USMC bootcamp

[sig83]

My friends daughter enlisted in the Marines. She asked me to teach her how to shoot prior to shipping out. I am Navy, and we used 1911's and M14s. Anyone know what they are using in bootcamp these days? I would guess a M9 and M4??

[762xIan]

I don't know how far they will go into pistol use in bootcamp, most likely rudimentary at best with the bulk of it coming infantry training afterwards. As far as rifle goes, they use (or did) full length M-16's in bootcamp.

Other than some basic familiarity with weapons, and getting her to shoot off a few rounds to get used to it, the Marines do things their own way, you might not want to go overboard.

I am ex-Navy also....we had a collection of all kinds of "neat" stuff in the ships armory. My personal favorites were the M-79 grenade launchers, and our 4, 20mm Oerlikon AA gun mounts (WW2 vintage).

Send her a "good luck" and "thank you" from this vet at PAFOA.

[Grizz2720]

My son finished his tour of Drill Instructor for the Marines 2 years ago. He hated it when a recruit came in and had just been taught to shoot from somebody. He always preferred to have a non shooter that did not have any experience then there were no bad ideas to unlearn. The Marine Corp has their way of teaching let them do it.

[DC2.2GSR]

My son finished his tour of Drill Instructor for the Marines 2 years ago. He hated it when a recruit came in and had just been taught to shoot from somebody. He always preferred to have a non shooter that did not have any experience then there were no bad ideas to unlearn. The Marine Corp has their way of teaching let them do it.

this is exactly how we in the collision repair and custom paint industry think about tech school kids. they come in looking for a job straight out of tech school where they were taught the one and only proper way to do something by some old body guy teacher who hasn't had any updated training in years. everything then has to be thrown out the window and started fresh, and it's always a fight. however, there's a big difference between being generally familiar with the process and going in completely cold and not knowing a thing about what's being shown to them. one would think that knowing how to properly shoulder and operate an M4 style rifle and any pistol would be a great benefit to anyone.

i don't have the slightest clue how real-life boot camp/infantry training works, but i guarantee she would be in a much better place having previously learned all the basics, with the caveat that the USMC may teach her differently, and that's ok, but the basic firearm rules and fundamentals are almost all set in stone.

[cigarmanpa]

i went pistol shooting with a friend of mine who is currently a marine who was home on leave. she had no idea what to do with a pistol so i'm guessing they don't do much work with them

[Kramer]

and our 4, 20mm Oerlikon AA gun mounts (WW2 vintage).

I would like to fire a bunch of rounds out of one those cannons!

[Tomcat088]

I have a copy of the Marine Marksmanship manual FM1-3A in pdf format from 1999. I'm not sure if they're made a newer or illustrated manual since then, but I'd be more than happy to email you a copy if you'll just PM me with your email address. You can look over it and some of the basics and at least know how the Marines do things, which I'm sure probably hasn't changed much. It might help you know how to teach her, or modify your teachers. If you did want to teach her your way, you could at least warn her that they're going to have her doing this other way, etc. I would try to modify my techniques (if they're different) to how they're going to teach her, so that she would only have to make slight changes at boot camp.

I've seen it both ways, that new shooters learn very quickly because they don't have bad habits to "train out" of someone. I've also see someone taught how to shoot properly to begin with, and who excels above the others because they just have to fine tune things. It's not like the way they shoot is "magic", they use the same basic fundamentals and if you pay attention to those fundamentals, they're going to help and pay off. I would say just don't get egotistical the way that some people do, and think that you're way is "better" or "right". I'd just let her know you do some things differently, and that both work, but THIS is how you want her to learn because it's how they will teach her. Please feel free to drop me a PM if you'd like a copy of the manual.

[Maquis]

Don't do it. Let the Marines teach...our best shooter in boot camp was some kid (from Chicago I think) who'd never picked up a gun in his life....better to teach them from scratch than to have to unlearn someone else's techniques.

[Lagerman]

The first thing they told us at Parris Island was "Forget what you already know". Personally if she has never shot anything, I would just let her become familiar with shooting a rifle so she is not timid or nervous about shooting there the for the first time. The Drill Instructors and Range Coaches will take care of the rest(they are the best in the business). She will need to qualify with a M-16. She'll spend one week "snapping in" on a barrel before actually firing the next week on the range. Pistol qual comes later after boot camp and is only determined by MOS(job). Good luck to her.
Semper Fi
Lagerman

"It's a funny thing, but, as years go by, I think you appreciate more and more what a great thing it was to be a United States Marine... I am a U.S. Marine and I'll be one till I die."
Ted Williams, Baseball Hall of Famer

[Steve in PA]

I'll echo the comments made so far, if she has not already been shooting, let the USMC teach her. Better to start from a clean slate than have her pick up some bad habit.

Incidently, 31 years ago yesterday I was standing on those yellow footprints at Parris Island.

Semper Fi.