R 031939Z JUN 11
UNCLASSIFIED//
MARADMIN 320/11
MSGID/GENADMIN/CMC WASHINGTON DC CDI//
SUBJ/2011 COMBAT MARKSMANSHIP SYMPOSIUM POST SYMPOSIUM MESSAGE//
REF/A/MSGID:MCO 3574.2K/01AUG2007/YMD:20070801//
REF/B/DESC:COMBAT MARKSMANSHIP SYMPOSIUM CHARTER/MAR2011/-//
NARR/REF A IS THE MARINE CORPS ORDER FOR MARINE CORPS COMBAT MARKSMANSHIP PROGRAMS. REF B IS THE PENDING COMBAT MARKSMANSHIP SYMPOSIUM CHARTER CURRENTLY IN STAFFING//
POC/T.J. LAYOU/CWO2/UNIT: S-3 WTBN, QUANTICO/TEL: 703-784-5061//
GENTEXT/REMARKS/1. WTBN QUANTICO HOSTED THE 2011 COMBAT MARKSMANSHIP SYMPOSIUM FROM 7 TO 11 MARCH 2011. THE COMBAT MARKSMANSHIP SYMPOSIUM WAS CONDUCTED TO PROVIDE A FORUM WHERE AUTHORIZED DECISION MAKERS, REPRESENTING THE ENTIRE SPECTRUM OF COMMANDS WITHIN THE MARINE CORPS, MET TO IDENTIFY AND DISCUSS ISSUES AND PROVIDE RECOMMENDED SOLUTIONS. THIS SYMPOSIUM SERVED TO PROVIDE A SINGLE POINT TO CONSOLIDATE COMBAT MARKSMANSHIP ISSUES AND TO PROVIDE SENIOR LEADERSHIP A TRUE PICTURE OF OUR CURRENT STATE OF MARKSMANSHIP.
2. THE COMBAT MARKSMANSHIP SYMPOSIUM CONSISTED OF THE EXECUTIVE STEERING COMMITTEE (ESC) AND WORKING GROUPS (WG).
A. THE ESC. DEPUTY COMMANDANT, COMBAT DEVELOPMENT AND INTEGRATION SPONSORED THE ESC AND IS THE ADVOCATE. THE ESC IS COMPRISED OF 15 MEMBERS REPRESENTING FOUR DIFFERENT GROUPS. MEMBERS VOTED ON ISSUES BROUGHT FORWARD BY THE WG LEADS. THOSE ISSUES ENDORSED BY THE ESC WERE THEN BROUGHT FORWARD TO THE ADVOCATE FOR DECISION AND GUIDANCE.
(1) HQ ELEMENTS IN SUPPORT OF THE ADVOCATE - THESE ELEMENTS ARE THE DEPUTY COMMANDANTS OF PLANS, POLICY AND OPERATIONS (DC, PPO), INSTALLATION AND LOGISTICS (DC, IL), AVIATION (DC, AVN), AND COMMANDER MARINE CORPS SYSTEMS COMMAND (MARCORSYSCOM). PPO REPRESENTS GROUND COMBAT ELEMENT (GCE) INTERESTS AND REPRESENTS THE FOCUS OF MARINE CORPS COMBAT MARKSMANSHIP (03XX COMMUNITY). DC IL REPRESENTS THE LOGISTICS COMMAND ELEMENT (LCE) AND SPEAKS TO MARINE LOGISTICS GROUP (MLG) AND FACILITY ISSUES. DC AVN REPRESENTS THE AVIATION COMBAT ELEMENT (ACE) AND SPEAKS TO COMBAT MARKSMANSHIP ISSUES RELEVANT TO THE AVIATION COMMUNITY. COMMANDER MARCORSYSCOM SERVES IN AN ADVISORY ROLE TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO THE SYMPOSIUM REGARDING WEAPONS FIELDING AND REQUIREMENTS AND IS NOT A VOTING MEMBER OF THE ESC.
(2) RESOURCE PROPONENT - MARINE FORCES COMMAND (MARFORCOM), MARINE FORCES PACIFIC (MARFORPAC) AND MARINE FORCES RESERVE (MARFORRES) ARE COMPONENT HEADQUARTERS THAT ADDRESS AND SUPPORT RESOURCING DECISIONS IN THEIR RESPECTIVE COMMANDS.
(3) IMPLEMENTATION - I MEF, II MEF, AND III MEF RECEIVE THE END PRODUCTS OR ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR EXECUTING RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE ESC AS THE MAIN COMPONENT OF THE OPERATING FORCES (OPFOR). THEY PROVIDE GUIDANCE REGARDING THE FEASIBILITY OF RECOMMENDATIONS IN THE OPFOR AND PROVIDE A TRUE PICTURE OF THE CURRENT STATE OF MARKSMANSHIP IN THE MAGTF.
