One of the mottos of the United States Marine Corps is “Every Marine is a rifleman.” Throughout their training, Marines are expected to master a myriad of weapons that will allow them to carry out successful missions and ultimately classify them as combat-ready troops.
A 2017 video posted to YouTube, appropriately titled “Marines School of Infantry – You Must Learn To Kill,” gives viewers a glimpse of the intense and robust firearms and combat training a Marine is subject to during a nearly two-month span.
Check it out below:
The video details the School of Infantry (SOI), the second stage of initial military training for enlisted Marines after Recruit Training. It offers two different courses: the Marine Combat Training (MCT), and Infantry Training Battalion (ITB)
Infantry Marines will go to ITB which provides all basic infantry skills and some advanced infantry skills to Marines who are going out the fleet.
MCT is the next step for any Marines outside the infantry MOS. While not as intense as ITB, the cadets at MCT will still master a number of combat and weapons skills.
U.S. Marine Corps School Of Infantry at Infantry Training Battalion (ITB) -east in Camp Geiger, North Carolina. (Gung Ho Vids/YouTube)
“The School of Infantry has been exciting. It’s been a thrill. It’s been a rush for me,” PFC Enrique Diaz says in describing his experience. “You get an education and you learn something new every day at the Marine Corps.”
“I experienced teamwork. I experienced the confidence I really needed. And I experienced shooting rifles,” Pvt. Jeree Collins says of her time at MCT. “I always thought that weapons could be hard to handle because I’ve never handled them before, but it’s not.”
U.S. Marine Corps School Of Infantry at Infantry Training Battalion (ITB) -east in Camp Geiger, North Carolina. (Gung Ho Vids/YouTube)
For these Marines, the training is divided between classroom time and field time. Before they conduct live action demos, they must fully understand the intricacies of their weapons, the geography of their locale, and be able to communicate well with their classmates and their leaders.
In the field, the trainees are expected to master everything from firearms to explosives. In addition to weapons training, they are taught hand to hand combat and survival skills, are expected to pass physical fitness tests, and ultimately must become a team player. In the end, they have to prove that they have what it takes to survive in combat.
U.S. Marine Corps School Of Infantry at Infantry Training Battalion (ITB) -east in Camp Geiger, North Carolina. (Gung Ho Vids/YouTube)
“We’re a family. We’re close here,” Collins says. “We look after each other. We’re all Marines, and we’re all a family.”
