The path to joining the Marine Raiders is highly demanding, requiring physical conditioning, mental fortitude, and ethical maturity. The Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC) maintains extremely high standards for entry, ensuring that only the most capable individuals earn the title of Marine Raider. The process is a multi-phase, career-defining commitment, starting with strict administrative criteria and culminating in nearly a year of specialized training designed to forge highly adaptable special operators.
Defining the Role: The Critical Skills Operator
The official job designation for the enlisted operator is Critical Skills Operator (CSO), which carries the Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) 0372. CSOs form the core of MARSOC’s expeditionary capability, operating in small, versatile Marine Special Operations Teams (MSOTs). Their mission involves executing specialized tasks globally.
This includes direct action (short-duration strikes and raids) and special reconnaissance conducted deep behind enemy lines. CSOs are also tasked with foreign internal defense, which means training and advising partner nation forces to enhance their security capabilities. These operators are cross-trained in multiple disciplines.
Meeting the Baseline Requirements
Candidates must meet administrative and service-related criteria before attempting the selection process. All applicants must be U.S. citizens and eligible to obtain at least a Secret security clearance. Academic aptitude requires a minimum General Technical (GT) score of 105 on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB).
Enlisted Marines are typically drawn from Corporal (E-4) through Sergeant (E-5), with three to seven years of Time in Service (TIS). Officers must be unrestricted ground officers, usually a First Lieutenant (O-2) or Captain (O-3), with specific limits on Time in Grade (TIG). The application is also open to Navy Fleet Marine Force (FMF) Corpsmen, who serve as Special Amphibious Reconnaissance Corpsmen within the MSOTs.
Essential Physical and Mental Readiness
Success requires candidates to exceed standard physical fitness levels. While the minimum Marine Corps Physical Fitness Test (PFT) score for screening entry is 235, candidates are encouraged to score 260 or higher.
Candidates must demonstrate high water confidence, including passing a 300-meter swim and an 11-minute water tread while wearing the utility uniform. Other requirements include proficiency in land navigation and maintaining a four-mile-per-hour pace while carrying a 45-pound rucksack over extended distances. Selectors also assess maturity, sound judgment, and the mental resilience needed to solve complex problems under intense pressure.
Navigating the Screening and Assessment Phase
The selection process begins with Assessment and Selection (A&S), a multi-phased evaluation designed to identify individuals with the necessary attributes for special operations. Phase 1 is a three-week screening course that confirms administrative readiness and establishes baseline physical standards through physical training.
Phase 2 is the main, three-week assessment. This phase continuously evaluates physical endurance, teamwork, and decision-making. Candidates face high-stress, physically demanding scenarios that test their ability to lead and cooperate while fatigued. A&S is an assessment tool designed to identify moral character, mental toughness, and strategic thought. This phase maintains a high attrition rate.
Mastering the Individual Training Course
Candidates who successfully complete A&S move on to the Individual Training Course (ITC). This intensive training spans seven to nine months and molds candidates into a Critical Skills Operator. The course is structured into four distinct phases:
- Phase 1 focuses on foundational skills, including survival, evasion, resistance, and escape (SERE) training, advanced tactical combat casualty care (TCCC), and specialized communications.
- Phase 2 covers small unit tactics, mission planning, advanced patrolling, demolitions, and amphibious operations such as scout swimming and small boat handling. This phase includes the culminating exercise, Operation Raider Spirit.
- Phase 3 is dedicated to close quarters battle (CQB), advanced marksmanship, and urban warfare tactics. This phase concludes with Operation Guile Strike, simulating precision raids.
- Phase 4 focuses on irregular warfare, culminating in Operation Derna Bridge, where students train, advise, and operate alongside a simulated partner nation force.
Completion of the ITC qualifies the graduate as a Critical Skills Operator, earning the 0372 MOS.
Specialization and Career Path as a Marine Raider
Upon graduation from the Individual Training Course, the Critical Skills Operator is assigned to an operational billet within a Marine Special Operations Team (MSOT) or Company (MSOC). These small, lethal teams are the primary operational element of the Marine Raider Battalions (MRBs). They integrate immediately into a team preparing for deployment.
The career path offers opportunities for advanced, specialized training. Operators can attend schools such as:
- Advanced Linguist Course to gain fluency in a foreign language.
- Joint Terminal Attack Control (JTAC) or advanced demolitions instruction.
- High-risk schools like military freefall and combat diver training.
- Advanced sniper courses.
This professional development ensures CSOs remain highly proficient and adaptable assets within MARSOC.