Editor’s Note: This article was sponsored by the Marine Corps Special Operations Command (MARSOC) and contains content developed in collaboration with their team.
The United States Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC) is the cream of the crop of the Marine Corps.
Trained to the highest standard, the Critical Skills Operators (CSOs) and Special Operations Combat Service Specialists (SOCS) of MARSOC form the tip of the spear of the Marine Corps and are often the first to deploy in a contingency.
To become a Marine Raider is no easy job. Only those with the requisite physical and mental strength are able to pass the rigorous Assessment & Selection phase and the subsequent specialized training pipeline to enter MARSOC. And there is a good reason for having so high standards: Marine Raiders undertake some of the most difficult missions in the entire U.S. military and a lot depends on their skill and training downrange.
But what are the basic requirements to join MARSOC and become an elite Marine Raider?
To begin with, a candidate must be eligible to obtain and maintain a secret security clearance. Marine Raiders, after all, conduct special operations, many of which are highly sensitive.
Obviously, Marine Raiders have to be fit and clever, so a prospective candidate must have a minimum score of 235 on his physical fitness test and a minimum score of 105 on his general testing. Candidates must also meet MARSOC’s medical screening criteria to ensure that their body can withstand the extreme physical and mental pressures of Assessment & Selection and any follow-on training.
Related: What MARSOC tests in its Assessment and Selection
In terms of discipline, MARSOC requires that prospective candidates have no more than two non-judicial punishments on their record on their current enlistment.
MARSOC also requires that prospective candidates are eligible to re-enlist and that they have no more than 1.5 year time in grade as an E5 before attending the Individual Training Course (ITC) that comes after a candidate successfully completes and passes the initial Assessment and Selection process.
Here is a full breakdown of the requirements to join MARSOC as an enlisted Critical Skill Operator:
- Be eligible to obtain and maintain a secret security clearance;
- Have a minimum GT score of 105;
- Have a minimum PFT score of 235;
- Have no more than two non-judicial punishments on current enlistment;
- Be able to pass the MARSOC swim assessment;
- Be eligible to re-enlist;
- Meet MARSOC’s medical screening criteria;
- Have no more 18 months time in grade as a Sergeant (E5) upon attending the Individual Training Course (ITC);
- Make a lateral move to the Critical Skills Operator MOS upon selection.
Commissioned officers wishing to join MARSOC as Critical Skill Operators should fulfill the above criteria in addition to:
- Have no more than 24 months time in grade (TIG) as a captain upon attending the Individual Training Course (ITC);
- Make a lateral move to the special operations officer MOS upon selection.
MARSOC’s mission is to recruit, train, sustain, and deploy scalable, expeditionary forces worldwide to accomplish special operations missions assigned by U.S. Special Operations Command. To accomplish that, MARSOC equips and trains Marines to succeed in austere conditions against a wide range of adversaries in competition through conflict. Marine Raiders execute complex, distributed operations globally in uncertain environments, achieving silent success and strategic impact. For more information visit www.marsoc.com.
