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0352E5

Anti-Tank Missileman

E-5 (Sergeant) · Marines

E1–E3E-4E-5E-6E-7E8–E9
HEADS UP

Section leader Sgt is the first rank where you write FitReps, own a section-level maintenance posture, and brief the platoon commander's fire plan — all simultaneously. The SSgt selection board is a paper-record review; the FitRep narratives you produce and receive at this rank tier are the record. Start writing clean Section A input on your Cpls from the first month and never stop.

The Honest MOS Read
Sergeant in the 0352 community is where the job scales from crew to section, from maintenance logbook to maintenance status report, from following a fire plan to building one. You are responsible for two or three TOW crews — somewhere between six and twelve Marines, two or three launchers, multiple vehicles, the ITAS systems, the missiles, and the NCOs (Cpls) running all of it. The section's training readiness, gunnery qualification status, maintenance posture, and FitRep health are yours to manage, and the platoon commander reads all four of those metrics through you. The fire plan is your professional signature at this rank. You develop the anti-armor section's fire plan inside the platoon scheme of maneuver — engagement area development, sector of fire for each crew, priority targets, displacement triggers, fire support coordination measures, no-fire criteria from the company OPORD — and you brief it in the platoon back-brief with graphics, overlays, and a terrain model that the platoon commander does not have to redraw. The section leader who arrives at the back-brief with a verbal sketch of the fire plan is the section leader the platoon commander is still correcting at midnight. The section leader who arrives with a five-paragraph brief, drawn graphics, and crew rehearsals already completed is the section leader the platoon commander trusts with the independent mission the platoon commander does not have time to supervise. FitRep writing under MCO 1610.7 is the most consequential thing you do at this rank that does not involve a missile. You write Section A narrative input for two or three Cpl crew leaders per rating period. That narrative — observed behavior, action-result-impact, no inflation the reporting senior cannot defend at the battalion FitRep board — feeds the attribute marks the platoon commander writes, which feeds the relative value placement that the company commander reviews, which feeds the competitive package the SSgt selection board reads three years from now. The crew leader FitRep that reads 'best Cpl I have ever seen' with no specific actions named behind it is the FitRep the battalion reviewing officer challenges at the company review, and the challenge falls on the Sgt who wrote it. Write in observed behavior. Name the action. Name the context. Name the result. Let the quality of the specific language carry the evaluation. The maintenance posture at section level is a management task the crew-leader rank does not prepare you for. At Cpl you owned one crew's logbook. At Sgt you own the section's maintenance status report — every NMC fault across all three launchers, tracked against EDD, escalated to the platoon sergeant when the fault cannot be resolved through the normal parts pipeline, and reconciled against the gunnery timeline so the section does not arrive at the annual qualification table with a launcher in deadline status. The section leader who lets a launcher sit NMC for three weeks because 'parts are on order' without escalating the EDD to the platoon sergeant or pulling a controlled-exchange option is the section leader who explains the gunnery failure to the company commander the week before MEU deployment. Gunnery qualification is the section's performance metric at this rank tier. The annual TOW gunnery qualification tables evaluate each crew's technical proficiency — pre-op procedures, engagement sequence discipline, ITAS tracking quality, immediate action execution — and the results roll up to the section's qualification rate, which is the first number the battalion anti-armor officer checks on the section's readiness report. A section with 100% crew qualification is a section that deploys with priority vehicle assignments. A section with one crew that could not qualify is a section the company gunny is tracking for remediation. The COC is more of your life than you expected as a section leader. S-4 on parts. S-3 on training windows. Armory on accountability. Company gunny on FitRep cycle timing. The Sgt who manages these interfaces without the platoon commander having to intervene is the Sgt the platoon commander describes as 'runs the section without supervision.' That description travels to the company commander's FitRep review and to the SSgt selection board narrative. The Sgt who brings every supply problem and scheduling conflict to the platoon commander is the Sgt who signals he cannot manage the section — and the platoon commander remembers that signal.
Career Arc
  • 01Sgt pin-on via cutting score under MCO 1400.32 — composite accumulated across Pro/Con marks, PFT/CFT, rifle qual, MCMAP, education credits.
  • 02Section leader assumption — hand receipts for multiple launchers and vehicles, FitRep authority on Cpl crew leaders.
  • 03Sergeants Course attendance — gated and required; Career Course scheduling begins on the Sgt timeline.
  • 04First annual TOW gunnery qualification table as section leader — section qualification rate feeds the readiness report and the FitRep narrative.
  • 05MEU PTP workup as section leader — MCCRE graded section collective tasks, MEU deployment afloat as the senior 0352 NCO in the section.
  • 06Lateral move and B-billet window: MARSOC (M&S Course), Recon (BRC), DI duty, MSG, recruiter — all open at Sgt, all time-constrained.
  • 07SSgt centralized selection board — paper-record review under MCO 1400.32; FitRep relative value at the Sgt tier is the primary discriminator.
Common Screwups
  • ×DUI or NJP at Sgt. At this rank you are the NCO the platoon commander and the company gunny defend in front of the 1stSgt when a junior Marine makes a mistake. An NJP on your own record as a section leader forecloses the SSgt selection board and usually triggers a page-11 that rides the service record for the career.
  • ×Failing to document counseling in writing — verbal correction only, no page-11, no formal counseling sheet — and then being unable to defend the discipline action when the Marine appeals or the IG investigates. The section leader who cannot produce a paper trail for a pattern of deficient crew performance is the section leader who gets reversed on the administrative action and has to explain the reversal to the company commander.
  • ×Writing inflated FitRep Section A input on Cpl crew leaders because you want to help them. The SSgt selection board reads relative value placement against the battalion's FitRep pool, not against the absolute language of the Section A. An inflated narrative that the reporting senior cannot defend at the battalion FitRep board is a credibility problem for the Sgt who wrote it — and the reporting senior (platoon commander) remembers who generated the problem.
  • ×Missing Sergeants Course — allowing the slot to pass without scheduling it because the operational tempo did not create a convenient window. The Sgt who arrives at the SSgt selection board zone without Sergeants Course completed is competing without a required credential. The board sees the gap.
  • ×Hiding section maintenance faults from the platoon sergeant to look good at the Monday morning readiness brief. The company gunny finds out from the motor-T chief or the S-4 parts clerk before the Sgt has a chance to reconcile the story — and the gap between what the Sgt reported and what the actual status was is the data point the company commander uses in the next FitRep review.

