt — standard validation, DOPE verification across all teams, performance analysis, remediation plan for teams that do not meet the standard.
• 05Mentor company sniper SSgts into Career Course readiness and battalion-level employment planning competency; the SSgt who can brief the battalion S-3 on sniper integration without the GySgt in the room is the one who earns the battalion sniper chief succession plan.
• 06Transition personal identity from "sniper who leads" to "leader whose credibility comes from precision standards" — the GySgt who can no longer demonstrate the marksmanship standard personally but holds the standard institutionally is not the same as the GySgt who simply let the skills atrophy.

• —MCRP 3-11.2 — Marine Sniper: the authority you enforce at battalion level and the standard the regimental inspector measures your program against.
• —NAVMC 3500.55 — Reconnaissance T&R Manual: battalion-level sniper qualification standards and collective task requirements.
• —MCO 1610.7 — Performance Evaluation System: FitRep mechanics at GySgt — the SSgt FitReps you write are the inputs to the MSgt / 1stSgt board that defines the next generation of 0322 community leaders.
• —MCWP 3-16 — supporting arms and fires integration: the fire support doctrine the battalion sniper chief operates inside at the full fires coordination meeting level.
• —MCO 1400.32 — Marine Corps Promotion Manual: MSgt / 1stSgt board mechanics and the FitRep relative-value impact in a small, specialized MOS community.
• —MCO 5354.1 / MCO 1000.9 — SAPR and EO policy: the battalion sniper community has the same obligations as the rifle company; the GySgt who lets those standards drift because "it's a small elite team" is holding an IG finding.

• —SNCO Academy Advanced Course completed; Senior Course slated before competing for MSgt or 1stSgt board.
• —Battalion sniper qualification rate at or above the regimental standard for the pre-deployment evaluation — the metric the regimental SgtMaj sees and the baseline the GySgt is accountable for.
• —Black Belt MCMAP Instructor; the expectation at GySgt in the 0322 community is that the senior sniper SNCO is one of the company's senior MCMAP instructors.
• —1st-Class PFT and CFT; the formation watches the battalion sniper chief's physical scores and the standard the GySgt models is the standard the section leaders will model.
• —FitRep relative value above battalion average in consecutive cycles; the MSgt / 1stSgt board is reading the 0322 GySgt FitRep pool against a small comparison group and the average FitRep is not a safe position.

• —Allowing the battalion sniper qualification standard to drift downward under pre-deployment timeline pressure because the training calendar cannot support a full remediation cycle. The battalion that deploys with a sniper section below the MCRP 3-11.2 standard is the battalion whose sniper section the GySgt certified as ready.
• —Confusing the senior sniper SNCO identity with a technical-specialist identity that avoids the formation leadership work. The GySgt who is known only as "the sniper guy" and not as a competitive SNCO is not being read by the 1stSgt and SgtMaj as a candidate for the senior enlisted leadership the Corps actually needs.
• —Writing Section A FitRep language that is precise about marksmanship outcomes but vague about the SSgt's leadership of the sniper section. The MSgt / 1stSgt board reads precision engagement outcomes and it also reads whether this SNCO can develop subordinates.
• —Letting a company sniper section's DOPE books go unvalidated between range cycles because the company is in a training deployment and "operational conditions count." They count toward the deployment narrative; they do not validate the firing data.
• —Going to SNCO Academy without having confirmed the battalion sniper program continuity plan. The section that loses training tempo during the GySgt's absence because there is no succession plan is not a small-MOS problem — it is a leadership planning failure.

The good GySgt 0322 is the battalion sniper chief the regimental SgtMaj sends the junior company sniper SSgts to visit because the program is built right and runs without the GySgt standing over it. The battalion passes the pre-deployment sniper evaluation without a sprint to prepare, the FitReps on the SSgts are honest and defensible, and the BSgtMaj is beginning the 1stSgt / MSgt conversation with this GySgt before the board cycle forces it.

You are the occupational standard-setter for one of the most technically demanding and numerically small enlisted specialties in the Marine Corps. What the 0322 community will look like in ten years starts with the decisions you are making right now.

As MSgt you are typically the senior 0322 occupational expert at a major command, a Monitor billet at HQMC managing 0322 career paths, or a senior sniper trainer and doctrine developer at a formal school or combat development command. As 1stSgt you are running a Recon company — a formation where the sniper and Recon competencies are inseparable and where the 1stSgt's technical credibility in both areas is the floor the company's standards rest on. As SgtMaj you advise the battalion or regimental commander on the entire Recon/sniper capability across the command. As MGySgt you are the occupational pinnacle — the Marine the Warfighting Center calls when the MCRP 3-11.2 revision needs a practitioner's hand. At every position in this tier, the community is small enough that your decisions about standard, school, career management, and what gets tolerated are shaping the 0322 field for the decade after you leave.

