# Any Devil Dogs out there?  Need some information about the US Marine Corps.



## Quasar (Oct 23, 2012)

Hello,

In my current project, my protagonist is a Lance Corporal in the Marine Corps.  I have studied marine ranks and such on the internet but I would like to communicate with someone who has experience with the Marine Corps to make sure what I am writing makes since in regards to what a certain Marine's rank is and what job he is doing at a particular time.  I also need information on protocol to see if I handled certain situations correctly.  You can PM me or reply, ever which you feel most comfortable with.  I want to portray the Marines as accurately as possible.

Any help would be appreciated.


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## Winston (Oct 23, 2012)

Here's a quick grid from my MOS (Military Occupation Specialty).  Other MOS' would follow a similar format:

*RANK..............MOS 0331 Machine Gunner                ..........MOS 0311 Rifleman*
Private / PFC.....Ammo Bearer................................                       Rifleman  
Lance Corporal. Gunner                                                                             .........................................SAW Gunner / Grenadier
Corporal...........Team Leader   (3-4 men)          ..................Team Leader
Sergeant...........Squad Leader    (2-3 teams) ..........      ...Squad Leader
Staff Sergeant....Section Leader   (3-4 squads) .               .........Section Leader

The caveat is that usually, the lower rank Marine (if not a screw-up) will fill the position of the next job up.  Over half of the team leaders spots are actually held by LCPL, and many squad leaders are Corporals.  You would never find a Gunnery Sergeant E-7 acting as a Squad Leader (unless the unit had 50% attrition)

The Marine Corps trains leaders.  Every opportunity is given to build the skills and confidence of the lower ranks.  When they put on their next stripe, they already know the job, and are training for the next.
There is also a lot of cross training.  As a Machine Gunner, I filled in with the mortar crew occasionally, and practiced patrols with the riflemen.  Additionally, I had training in chemical warfare and demolitions.  Ohhhhh, the toys.

Hope that helped.  PM or post if you have more specific questions.  Now go get some.


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## Quasar (Oct 24, 2012)

Thanks,  My Protagonist is actually in a Recon Battalion.  As far as the ranks go...

I have a Captain in Command of the Recon Battalion which in reality is a platoon in size.  I have a Gunnery Sergeant as the Platoon Sergeant.

The Recon Battalion is divided into several squads, the only two that are really important for my story is Alpha Squad which the "sidekick" character is a member of, and the Delta Squad which the protagonist is a member of.  The Squad Chain of Command that I have set up is, Staff Sergeant - Squad Leader, Sergeant - Second in command, Corporal - Communications Operator, Corporal - Assistant Communications Operator, Then Delta Squad has two Lance Corporals filling it out.  Alpha Squad has the same chain of command except one of the Lance Corporals is a Private 1st Class.  As far as the higher ups, the highest Ranking officer that is mentioned in the Story is a Colonel who is in command of the Brigade.  Does all of that work?


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## Winston (Oct 25, 2012)

My brother-in-law was Recon, and could probably better answer this one.

However, my understanding is that special operator units (Rangers, Seals, etc) generally operate with very few lower enlisted (E-1 through E-3).  A PFC E-2 may work, if you qualify why he's there.  That's a hard one, because if he was busted from a higher rank, they usually kick them from Recon back to Infantry.  

The higher ranks I'm not as sure about.  A Lieutenant and Staff Sergeant usually run most platoons, but a Capitan and Gunnery or Master Sergeant may be appropriate here.  Brigade?  Not a unit I'm familiar with.  Sounds like a Battalion or Regiment equivalent.  Lt Colonel or Colonel, respectively.

My Bro-In-Law is one of the few people I know that works as hard as me.  Next time I see him, alive, I'll confirm.  Sounds like you're on the right track.


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## Quasar (Oct 25, 2012)

Wow, your brother-in-law was actually in Recon, I hit the jack pot here!

I read an article about the Marine Corps Recon but it was very confusing and I got the impression it was a bit dated.  I am not even sure if a squad would have an assistant communications operator now days.  I have had to research everything for this and there is somethings about the military that you can't find out about on the internet.  I broke a 5 generation military tradition in my family.  My Father was in the US Navy during Vietnam, My Grandfather was in the US Navy during WW2, My Great Grandfather was a PFC in the US Army WW1, My GG Grandfather was a 1st Lt in the US Army Medical Corps WW1, and my 3rd Great Grandfather was a Confederate Sharpshooter.  I didn't join for one big reason....I can't stand being yelled at.  Even today if I am at work and some idiot starts yelling....I lose it.  Well, that and I had a leaky heart valve at the time so they wouldn't let me.

But back to the Article, the confusing part about the Article is I had a hard time telling the difference between a Recon Battalion and Force Recon.  I know that Recon is highly specialized and all but it almost seemed like Force Recon was a special forces within Recon....but I don't know.  I do have other questions that you might be able to answer though...more general questions about military procedure and such.  Some of my questions might be better for me to PM you because they are move involved but I wanted to keep as much as possible public so that this post my help other people as well.  But yeah, I'll send you a PM. 

Oh so I just found a better article.  It appears that Force Recon is a Company within a Recon Battalion  According to this article which I am reading on the Marine Corps 2nd Recon Battalion, it is divided into four Company's.  Alpha, Bravo and Charlie Company and Force Recon Company.  I had not considered splitting my Recon Battalion up into Companies because I was under the impression that even though it was called a "Recon Battalion", it was actually a platoon as far as the number of Marines in it.  But I still don't really understand what Force Recon is and what role it has that makes it different from other companies in a Recon Battalion.

I have also been reading about the "3" Rule when it comes to the Marine Corps unit break down.

Fire Team - 3 Marines plus one commander =4 marines
Squad - 3 Fire Teams = 12 Marines
Platoon - 3 Squads = 36 Marines
Company - 3 Platoons = 108 Marines
Battalion - 3 Companies = 324 Marines
Regiment - 3 Battalions = 972 Marines
Division - 3 Regiments = 2,916 Marines


However, that appears to be for Infantry.  It appears to go against what I have read about Recon Battalions so I don't really know...I am kind of confusing myself more.


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