A Day in the Life

  • 0500Wake. Section leader's morning starts with the phone — any liberty incidents involving section Marines, any maintenance emergency the crew leaders texted overnight, any alert-force message from the platoon sergeant. Nothing? Good. Head to the company area early enough that your crew leaders see you at the formation before they see the platoon sergeant.
  • 0530PT formation. You account for the section (you plus three crew leaders plus six to nine junior Marines, depending on current TO&E), report to the platoon sergeant. Missing Marine from your section = your accountability problem to resolve before the platoon commander's morning read.
  • 0545-0700Unit PT — section runs, humps with system components, MCMAP mat days, strength events. The section leader sets the pace and the standard. On hump days, you carry the same load as the crew leaders. On mat days, you are on the mat with the junior Marines, not supervising from the sideline.
  • 0700-0830Hygiene, chow, change into utilities. Pre-walk at least one of the three crews' launchers before morning formation — spot-check rotating by crew, so every crew leader knows his pre-op will be verified unpredictably. Check the section maintenance tracker for any open faults approaching their EDD.
  • 0830Morning formation. Platoon sergeant gives the day's tasking; you give the section's portion of the plan to your crew leaders, and they brief their crews. Confirm all three crews have their priorities clear before the work day starts.
  • 0900-1130Section work day — section-level collective task rehearsal (fire plan terrain model, displacement coordination between crews, section ITAS tracking drill, crew-leader brief practice for the next back-brief), range coverage as section leader, company maintenance event with the section represented, or COC coordination (S-4 on parts, S-3 on training windows). You are running the section's task, not participating in the crew's task.
  • 1130-1300Chow. You sit with the other Sgts and the SSgts. Your crew leaders sit with the Cpls. Your junior Marines sit with the junior Marines. When the platoon sergeant sits down at your table, you have something worth reporting.
  • 1300-1500Afternoon — FitRep Section A input drafting during the rating period cycle, monthly counseling sessions with each Cpl on composite score and career milestones, parts pipeline follow-up with S-4 on NMC faults, Sergeants Course scheduling through the company gunny, terrain model prep for the next platoon back-brief, Career Course coursework if enrolled.
  • 1500-1600Final formation. Platoon sergeant gives tomorrow's plan; you brief the section. Sensitive items — all launcher serialized components, ITAS assemblies, crew-assigned NVDs, comms — back to the armory. You sign the section-level accountability form. Three crew leaders hand you their crew fault sheets for the evening; you consolidate into the section fault log.
  • 1600Liberty call if the section is not in a training cycle or on duty. As a section leader you are never fully off call — a Marine's problem at 2000 is your problem. Make sure every Marine in the section has your number.
  • 1700-2100Section leader personal time: Sergeants Course coursework or Career Course distance education, personal PT if the morning PT left something uncovered, terrain model prep for tomorrow's back-brief if there is one, financial and family admin. The section leader who uses this time for professional development compresses the timeline to the SSgt board.
  • 2100-2200Phone check — final accountability for any liberty incidents in the section. No calls? Lights out. If there is a call, the routing matrix is in your head: SAPR goes to the SARC, behavioral health goes to the Branch Medical Clinic's after-hours line, financial emergency goes to the Command Financial Specialist, legal goes to the Legal Assistance office — all of which have after-hours contacts if the situation is urgent.
  • ITX rotation at MCAGCC Twentynine Palms (21 days)The section leader's pace during ITX is: pre-brief the section before the platoon commander's back-brief, lead the section through the OC/T evaluated lanes, run the section AAR before the platoon sergeant runs the platoon AAR, escalate any maintenance fault that could affect the next day's training to the platoon sergeant the same evening it occurs. The OC/T's debrief on the section is the most public professional evaluation a section leader receives outside of the FitRep. The section that executes clean section collective tasks during ITX graded lanes comes home with the company commander's confidence behind it.
  • MEU deployment afloat (6-7 months)Section leader on the BLT (Battalion Landing Team). Three TOW crews, all their systems, all their equipment, on a ship. Maintenance is compressed — parts availability is limited, climate control is inconsistent, and the launchers accumulate corrosion faster than in a garrison motor pool. Daily maintenance log review, weekly consolidated fault report to the platoon sergeant, and a section gunnery qualification currency plan that keeps all three crews current without access to the ranges the qualification requires. The section leader who maintains launcher qualification currency on the MEU with limited range access is the section leader the platoon commander calls when the MEU-SOC mission profile requires anti-armor assets on short notice.