• 01Advise the battalion or regimental commander on the precision engagement capability across the command — qualification status, training gaps, deployment readiness, and the employment schemes the command is attempting versus the capability the snipers can actually deliver.
• 02Run the 1stSgt's call for a Recon company where the 0321 and 0322 populations mix — accountability, training calendar, physical readiness, qualification currency, and discipline management in a formation with a high-initiative, high-autonomy culture that still requires NCO accountability.
• 03Shape the 0322 occupational field through Monitor billet decisions, T&R program revisions, or MCRP 3-11.2 doctrine development — the practitioner input that keeps the sniper doctrine connected to what snipers are actually doing downrange.
• 04Write FitReps on four to six GySgts and SSgts per cycle with the specificity and honest relative-value ranking that the MSgt / SgtMaj boards require from a small community.
• 05Brief the commanding general or flag-level staff on the 0322 community's health — manning, qualification rates, doctrine currency, retention, and the second-order effects of force structure decisions on a small, technically demanding MOS.
• 06Mentor the GySgts below you into the 1stSgt / MSgt decision with honest reads on who belongs in the troop-leadership lane and who is the occupational SME the Corps needs for the next generation.

• —MCRP 3-11.2 — Marine Sniper: at MGySgt you are the Marine the Warfighting Center consults when the manual needs revision.
• —MCO 1400.32 — Marine Corps Promotion Manual: MSgt / 1stSgt / MGySgt / SgtMaj board mechanics and the FitRep inputs that drive the small 0322 community's leadership pipeline.
• —MCO 1610.7 — Performance Evaluation System: senior rater or reviewing official on the FitReps that decide the next generation of 0322 company snipers and community leaders.
• —NAVMC 3500.55 — Reconnaissance T&R Manual: the standard you hold the community against and the document you recommend revisions to when deckplate experience diverges from the printed standard.
• —MCO 1900.16 series — Separation and Retirement Manual: the senior enlisted resource the command calls when a complex transition case needs a practitioner's authority.
• —Commandant's Reading List and current Planning Guidance: at this tier the expectation is that the senior enlisted Marine understands what the Corps is trying to build and can translate that direction to the small 0322 community where it intersects sniper and Recon doctrine.

• —SNCO Academy Senior Course completed before competing for command SgtMaj slate.
• —Zero senior-enlisted-level integrity incidents — precision engagement community integrity failures are public, small-community visible, and career-terminal at this rank without exception.
• —Personal FitRep profile that the reporting senior can defend at HQMC — the MSgt / SgtMaj metric is whether the GySgts you rated got selected for their boards and whether the 0322 community is healthier than when you took the billet.
• —Post-service transition plan initiated 24-36 months before EAS or retirement — VA disability claim filed pre-EAS, SkillBridge slot identified, law enforcement or federal contractor precision employment pathway or SOF contract support sector identified and in motion.
• —Community health metrics briefed honestly to command — 0322 qualification rates, retention, doctrine currency, billet fill. The small community that tells the commanding general everything is fine when it is not has a senior enlisted leader who has confused loyalty with honesty.

• —Going public with a disagreement about 0322 standards or MCRP 3-11.2 doctrine. The disagreement goes to the Monitor, to the doctrine writer, or to the battalion SgtMaj with a data argument — not to the regiment as a signal that standards need to be defended against the chain of command.
• —Treating the senior sniper billet as a technical sinecure rather than a leadership accountability. The MGySgt who is writing brilliant doctrine revisions while the 0322 community's 1stSgts are running broken company programs is not serving both functions.
• —Confusing the warm-up to retirement with the job. The 0322 community is small enough that every sniper qualification that leaves this community wrong traces back to who was holding the standard at HQMC or the Warfighting Center when it happened.
• —Letting personal marksmanship identity become the primary leadership tool at the expense of the broader formation leadership the 1stSgt or SgtMaj role demands. The senior enlisted Marine who is remembered only as "a great shot" is not remembered as a great Marine.
• —Failing to document institutional lessons from combined arms exercise sniper employment failures in a format that survives the post-deployment rotation. The knowledge that leaves with the SgtMaj is the knowledge the next mishap will relearn.

The good MSgt / SgtMaj 0322 is the Marine the commanding general names in the pre-deployment brief as the community's senior technical authority — not because the rank demands it, but because the battalion's sniper sections perform at standard, the doctrine revisions this Marine provided are in the MCRP, and the GySgts who came up under this senior enlisted leader are running the company sniper programs the regimental inspector does not find deficiencies in. The community's FitRep pipeline is honest, the qualification rates reflect reality rather than administrative success, and when this Marine leaves, the 0322 field is better documented, better led, and harder to fool than when they arrived.