Marines shooting in the service’s middle- and bottom-tier rifle and pistol qualifications will soon have two chances during a single fiscal year to achieve top-shot scores.
The Marine Corps’ rifle and pistol qualifications fall into four categories that ascend in achievement: unqualified, marksman, sharpshooter and expert. Beginning Oct. 1, Marines who score as marksman and sharpshooter will be given two more attempts within the same year to improve their score, according to a service message published Wednesday.
Those who do not qualify on their service weapon — in other words, score unqualified marks — can requalify and keep the score they earn upon requalification. Marines scoring as expert are not eligible for follow-on attempts, per the new message.
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“The modification aims to afford commanders the option to give their Marines more training opportunities to improve their score and individual battlefield lethality,” the administrative message said. “Therefore, commanders must carefully weigh their use of available range quotas.”
But commanders aren’t the only ones who have to carefully weigh these attempts: There is a catch for the Marine looking to increase his or her score. If a Marine makes another attempt at qualifying for a higher score, it is the most recent attempt that will be entered for record, not the highest.
“The…