Weekly Cadence

The Mon-Fri rhythm for a Sgt section leader runs on three parallel tracks simultaneously: the section's training calendar, the section's maintenance posture, and the section's administrative cycle. Monday is the convergence day — the weekend's maintenance status comes in from the crew leaders' Sunday pre-op walks, the week's training schedule is confirmed or adjusted against what the S-3 calendar actually says after Friday's changes, and the platoon sergeant's Monday morning brief tells you what got cut and what got added. The section leader who shows up to the Monday morning brief with the section's maintenance status, the week's training plan, and the open parts pipeline statuses already reconciled is the section leader the platoon sergeant does not have to chase for information. Midweek is the training execution window. When there is a range event, the section goes to the range — section leader supervises the crew leaders' PCC/PCIs, spot-checks one of the three randomly, signs the consolidated fault sheet before the brief, and runs the section's portion of the range event. When there is no range event, the section runs collective task rehearsals in the company area: terrain model drill for the current or upcoming fire plan, crew-leader brief practice where each Cpl briefs his crew's portion of the section fire plan to the section leader before briefing it to the platoon commander, ITAS tracking drill in the parking lot with the vehicles in position, displacement sequence walk-through between crews. The section leader who does not have a training plan for a week without a range event is the section leader whose crews lose readiness currency between events. Friday is the maintenance audit and administrative close-out. All three crew leaders' logbooks reviewed and consolidated into the section maintenance tracker. Open fault EDDs checked and escalated if the math is closing toward the gunnery date. Pro/Con input month close if it is the monthly cycle — section leader reviews each Cpl's draft input against observable performance before submitting. Equipment inventories for the next week's field event if one is scheduled. Sergeants Course and Career Course scheduling follow-up through the company gunny if it is pending. The section leader who walks out of Friday final formation with a clean maintenance tracker, submitted Pro/Con marks, and a briefed section for the next week's tasks is the section leader who is running the section — not reacting to it.

Key Skills — How to Drill Each

  1. 01
    Develop a section anti-armor fire plan integrated with the platoon scheme of maneuver — engagement area, sector of fire per crew, displacement plan, priority of fires, triggers — and brief it in five paragraphs with drawn graphics, without notes.
    The fire plan development begins with the platoon commander's OPORD and the terrain analysis the section leader conducts using the range card graphics, the topographic map, and the section's own ground reconnaissance of the engagement area. Build the engagement area first: what is the terrain mask, what is the effective range of the TOW 2B at the target aspect angles in that terrain, where are the natural covered routes the enemy will use, what are the dead space areas that require alternate crew positioning. Then assign sectors: each crew's sector of fire drawn on the overlay, primary and alternate engagement positions for each crew, interlocking sectors that eliminate gaps. Then plan the displacement sequence: first crew moves on what trigger, second crew holds on what signal, linkup point, resupply point, casualty collection point. Brief it off the terrain model in SMEAC format to the platoon commander before the company back-brief — not the day of, but the previous evening when there is still time to correct it.
  2. 02
    Write clean Section A FitRep input on Cpl crew leaders — observed behavior, action-result-impact, no inflation the reporting senior (platoon commander) cannot defend at the battalion board.
    Section A under MCO 1610.7 is a narrative description of what the Marine did, not a character endorsement. Each sentence names an observable action in a specific context with a specific result: 'Cpl Jones maintained 100% TOW crew qualification across three table events during the workup cycle, training the section's newest crew member to pass table qualification without remediation. His crew's maintenance logbook was audited twice by the company gunny and required no correction. He submitted FitRep Pre-Coms for two junior Marines within 24 hours of the rating period close.' That paragraph survives the battalion FitRep board because every claim in it is verifiable against the section's records. Write 200 specific words rather than 400 generic ones. The reporting senior who can defend your Section A with the section's actual maintenance and gunnery records is the reporting senior who never has to call you to ask why he is under review.
  3. 03
    Run a section-level PCC/PCI that actually finds faults before the platoon back-brief — sign off on faults, produce a fault sheet with disposition, and hand it to the platoon commander with no surprises.
    The section-level PCC/PCI is the crew leaders' crew-level PCCs rolled up and verified by you. Walk every launcher and vehicle on the manifest before the back-brief, not after. Spot-check two of the three crew-level PCCs personally — not all three simultaneously, but two per cycle, rotating which crews you spot-check. A crew leader who knows the section leader will randomly inspect his PCC runs the PCC at the standard. A crew leader who knows the section leader will read his fault sheet and not walk the vehicle runs a verbal check. The section leader who presents the platoon commander a clean fault sheet and then one launcher fails the range pre-op the next morning has produced the most damaging possible credibility gap in the shortest possible time.
  4. 04
    Coordinate with the company fire support team and the FDC on target engagement priorities and trigger lines — the section leader who cannot talk fires is a liability in the engagement area.
    The anti-armor section's fires integration with the platoon's fire support plan means the section leader needs to be fluent in the basic call-for-fire format — target description, target location (grid), method of engagement, method of fire and control, observer position. You are not the forward observer; the battalion's forward air controller or fire support team is. But when the platoon commander's fire support plan names anti-armor triggers that coordinate with supporting arms, you need to understand where those triggers fall and how the fires integration affects your section's engagement sequence. Read the platoon's fire support annex before every back-brief. Ask the forward observer what the final protective fires plan looks like and where your sector sits in relation to the FPF coverage. The section leader who knows the answer to that question in the back-brief is the section leader the platoon commander trusts with the fire plan brief.
  5. 05
    Manage the section's maintenance parts pipeline — fault sheets current, deadline reports submitted, EDD tracked with S-4, controlled-exchange requests pulled when available, platoon sergeant informed before the gunnery timeline closes.
    The section's maintenance posture on the day of the annual gunnery table qualification is determined by the fault management that happened 30 days before, not the day before. Build a section maintenance tracker — a simple board or spreadsheet showing each launcher's open faults, each fault's current EDD, and the delta between the EDD and the gunnery date. An NMC fault with an EDD beyond the gunnery table date is an escalation: pull the controlled-exchange option through S-4, check whether depot-return parts are available faster, and if neither option closes the gap, tell the platoon sergeant now — not the week before gunnery, but the month before. The platoon commander who learns about a launcher's NMC status the morning of the qualification table is the platoon commander whose company commander asks the company gunny whether the section leader understood the parts pipeline.
  6. 06
    Mentor two or three Cpl crew leaders into Sergeants Course-ready candidates — composite score tracking, FitRep narrative coaching, gunnery standards expectation-setting.
    Monthly counseling with each Cpl: where does his composite score stand against the current 0352 Sgt cutting score (pull the MARADMIN and have the number), what Pro/Con input did you submit last month and why, what is the timeline for Corporals Course if not yet completed, what is the next MCMAP belt tape target. Walk the FitRep cycle with each Cpl: when the rating period closes, you write Section A, the platoon commander writes attributes, the company commander reviews — the Cpl who understands the process is the Cpl who arrives at the SSgt board understanding what the board is reading. The section leader who has two Cpls promoted to Sgt during his section-leader tour is the section leader the company gunny and the battalion SgtMaj track differently.

