The United States Marine Corps has made a massive change, removing its elite and historical sniper program as the military branch attempts to adapt infantry battalions to future warfare.
The Marine Corps is disbanding the decades old Military Occupational Specialty or MOS which has been around since World War II.
According to the reports, the group has served in every major conflict since the 1940s which were responsible for several successful tasks, including the reconnaissance and the killing of enemy combatants from a distance.
The Marine Corps’ controversial decision sparked outrage among the public and American Scout snipers with one nonprofit organization representing renowned Scout Snipers, calling the Corps’ decision “ill-advised” and “misguided.”
The USMC Scout Sniper Association lamented on Facebook, claiming that “We’re shocked and saddened that our Marine Corps leadership seems to have forgotten the lessons learned in combat, paid for with the blood of our members.”
The association also blamed “senior leadership” within the Corps for not giving the Scout Sniper Platoons the resources to meet the Marine Corps needs.
Instead of scout sniper platoons, infantry battalions will have scout platoons. https://t.co/mc86hm4VcO— Marine Corps Times (@Marinetimes) February 28, 2023
“Rather than do away with Scout Snipers… perhaps our senior leadership should invest the little bit of time and effort it would take to better train, equip and organize the highly skilled and motivated Scout Snipers who are already giving their all in defense of our Nation,” the organization complained.
In an exclusive report published by the Marine Corps Times, Marine spokesman Capt. Ryan Bruce claimed that the sniper platoons would be replaced with a Scout Platoon that will allow service members “to focus their training and evaluations on scouting, providing commanders” with information that will help them to accomplish their mission.
Moreover, the service branch also claimed that the scout sniper units were not providing officials with “continuous all-weather information gathering.”
In the memo issued by Deputy Commandant for Plans, Policy, and Operations at Headquarters Marine Corps, Lieutenant General David J. Furness, he called for the “immediate transition of Scout Sniper Platoons to Scout Platoons.”
The memo revealed that infantry battalions will reportedly no longer have sniper attachments, but will have scouts who will “provide the commander with relevant, reliable, accurate and prompt information.”
The shocking controversial change came following the release of the Marine Corps Design 2030 plan to restructure how the branch operates.
“We urge the Commandant of the Marine Corps to reconsider this ill-advised policy decision. If you believe Scout Snipers are a valuable asset to our Marine Corps warfighting capability, then you should take whatever steps you can to place pressure on our Commandant, Gen David Berger, and his leadership team to rescind this message and do the right thing. You have representatives in Congress who want to hear from you.” USMC Scout Sniper Association said in a statement.
Reports revealed that the move will take effect in fiscal year 2024 where there will be “zero allocated seats” for the “Scout Sniper Basic Course.”
