Should the saying "every Marine a rifleman" be changed?

I agree with Col Harmon. The primary function of EVERY Marine who puts on a Marine uniform is to stand and fight, and that implies, if not states, a "Rifleman"! And Thank You God, for them, every single one...

How indeed does he define rifleman? According to the sniper/rifleman manual you need to be very talented marksmen and combat Savey operator to qualify

Even the cooks in the Corp are trained to be a grunt. If you want this changed, go serve in the Navy

a basic rifleman is a 0300, and a rifleman in the infantry is 0311.

I did a tour on Recruiting back in the 90s. It was my privilege and honor to get to know Major Mike Sayers, USMC (Ret).

He was a Company Commander in Vietnam during some of the worst years. His Company was heavily engaged in the Hill Battles out side if Khe Sanh.

He told me once that during some of the worst of it, he'd taken a lot of casualties, and finally gotten much-needed replacements.......all from the Division Band!

He told me his first thought was "My God, they sent the band!". He also said his expectations were less than optimistic, but damned if the didn't surprise him and make pretty good Grunts when they had too!

When I was in Basic training, Army , every one's PMOS was 11B00. Then your secondary MOS was what you wanted in AIT.

You're f__kin stupid

I do not remember any formal "advanced" training or school in 1968 to be an infantryman. You went to Parris Island, then to Lejeune for ITR and then....unless you were going to a school for specialty training, (transport, radio, mortor, etc)......your young butt went to Vietnam and you toted a rifle while visiting with little brown brother. ie: Infantry I guess your advanced training was "on the job" back then.

I served as an 0331/0324. I then went USA and USAF. After serving with the other branches, I saw first hand the lack of Infantry training the other Troops get. You can take a Basic Marine, Finance, Cook or Postal Marine, and they understand the workings of Basic Infantry, and can apply it. The other branches don’t have a clue. That’s not the slam them. They do their own MOS well. But you would not want them to augment outside of their own MOS. They don’t get close to enough Rifleman training. You will notice that the Marine Wing has a Cammie covering on the flight helmet. That represents the fact that they are still a Ground Pounder. If they have to punch out, they land as a Rifleman. I understand your pride in being a Grunt, you should. The Corps is a fighting Breed. Every MOS is designed to support the Grunts. Even if that means adding another trained MOS, in the fight because they have the basic Infantry training to do it.

No offense is intended toward my Marine Brothers, but the separation between Army any Marines is very little in this regard. Basic Combat Training teaches the soldier basic infantry skills. After basic training and advanced training soldiers still maintain marksmanship and common task training. This maintains at least a level of readiness to perform as a rifleman. I often heard when I was in the Army that every soldier's primary purpose is a rifleman. As an Army infantryman stationed in Korea I recall our mechanics were very gung-ho.

I think it's fine that the Marines maintain that they are all rifleman, but I don't think they own that.I think the Battle of the Bulge illustrates that.