Manuals & References — What Chapters Matter

  • TM 09151A-10/1 — Operator Manual for the TOW Weapon System (M220 series launcher)
    You are the section-level maintenance authority at Sgt — every NMC fault disposition that leaves the section goes through your fault review before it goes to the platoon sergeant. The fault-code chapter and the disposition criteria are not the crew leader's reference any longer; they are the standard you enforce and the standard you use to verify crew-level fault entries before they reach the platoon sergeant's weekly maintenance status roll-up. Know chapter four (troubleshooting) well enough to evaluate whether a crew leader's fault entry matches the TM criteria before you sign the fault sheet.
  • MCRP 3-10A.4 — Marine Rifle Platoon and MCRP 3-10A.5 — Marine Rifle Company
    You are planning at platoon and company level now. The company's defensive and offensive scheme is the context inside which your section's fire plan lives. At the platoon level, MCRP 3-10A.4's fire support coordination measures, engagement area development, and platoon tactical control measure chapters are the framework the platoon commander uses to evaluate the section leader's fire plan. At the company level, MCRP 3-10A.5 shows how the company integrates anti-armor effects as part of the combined-arms scheme. Read both the platoon and company defensive chapters before you build your first section fire plan as a Sgt.
  • MCRP 3-10A.4 and MCWP 3-01 — Offensive and Defensive Tactics for the MAGTF
    MCWP 3-01 is the fires integration framework above the company level — how the MAGTF integrates anti-armor, aviation fires, artillery, and supporting arms. At Sgt you are running a section inside a battalion that operates at MAGTF level on the MEU. The section leader who understands the MAGTF fires integration framework can brief the section's fire plan in terms the battalion fires officer and the MEU staff understand, not just in terms the platoon commander understands. Read the offensive and defensive fires integration chapters before the MEU PTP workup begins.
  • NAVMC 3500.44 — Infantry Training and Readiness Manual (Sgt / section-level collective tasks)
    Your section's evaluation standard during MCCRE and ITX is sourced to NAVMC 3500.44 collective tasks at the section leader tier. The 2000-level section collective tasks describe the performance standard the OC/T evaluator is grading against during each graded lane. Print the anti-armor section tasks chapter and walk it down with the platoon sergeant during your first 30 days as section leader. Every section collective task that is not trained and certified is a gap in the section's MCCRE readiness — and the OC/T evaluator at Twentynine Palms has the same page open.
  • MCO 1610.7 — Performance Evaluation System
    You write FitReps under this order now. The Section A narrative input standards, the attribute marks rubric, the reporting senior and reviewing officer responsibilities, and the relative value placement criteria are your working framework. Verify the current revision on Marines.mil before quoting chapter and verse — the system has been updated across recent revisions. The good section leader reads MCO 1610.7 before the first FitRep rating period closes, not after the platoon commander returns the Section A for revision.
  • MCO 1400.32 — Marine Corps Promotion Manual
    The SSgt selection board mechanics — FitRep relative value weighting, composite score input, PME completion requirements, board competitive package structure — are published under this order and updated by MARADMIN. You are advising Cpls on their Sgt promotion timeline while building your own SSgt board competitive package. Pull the current MARADMIN for both 0352 Sgt cutting score (for your Cpls) and the SSgt selection board timeline (for yourself) before you advise anyone on their career math. The section leader who does not know the current board timeline is the section leader whose Cpls go to the career planner instead of asking their NCO chain.

