Well, as many did I wore many hats in my career. My first 3 years was as an 8151 Marine Security Guard at a Navy Base. Then I went to the Fleet, where my last year or so there I was working as an 0411 MIMMS clerk and the Battalion Maintenance Chief. Then in the last three years at the Marine Corps Security Force headquarters at Mare Island where I ran the rifle range. So I ended with a Primary MOS of 0311, but secondary ones of 8151, 0411, and 0933.
And that is all the
To me, the issue with removing "Scout-Sniper School" is of much less importance than the reorganization that removes the Scout-Snipers themselves from being a Battalion asset, and places that duty on Force Recon. It would be akin to removing the 60 and 81mm mortars from the Battalion and assigning them to an Artillery Regiment. Battalions need their "eyes and ears", and I find it idiotic that they ordered those to be removed. And I bet that more than a few Battalion Commanders will continue to have an "unofficial STA platoon" that does that job anyways. Not on the books, but a handful of Marines selected form the Companies to do that job, if the Corps authorizes it or not. And of course, without the special training they have had in the past.
And that is really all the 0317 Scout-Sniper MOS was. A secondary MOS that was only assignable to Infantry to designate their position in the TO&E. Like there is no real difference between an 0331 Machine Gunner and an 0332 Heavy Machine Gunner. Both attend the same school, and learn all of the machine guns. But in the TO&E, one runs the M60 (now (M240), the other the M-2 and the Mk 19. One is a Company level asset in a Weapons Platoon, the other a Battalion level asset in the Weapons Company.
And being a "sniper" was much less of a part of their job as was their being a scout. I have been in a STA platoon (and at least in the 1980s not everybody went to Sniper School). I have also served in Battery and Battalion level RSOP teams in the Army, precisely because of my prior background. One Battery I was in even created a permanent "Force Protection" team, even though on paper there is no such thing in a PATRIOT Battery, the TO&E for that just does not exist. But we had a Battery Commander that had been in 5-52 and saw the results of Battle of Nasiriyah and what happened to the 507th Maintenance Company (now Echo Company 5-52). And a First Sergeant who had been an 11B (Army Infantry) before moving to PATRIOT. So both of them took security very seriously, and refused to do as most Batteries and just randomly pick and chose who would be doing those jobs each mission without any kind of special training.
