What Army or USMC Commissioned Officer position would require getting sniper-qualified?

SPC Elijah J. Henry, MBA — Fri, 12 Apr 2024 16:11:05 -0400

I heard recently of an Army or USMC Commissioned Officer (*not* prior Enlisted) who became sniper-qualified. It sounds like a very interesting niche job. What kind of position would require this?

Response by COL Randall C. made Apr 12 at 2024 6:19 PM

COL Randall C. — Fri, 12 Apr 2024 18:19:40 -0400

As far as I know, that's an urban legend as neither the Army nor the Marine Corps would send and officer through the sniper qualification course.

The Marine Corps does have a Sniper Leaders course (SSULC) that trains junior officers/NCOs on the capabilities, limitations, employment, etc. of a sniper platoon, but AFAIK, the Army doesn't have an equivalent course.

Response by Maj John Bell made Apr 12 at 2024 10:39 PM

Maj John Bell — Fri, 12 Apr 2024 22:39:01 -0400

My information is 39 years old, so it may be complete nonsense. I was Marine infantry officer with a secondary MOS as an intel officer. While serving as the Battalion S-2 of a rifle battalion, one of my additional duties was as the Surveillance and Target Acquistion Platoon Leader (Snipers were one of the three sections in the platoon). I received a week of training in field intel school on how to best employ snipers (absolutely no training in how to be a sniper).

I believe, but may be wrong, that the snipers were moved to Regiment sometime after I left the service. But their Platoon leader was still an intel officer.

Response by SPC James Neidig made Apr 13 at 2024 1:40 AM

SPC James Neidig — Sat, 13 Apr 2024 01:40:57 -0400

I Don’t Think It Would Be Possible,
The 2nd Lieutenants Would Get Lost During Their First Field Training Exercise,

Response by SSgt Christophe Murphy made Apr 15 at 2024 9:53 AM

SSgt Christophe Murphy — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 09:53:07 -0400

I know the Marine Corps has a Sniper Leader course they put folks through instead of the full Sniper course but considering the last Scout Snipers went through the pipeline in December the whole field will be shifting from what was to what will be.

Response by SGM Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 16 at 2024 9:27 AM

SGM Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 09:27:15 -0400

Not only is there no billet that requires an officer becoming sniper qualified, but the requirements for US Army Sniper School are: must possess MOS 11B, 19D or 18 series in the rank of E3 through E6 (waiver for E7).
Special Forces Sniper does allow E-4 to E8, W1-W3 or O1 to O3 (SF only).
I can confirm going back to FY19 that no officer enrolled in Army Sniper, and no officers and only 2 warrants enrolled in Special Forces Sniper.
As cool as it seems on paper and in the movies, it's a skill level 1 task. And more experienced sniper is usually the spotter on the scope.
In any situation where an officer is even responsible for snipers, conventional (scout or STA platoon) or SOF (Ranger weapons platoon, ODA, SEAL platoon, or Tier 1), that officer is only in that job once, and only for 2 years, and has a ton of responsibilities in addition to the rare employment of snipers.

And I have to say, having just finished another of these books on a flight last weekend, this is the most disappointing characteristic of current thriller/action fiction genre; the main character is always a former special operations officer, often with an array of skills, experience and schools that would have been enlisted only in real life, and would have required much more time on active duty than than the character's background narrative and age allows for. Typically the amount of experience rolled into their limited military background would take several NCOs a whole careers to pile up.
And I realize the military is a small fraction of the customer base, but it's still annoying, especially when the author thanks a military technical advisor in the credits, or is even former military themselves.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Apr 17 at 2024 4:17 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Wed, 17 Apr 2024 16:17:08 -0400

To be the general of the snipers requires sniper qualification! hahaha