Standards — How to Hit Each

  • Sergeants Course graduate — required and gated, no exceptions on the path to SSgt.
    Sergeants Course is the PME gate between Sgt and SSgt consideration. The in-residence option at a regional Marine Corps NCO academy is the preferred course; the CDET option exists for Marines whose deployment or operational schedule makes in-residence impossible. Pull the in-residence slot through the platoon sergeant and the company gunny 90 days before the next available session. The Sgt who is still scheduling Sergeants Course after his SSgt selection board zone opens is the Sgt competing without a required credential — and the board notes the gap. Career Course scheduling begins during the Sgt tier; do not wait until SSgt to pull the Career Course slot, because the SSgt board reads it.
  • Section gunnery qualification at 100% per MCO 3500.72 annual standard — every crew qualified, every launcher mission-capable on the report date.
    100% crew qualification requires a 60-90 day build-up plan, not a 10-day sprint. Build the gunnery training schedule backward from the table qualification date: table qualification minus 14 days is the live-fire rehearsal, minus 30 days is the procedural dry-run with all crews, minus 60 days is the maintenance audit that identifies any NMC faults that will miss the gunnery timeline. The section leader who does not have a launcher mission-capable on the gunnery table date because of a parts pipeline fault that went unescalated for 45 days is the section leader who explains the gap to the company gunny and the company commander simultaneously. Own the timeline. Escalate early.
  • FitRep profile defensible at the battalion review — relative value above the battalion average for the section leader pay grade.
    FitRep relative value for a Sgt section leader is determined by the reporting senior (platoon commander) against the pool of all Sgt section leaders the platoon commander rates. The variables you control: what your Section A input gives the platoon commander to work with (observed behavior, specific actions, verifiable results) and what your actual performance gives the platoon commander to observe (section gunnery results, maintenance posture, crew leader development). The Sgt whose Section A input is specific and whose section performance is strong is the Sgt whose FitRep the platoon commander wants to sign. Build both.
  • 1st-Class PFT and CFT under MCO 6100.13 — section fitness average is tracked and reported by the company gunny.
    The section's collective PFT/CFT pass rate and score distribution are in the company gunny's quarterly fitness report — the company gunny briefs it to the company commander and the battalion SgtMaj sees the aggregate. A section where one or two crew members are testing below 1st-Class while the section leader is hitting 1st-Class is a section where the section leader is not running the fitness program he claims to be running. The section leader whose crew members hit 1st-Class consistently is the section leader whose fitness culture is auditable.
  • Composite score tracked monthly for every Cpl in the section — pull the current MARADMIN on 0352 Sgt cutting score and communicate it before they ask.
    Each Cpl's composite score is built from Pro/Con marks (which you control), PFT/CFT and rifle qual results (which the Cpl controls with your encouragement), MCMAP belt progression (which you track and push), and education credits (which TA covers at no cost). Pull each Cpl's composite score from MCTFS or the section's tracking system, compare it against the current 0352 Sgt cutting score from the current MARADMIN, and have the gap-closing conversation with each Cpl individually once a month. The Cpl who does not know his own composite score has a section leader who has not made the conversation unavoidable.

Technical Mistakes — Concrete Consequences

  • Verbal-only counseling — no page-11 entry, no formal counseling sheet — for a crew leader's maintenance discipline or performance deficiency.
    When the crew leader's deficiency escalates to the point where the platoon sergeant or company commander needs to act, the chain's first question is what documentation exists. A verbal counseling you swear you gave is invisible in the legal file and the chain cannot defend you when the Marine appeals or files an IG complaint. The section leader who cannot produce a paper trail for a pattern of poor maintenance practices is the section leader whose administrative action gets reversed and whose FitRep narrative gets challenged at the battalion review. Write the page-11 at the time of the correction. Five minutes typing now is six months of administrative protection later.
  • Letting a deadline launcher sit NMC past the fault-disposition deadline without escalating to the platoon sergeant — waiting for the parts to arrive without informing the chain.
    The platoon commander's MCCRE score and the section's readiness report both ride on the section's launcher mission-capable status. When a launcher is NMC on gunnery day because the section leader knew the parts EDD was beyond the gunnery date 45 days ago and said nothing, the platoon commander learns about the gap from the company gunny, not from the section leader. That sequence — company gunny finds out before the section leader tells the platoon commander — is the chain-of-command failure the company commander puts in the FitRep review. Escalate NMC faults that threaten the gunnery timeline to the platoon sergeant the moment the EDD math does not work.
  • Briefing the section fire plan from memory at the platoon back-brief — no terrain model, no drawn graphics, no control measures on an overlay.
    The platoon commander who has to redraw the section leader's engagement area on the terrain model because the section leader arrived with a verbal sketch is the platoon commander who remembers that section leader differently at the next FitRep cycle. The fire plan brief without graphics tells the platoon commander that the section leader did not spend the time to build the fire plan — he is describing a plan he is building in front of the audience. The platoon commander who spends his own midnight time correcting the section leader's fire plan graphics is the platoon commander who does not trust that section leader with an independent mission.
  • Hiding a SAPR, EO, financial-distress, or self-harm issue from the chain to 'protect the Marine' from the command climate.
    SAPR reporting under MCO 5354.1 and EO complaint processing under MCO 1000.9 have defined reporting timelines (verify current revisions on Marines.mil). The 24-hour and 72-hour reporting windows exist because the reporting chain was put in place to protect Marines, not to process them. The section leader who hides an incident violates the order, exposes the chain to negligent-supervision liability, and almost always ends with the Marine in a worse position and the section leader in front of the company commander explaining the gap in the reporting timeline. Route every SAPR, EO, behavioral health, and financial distress issue to the appropriate program — the SARC, the Behavioral Health team at the Branch Medical Clinic, the chaplain, Legal Assistance, the Command Financial Specialist — and document the routing.
  • Going around the platoon sergeant to the company gunny to get a training window or solve a supply problem.
    The platoon sergeant finds out within a week — the company gunny will tell him, the 1stSgt will ask him about it, and sometimes the section from the other platoon will mention it in passing. The platoon sergeant stops trusting the section leader with operational priorities; the company gunny loses confidence in the platoon sergeant's command climate; and the section's relationship with its platoon chain fractures along the gap the section leader created. The fix is one direct apology to the platoon sergeant, in his office with the door closed, followed by 12 months of demonstrating that the chain runs through him. Do not manufacture the problem by going around him.

