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MARSOC

Is MARSOC the new Force Recon?

Is this the Marine special forces? I know someone who served as a Marine officer years ago who said that the Marines do not really have special forces like the other services. I guess because the Marines are like special forces?

How does a Marine officer get into MARSOC/Force Recon? How long is the training? Do Marine officer in the special forces actually lead teams in the fields, or is that usually left to the noncoms?

Thanks.
 

Gatordev

Well-Known Member
pilot
Site Admin
Contributor
There is only one "Special Forces," and they're in the Army. However, every service has units that fall under Special Operations.

Did you give up on the SEALs from your previous posts?
 

FormerRecruitingGuru

Making Recruiting Great Again
Is MARSOC the new Force Recon?

Is this the Marine special forces? I know someone who served as a Marine officer years ago who said that the Marines do not really have special forces like the other services. I guess because the Marines are like special forces?

How does a Marine officer get into MARSOC/Force Recon? How long is the training? Do Marine officer in the special forces actually lead teams in the fields, or is that usually left to the noncoms?

Thanks.

Sounds like great questions to ask a Marine Recruiter/OSO or with a simple google search.
 

Hotdogs

I don’t care if I hurt your feelings
pilot
Is MARSOC the new Force Recon?

Is this the Marine special forces? I know someone who served as a Marine officer years ago who said that the Marines do not really have special forces like the other services. I guess because the Marines are like special forces?

How does a Marine officer get into MARSOC/Force Recon? How long is the training? Do Marine officer in the special forces actually lead teams in the fields, or is that usually left to the noncoms?

Thanks.

MARSOC (Marine Raider Regiment) is a part of SOCOM. It is operationally controlled by them directly. Force Recon still exists and is a MEF asset that’s tasked organized into the various MAGTFs that deploy around the world. They do not do the same type of mission sets, but there is some overlap, and typically depends on their employer. In Civilian speak: They (MARSOC and Force Recon) wear the same uniform but work for different people.

For MARSOC, usually Marine Officers do a ground tour (Any MOS...including Pilots) and apply for assessment and selection. Once they pass that, They enter a new pipeline to complete various schools before heading to the Raider Battalions. As far as Force Recon, I actually do not know, I believe they pull all of their manpower from the Infantry with preference to Battalion Recon for initial accessions. You need to be a 0302 to get into Battalion Recon vice any MOS like MARSOC. Yes, Marine Officers lead MSOTs on deployments in various areas of the world.

Your OSO isn’t going to know shit about MARSOC. Good luck.
 

danpass

Well-Known Member
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LINK: https://amzn.to/2HDT5e7

Always Faithful, Always Forward: The Forging of a Special Operations Marine
Retired Navy Captain Dick Couch has been given unprecedented access to this new command and to the individual Marines of this exceptional special-operations unit, allowing him to chronicle the history and development of the Marine Special Operations Command and how they find, recruit, and train their special operators.

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Sonog

Well-Known Member
pilot
MARSOC (Marine Raider Regiment) is a part of SOCOM. It is operationally controlled by them directly. Force Recon still exists and is a MEF asset that’s tasked organized into the various MAGTFs that deploy around the world. They do not do the same type of mission sets, but there is some overlap, and typically depends on their employer. In Civilian speak: They (MARSOC and Force Recon) wear the same uniform but work for different people.

For MARSOC, usually Marine Officers do a ground tour (Any MOS...including Pilots) and apply for assessment and selection. Once they pass that, They enter a new pipeline to complete various schools before heading to the Raider Battalions. As far as Force Recon, I actually do not know, I believe they pull all of their manpower from the Infantry with preference to Battalion Recon for initial accessions. You need to be a 0302 to get into Battalion Recon vice any MOS like MARSOC. Yes, Marine Officers lead MSOTs on deployments in various areas of the world.

Your OSO isn’t going to know shit about MARSOC. Good luck.

Is Battalion Recon = Reconnaissance Marines? i.e. Nate Fick and Generation Kill and company?

Would it be fair to compare Battalion Recon to Army Rangers minus the SOCOM?
 

Treetop Flyer

Well-Known Member
pilot
Is Battalion Recon = Reconnaissance Marines? i.e. Nate Fick and Generation Kill and company?

Would it be fair to compare Battalion Recon to Army Rangers minus the SOCOM?
Someone please correct me if I’m wrong but the term “ranger” applies both to those in the 75th Ranger Regiment, and everyone else who passed the course to earn the tab. The regiment is under USASOC. Everyone else are individuals who earned the tab and serving in normal billets. So outside USASOC, there is no unit of rangers and therefore no possible comparison to recon units.
 

Sonog

Well-Known Member
pilot
Someone please correct me if I’m wrong but the term “ranger” applies both to those in the 75th Ranger Regiment, and everyone else who passed the course to earn the tab. The regiment is under USASOC. Everyone else are individuals who earned the tab and serving in normal billets. So outside USASOC, there is no unit of rangers and therefore no possible comparison to recon units.

Soooo 75th Ranger Regiment versus Marine Reconnaissance Battalions?
 

Hotdogs

I don’t care if I hurt your feelings
pilot
Soooo 75th Ranger Regiment versus Marine Reconnaissance Battalions?


Not similar. Battalion Recon is an organic Marine reconnaissance unit typically in support of a particular conventional MAGTF. Rangers = SOCOM Unit that does SOCOM stuff.
 

squorch2

he will die without safety brief
pilot
Tier 1: doesn’t exist
Tier 2: Rangers
Tier 3: everyone else

In real life these lines get blurred.
 
MARSOC (Marine Raider Regiment) is a part of SOCOM. It is operationally controlled by them directly. Force Recon still exists and is a MEF asset that’s tasked organized into the various MAGTFs that deploy around the world. They do not do the same type of mission sets, but there is some overlap, and typically depends on their employer. In Civilian speak: They (MARSOC and Force Recon) wear the same uniform but work for different people.

For MARSOC, usually Marine Officers do a ground tour (Any MOS...including Pilots) and apply for assessment and selection. Once they pass that, They enter a new pipeline to complete various schools before heading to the Raider Battalions. As far as Force Recon, I actually do not know, I believe they pull all of their manpower from the Infantry with preference to Battalion Recon for initial accessions. You need to be a 0302 to get into Battalion Recon vice any MOS like MARSOC. Yes, Marine Officers lead MSOTs on deployments in various areas of the world.

Your OSO isn’t going to know shit about MARSOC. Good luck.
Thanks, Hot Dogs. Would a first LT. be able to apply for either MARSOC or Force Recon after an initial tour as a platoon commander (would such a tour normally last 2 years?). Is the entire MARSOC/Force Recon training about 2 years, including jump school, diver school, ranger school, SERE, etc?
 
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