MARSOC

MARSOC role in Afghanistan comes into focus

By Dan Lamothe on December 1, 2011 Afghanistan, Kajaki, MARSOC, The CMC

Commandant Gen. Jim Amos’ trip to Afghanistan through the Thanksgiving holiday has brought a little reported Marine Corps mission to the forefront: village stability operations. Associated Press reporter Bob Burns was along for the trip, and outlined in some detail what operators with Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command are doing in Puzeh, a dusty village in Helmand province about 10 miles south of the Kajaki Dam. In September, I discussed the MARSOC village stability operations mission with Maj. Gen. John Toolan, the top U.S. commander in southwestern Afghanistan. Instead of being involved in raids or other high-profile spec-ops missions,…

Behind the Cover: MARSOC for non-grunts

By Gina Cavallaro on November 8, 2011 Behind the Cover, MARSOC

MARSOC just keeps growing and changing. This week’s cover story is a good example of that… a course meant to train combat support and combat service support Marines in the tactics, techniques and procedures they’ll be expected to know when they deploy with MARSOC teams, is also an opportunity for non-grunts to learn some pretty high-speed stuff. During the six-week course at Stone Bay aboard Camp Lejeune, N.C., all students learn to fire a host of weapons, including foreign weapons, and get to do speed reloading and weapons transition drills with an M4 assault rifle and 9 mm pistol. After…

Behind the cover: Go MARSOC and stay

By Andrew deGrandpre on February 21, 2011 Behind the Cover, MARSOC, The CMC

In an exclusive this week, senior writer Gina Cavallaro details the newly approved plan to create three military occupational specialties for operators, specialists and officers assigned to Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command. Plus, Cavallaro and San Diego bureau chief Gidget Fuentes team up to explain why the commandant shot down MARSOC’s effort to rename its units and personnel after the legendary Marine Raiders of World War II. Both stories came to light after Marine Corps Times obtained a detailed presentation provided to Gen. Jim Amos and his most senior general officers late last month in New Orleans. Amos, a…

Expect new details about the future Marine Corps tonight

By Dan Lamothe on February 8, 2011 General officers, Leadership, Manpower, MARSOC, MEU operations, The CMC

Commandant Gen. Jim Amos is expected to make a major speech tonight in San Francisco that could provide significant new details about what the future Marine Corps looks like. Marine officials obviously don’t want to get out front of their commandant, but the speech has been teased to media as focusing on “his vision” for what the service should do next. It will take place at the Marines’ Memorial Club, where Defense Secretary Robert Gates said last August that he was ordering a broad-based review of the Corps’ mission and purpose. The setting of Amos’ speech is significant. In many…

Another look at the Marine Corps' search for a new 1911 pistol

By Dan Lamothe on January 27, 2011 MARSOC, Reconnaissance, Weapons

By now, many of you may have heard about the Marine Corps’ search for a new 1911 pistol. I first reported about it for Marine Corps Times in the fall when a Request for Information was released by acquisition officials, and followed up by walking the floor at SHOT Show last week to discuss the competition with many of the gunmakers assumed to be in the fight. As outlined in this story, Colt Defense and Springfield Armory have submitted samples to the Corps for the competition, while at least two other bigtime pistol makers — Kimber and Smith & Wesson…

Behind the Cover: What Amos wants now

By Dan Lamothe on December 7, 2010 Behind the Cover, MARSOC, The CMC

This week’s Marine Corps Times cover story cuts right to the chase: It’s all about what the service’s new top officer has planned. Commandant Gen. Jim Amos sat down with Marine Corps Times senior writer Gina Cavallaro and managing editor Andy deGrandpre last week, outlining a variety of priorities for the service. Among them, he wants to see Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command continue to grow, new re-enlistment rules and better unit cohesion. He also disclosed his feelings on the Corps’ tattoo policy. If you look at the cover image above, you’ll also see a teaser that says he “almost declined…

Behind the Cover: MARSOC's new sales pitch

By Andrew deGrandpre on October 12, 2010 Behind the Cover, Camp Lejeune, Fitness, MARSOC, Recruiting, Training

In this week’s print edition, on newsstands now, staff writer Gina Cavallaro takes readers inside the Corps’ new special operations warm-up course at Camp Lejeune, N.C. Called the Assessment and Selection Preparation and Orientation Course, or ASPOC for short, it represents Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command’s latest effort to curtail a 46 percent attrition rate among Marines looking to become elite critical skills operators. The commandant has challenged MARSOC leadership to cut that rate to 20 percent — a tall order indeed, and one the command is taking very seriously. This three-week course, conducted at Lejeune’s Stone Bay training…

Behind the cover: The MARSOC workout

By militaryonline on July 6, 2010 Battle Rattle, Behind the Cover, MARSOC

Whether you are a grunt with multiple combat tours under your belt or a personnel clerk who is not used to humping it with a pack, Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command has come up with a w0rkout that is sure to whip you into shape and Marine Corps Times spells it out for you in detail in this week’s cover story. “First Look: The MARSOC Workout,” includes a four-page special pull-out section that walks you through each day in the 10-week program. MARSOC recruiters hand the program out to Marines who are interested in attending Assessment and Selection, the…

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