Career Decisions at This Rank

  • Lateral move pipeline at Sgt — MARSOC (M&S Course, 0372 CSO), Recon (BRC, 0321), DI duty, MSG, recruiter (8411), or stay 0352 section leader
    At Sgt the lateral pipeline windows are open but compressing. MARSOC A&S at Camp Lejeune is the entry point for the 0372 Critical Skills Operator pipeline; the full training package runs roughly 7-9 months including the Marine Raider Training Center course. MARSOC Sgts in the 03XX community follow a fundamentally different career arc — different OPTEMPO, different community, different post-service market — and the decision to pursue A&S is a career-shaping choice that forecloses the standard 0352 section-leader-to-SSgt arc for the duration of the pipeline. Recon (0321 via BRC at Coronado, roughly 9 weeks) is also open at Sgt. DI duty, MSG, and recruiter are the B-billet options — each is visible at the SSgt selection board, each is time-consuming, and each carries a cost to family stability. The honest math: past mid-Sgt the screening windows for MARSOC and Recon narrow, and the B-billet windows track the PME completion timeline. Have the lateral move conversation with the platoon commander and the company gunny before the window closes, not after.
  • Reenlist at the Sgt window versus EAS with a section leader service record
    The reenlistment decision at Sgt comes with an SRB offer — pull the current 0352 MARADMIN for the tier and bonus amount, which change annually. The career case for reenlisting: the SSgt selection board opens a billet track (platoon sergeant, AT platoon chief, weapons company staff) that pays significantly better and carries the professional weight of running 30-45 Marines through MEU cycles. The post-service case for EAS: a Sgt with a clean service record, section leader experience, TOW system credentials, and a security clearance has real options in defense contracting, federal law enforcement, and private security. The decision is mostly about whether the SSgt section-leader trajectory or the post-service market is more compelling at this phase. Do not sign under financial pressure. See the Command Financial Specialist before the SRB offer is on the table.
  • Commissioning at Sgt — MECEP, ECP, or stay enlisted to compete for SSgt
    For Sgts who have built 60+ college credits through Tuition Assistance or who hold a bachelor's degree, the Marine Enlisted Commissioning Education Program (MECEP) and the Enlisted Commissioning Program (ECP) remain open. MECEP keeps you in active-duty pay and benefits while completing the degree at a participating university; ECP is the direct commission for Sgts with a bachelor's already in hand. The honest test: are you better at executing missions and leading crews, or at building systems, writing staff plans, and navigating the officer performance evaluation framework? Sgts who are exceptional section leaders sometimes make average platoon commanders because the NCO toolkit — PCC/PCI, direct maintenance supervision, monthly Pro/Con marks — does not translate directly to the officer's portfolio. Talk to the platoon commander and the company commander; their read is the leading indicator.
  • Career Course in-residence versus CDET, and timing relative to the SSgt selection board zone
    Career Course is the PME tier between Sergeants Course and the SNCO Academy (verify the current mapping against MCO 1500.59 and current MARADMIN — the PME framework has been updated across recent revisions). The in-residence option is materially more rigorous than CDET and the professional network is irreplaceable. The SSgt selection board reads PME completion; the Sgt who locks in Career Course 12-18 months before the SSgt board zone is the Sgt who is competitive. CDET is the option for Marines whose MEU deployment or operational requirement makes in-residence timing impossible — not the default for a garrison-based Sgt with scheduling flexibility. Have the timing conversation with the company gunny before the board zone opens.
  • B-billet assignment as a Sgt — DI duty, MSG embassy posting, recruiter — versus staying in a section leader billet through the SSgt board
    B-billet (special duty assignment) at Sgt is a career-differentiating choice with a real cost to the family and the section. Drill Instructor duty at MCRD Parris Island or San Diego is roughly three years; the DI tour identifier is a known check at the SSgt and GySgt boards, and many SgtMajs came up through DI duty as Sgts. The physical and psychological demand of DI duty is not exaggerated — recruits, three platoons, 24-hour accountability, and a depot culture that tolerates no deviation from the standard. Marine Security Guard at Quantico opens embassy postings globally — a fundamentally different operational environment with professional visibility at the State Department interface. The recruiter tour (8411 via Recruiter School in San Diego) moves you to a civilian community where you are the Marine Corps to your neighbors. Each B-billet accelerates SSgt board competitiveness; each has a family cost the recruiting brochure does not include. Talk to Marines who have completed the specific tour before volunteering.

How the Seat Varies by Unit Type

  • Weapons company anti-armor platoon — infantry regiment (1st MarDiv / 2d MarDiv / 3d MarDiv)
    The default Sgt 0352 section leader billet. You run two or three TOW crews in the anti-armor platoon of a weapons company. The platoon sergeant is an SSgt, the company gunny is a GySgt, and the battalion anti-armor officer knows your section's gunnery qualification status. The MEU PTP workup and ITX rotation at MCAGCC Twentynine Palms define the operational rhythm. The company commander and the battalion SgtMaj read the section's gunnery table results through the platoon commander's FitRep narrative on the section leader — this is the billet where the SSgt board competitive package is built.
  • LAR (Light Armored Reconnaissance) battalion — LAV-AT section leader
    Section leader for a LAV-AT section in a LAR battalion. The operational tempo is higher, the vehicle qualification requirements are more demanding, and the integration with the LAV-25 community changes how AT fires are employed and briefed. The Sgt section leader at LAR is managing both TOW system maintenance and LAV vehicle maintenance for the section — the maintenance load is heavier than a line weapons company section but the dual qualification makes the section leader profile more technically diverse. LAR integration with division operations (screen lines, route recon, anti-armor ambush) gives the section leader exposure to tactical employment contexts the standard weapons company section does not routinely see.
  • ITX rotation at MCAGCC Twentynine Palms — evaluated section leader
    The ITX rotation is where the section leader's training program for the past 90 days is graded against collective task standards by OC/T evaluators from MAGTFTC. The graded lanes evaluate section-level collective tasks — multi-crew fire plan execution, displacement coordination, engagement sequence discipline — and the OC/T's debrief names the section leader's performance explicitly. A clean section performance during the ITX graded lanes produces the strongest possible input for the FitRep narrative from the platoon commander and the company commander. The section leader who arrives at Twentynine Palms with his crew leaders rehearsed and his fire plan drawn is the section leader who comes home with the company commander's confidence. The section leader who is still refining the fire plan on the bus to the range does not.
  • MEU deployment afloat — BLT AT section leader
    The Sgt section leader's MEU deployment is the formative operational experience of the rank tier. You are the senior 0352 NCO in the section, afloat with the BLT on amphibious shipping, responsible for keeping three launchers and three crews mission-capable with limited logistics support, while integrating the section's anti-armor capability into the MEU-SOC mission profiles (TRAP, NEO, raid operations, contingency response). Maintenance discipline on the MEU is harder than in garrison; parts pipelines are longer; launcher climate is less controlled. The section leader who returns from a MEU deployment with 100% launcher mission-capable status, three crews that maintained their gunnery qualification currency, and clean maintenance documentation is the section leader whose FitRep narrative reads differently at the battalion FitRep board than the section leader who deferred maintenance problems until the ship pulled in.
  • School assignment / instructor billet (SOI-E or SOI-W Anti-Tank Missileman Course instructor)
    Some Sgt 0352s rotate through a schoolhouse tour as an instructor at Infantry Training Battalion's Anti-Tank Missileman course — teaching the student missilemen the same content you learned as a boot 0352. The schoolhouse environment is different from a line section: student management, curriculum execution, training safety management, and the institutional credibility that comes from being the senior NCO the student Marines first encounter in the MOS. An SOI instructor billet is visible at the SSgt selection board as a B-billet equivalent — the section leader who went to the schoolhouse and came back with positive report cards from the training unit commanding officer is the section leader the board reads as having a broader institutional footprint than a straight line-section career.

What Good Looks Like at This Rank

The good Sgt 0352 section leader is the NCO the platoon commander puts in the hardest engagement area on the range card during the MCCRE evaluation, because the section goes up on time, every launcher in the section is mission-capable, the crew leaders execute their engagement sequences without the section leader narrating it, and the OC/T's after-action names the section's performance as the battalion reference standard for AT crew discipline. None of that happened on the range. It happened in the 90 days before the range, in the section leader's maintenance tracker, in the monthly counseling sessions with each Cpl, and in the terrain model rehearsals on Wednesday evenings when the company office was already dark. His FitRep Section A inputs on his Cpls are the ones the platoon commander signs without calling him. They describe specific actions — this crew leader maintained launcher qualification status through a 21-day ITX rotation without a single deferred maintenance fault; this crew leader trained the section's newest Marine to pass the TOW crew qualification table without remediation — and the platoon commander reads them and notes that the section leader is not just reporting on his Cpls, he is developing them. The company commander sees the same quality in the company FitRep review and writes it into the section leader's own FitRep narrative: this Sgt's crew leaders are SSgt-board-ready before he leaves the section. His relationships in the COC are transactional and professional, not personal. The S-4 parts clerk knows his name because he calls twice a week on every NMC fault, not because they are friends. The company gunny knows his section's maintenance posture because the section leader briefs it accurately before the Monday morning readiness brief, not because the company gunny had to call the motor-T chief to find out what was actually happening. The platoon sergeant trusts him with the section's operational calendar because when the section leader says the section will be ready on a specific date, the launchers are mission-capable on that date. That trust is built in small increments, one accurate fault escalation and one clean gunnery table at a time, and it is the professional reputation the SSgt selection board eventually reads in the reporting senior's relative value placement and the reviewing officer's narrative endorsement.

Preview — The Next Rank

SSgt (E-6) in the 0352 community is the anti-armor platoon sergeant rank — the senior NCO for an AT platoon of two or three sections, the liaison between the weapons company commander and the section leaders, and the NCO who writes three or four Sgt section-leader FitReps per cycle. The load scales in every dimension: more Marines, more launchers, more parts pipeline complexity, more FitRep writing, and a relationship with the company gunny and the battalion anti-armor officer that replaces the relationship with the platoon sergeant you managed as a Sgt. The SSgt selection board is a paper-record review under MCO 1400.32 — no cutting score, no composite point calculation, just the full career package read by the board. The board reads FitRep relative value placement (where the reporting senior ranked you against the pool of Sgts he rates), PME completion (Sergeants Course done, Career Course done or in progress), composite score history, awards, education credits, and the quality of the Cpl FitRep narratives you wrote. The Sgt who spent his section leader tour building clean Section A inputs, qualifying his section at the gunnery standard, and mentoring his Cpls into Sgt is the Sgt whose board package reads like a SSgt package. The Sgt who spent his section leader tour doing adequate work without building the record arrives at the board zone with an adequate package — and adequate finishes in the middle of the pool. Job content at SSgt shifts from section-level execution to platoon-level management and company-level coordination. You are not running the section's daily PCC/PCI; you are running the platoon's weekly maintenance posture and the company's quarterly training calendar. You are not briefing one section's fire plan to the platoon commander; you are advising the company commander on the anti-armor employment plan that goes to the battalion back-brief. The transition from section leader to platoon sergeant is a scope expansion that many Sgts underestimate — the skills that made you effective as a section leader (maintenance discipline, crew leader development, fire plan quality) are necessary but not sufficient for the platoon sergeant role. The platoon sergeant builds systems that run without him; the section leader can still run the section by being everywhere at once. Start thinking like a systems builder before you pin SSgt.
FAQ

0352 E5 — Frequently Asked Questions

Q01What does a E5 0352 (Anti-Tank Missileman) actually do?
You lead an anti-armor section of two to three TOW crews.
Q02What's the most important thing to know as a E5 0352?
Section leader Sgt is the first rank where you write FitReps, own a section-level maintenance posture, and brief the platoon commander's fire plan — all simultaneously.
Q03What does a typical day look like for a E5 0352?
Time-blocked day at the E5 0352 rank tier: 0500 Wake. Section leader's morning starts with the phone — any liberty incidents involving section Marines, any maintenance emergency the crew leaders texted overnight, any alert-force message from the platoon sergeant. Nothing? Good. Head to the company area early enough that your crew leaders see you at the formation before they see the platoon sergeant, 0530 PT formation. You account for the section (you plus three crew leaders plus six to nine junior Marines, depending on current TO&E), report to the platoon sergeant.…
Q04What mistakes get E5 0352 soldiers fired or relieved?
DUI or NJP at Sgt. At this rank you are the NCO the platoon commander and the company gunny defend in front of the 1stSgt when a junior Marine makes a mistake. An NJP on your own record as a section leader forecloses the SSgt selection board and usually triggers a page-11 that rides the service record for the career; Failing to document counseling in writing — verbal correction only, no page-11,…
Q05What career decisions matter most at the E5 0352 rank tier?
Lateral move pipeline at Sgt — MARSOC (M&S Course, 0372 CSO), Recon (BRC, 0321), DI duty, MSG, recruiter (8411), or stay 0352 section leader — At Sgt the lateral pipeline windows are open but compressing. MARSOC A&S at Camp Lejeune is the entry point for the 0372 Critical Skills Operator pipeline; the full training package runs roughly 7-9 months including the Marine Raider Training Center course. MARSOC Sgts in the 03XX community follow a fundamentally different career arc — different OPTEMPO, different community,…
Q06What's next after E5 for a 0352 (Anti-Tank Missileman) in the Marines?
SSgt (E-6) in the 0352 community is the anti-armor platoon sergeant rank — the senior NCO for an AT platoon of two or three sections, the liaison between the weapons company commander and the section leaders, and the NCO who writes three or four Sgt section-leader FitReps per cycle.
Q07What manuals and regulations does a E5 0352 need to know cold?
TM 09151A-10/1 — Operator Manual, TOW Weapon System: you are the section-level maintenance authority now — every NMC fault that leaves the section goes through your fault disposition.; MCRP 3-10A.4 — Marine Rifle Platoon: you are planning inside this framework every time the platoon runs an attack or defense with AT integration.; MCRP 3-10A.3 / MCWP 3-01 — Offensive and Defensive Tactics: the anti-armor section operates inside these schemes; know the fires integration chapters.

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Published by the Honest MOS Editorial DeskVerified against DoD/.gov sourcesUpdated May 2026Editorial standards