(4) ENTRY LEVEL TRAINING CONTINUUM - WTBN QUANTICO, WFTBN EDSON RANGE, WFTBN PARRIS ISLAND, THE SCHOOLS OF INFANTRY (SOI'S), AND TECOM. THEY PROVIDE GUIDANCE REGARDING THE FEASIBILITY OF RECOMMENDATIONS WITHIN THE ENTRY LEVEL TRAINING CONTINUUM.
B. WGS. THE WGS WERE ESTABLISHED AS TEMPORARY ORGANIZATIONS AND WERE COMPOSED OF REPRESENTATIVES WITH A STRONG BACKGROUND AND EXPERIENCE BASE IN SPECIFIC MARKSMANSHIP AREAS. WGS FOCUSED ON SPECIFIC ISSUES PERTAINING TO DOCTRINE, ORGANIZATION, TRAINING, MATERIAL, LEADERSHIP, PERSONNEL, AND FACILITIES (DOTMLPF) ACROSS THE MAGTF. WGS INITIATED OR RESPONDED TO MARKSMANSHIP SYMPOSIUM ACTION ITEMS, STAFFED AS NECESSARY, AND PRESENTED THEM TO THE ESC WITH RECOMMENDED SOLUTIONS.
3. FOR THIS YEAR'S SYMPOSIUM THE FOLLOWING WGS MET AND ADDRESSED THE LISTED ISSUES:
A. WG 1 PROPONENCY. THE PURPOSE OF THIS WG WAS TO STANDARDIZE A SINGLE BODY ABLE TO SPEAK WITH ONE VOICE ON MARKSMANSHIP RELATED ISSUES. BASED ON ESC RECOMMENDATION, THE CHARTER WILL BE FORWARDED FOR ADVOCATE SIGNATURE AND APPROVAL ONCE IT COMPLETES STAFFING TO CODIFY FUTURE CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM EFFORTS. WTBN QUANTICO WILL MAINTAIN COGNIZANCE OF THE CHARTER AS IT MOVES FORWARD.
B. WG 2 ENTRY LEVEL TRAINING. THE PURPOSE OF THIS WG WAS TO DEVELOP A RIFLE COMBAT OPTICS AT ENTRY LEVEL TRAINING PILOT PROGRAM OF INSTRUCTION IN ORDER TO DEFINE TESTING REQUIREMENTS FOR POSSIBLE IMPLEMENTATION, AS RECOMMENDED BY THE LAST GROUND BOARD. BASED ON ESC RECOMMENDATION, A RCO PROOF OF CONCEPT TRIAL WILL BE CONDUCTED AT ENTRY LEVEL SITES FROM APRIL 2011 TO JANUARY 2012. MARINE CORPS OPERATIONAL TEST AND EVALUATION ACTIVITY (MCOTEA) WILL PROVIDE OVERSIGHT AND CAPTURE RELEVANT DATA DURING THE TRIAL PERIOD. WTBN QUANTICO WILL CONDUCT THE FIRST RCO TRIAL, WITH FOLLOW-ON TRIALS AT MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOTS (MCRDS) PARRIS ISLAND AND SAN DIEGO. SOI EAST AND WEST WILL CONDUCT BACK UP IRON SIGHT (BUIS) TRAINING. IN-PROGRESS REVIEWS (IPR) WILL BE GIVEN TO THE GROUND BOARD IN MAY AND AUGUST OF 2012. WFTBN EDSON RANGE AND WFTBN PARRIS ISLAND WILL SEND REPRESENTATIVES TO THE PROOF OF CONCEPT PILOT AT WTBN QUANTICO IN APRIL 2011.
C. WG 3 WEAPONS. THE PURPOSE OF THIS WG WAS TO INTEGRATE THE ACQUISITION AND DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY WITH THE END USERS OF WEAPONS AND OPTICS WITHIN A SINGLE FORUM IN ORDER TO ASSESS THE CURRENT MARKSMANSHIP DOCTRINE AND FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS. WTBN QUANTICO AND MARCORSYSCOM WILL CONTINUE TO COLLABORATE THROUGH VARIOUS VENUES TO INCLUDE FOLLOW-ON MARKSMANSHIP SYMPOSIUMS. (1) THE WG PRIORITIZED THE MODIFICATIONS TO THE USMC SERVICE RIFLE (M16A4/M4 WITH RCO) WHICH ARE LISTED AS FOLLOWS: (A) ADJUSTABLE BUTTSTOCK AND FREE FLOATING RAIL SYSTEM (FFRS) TO BE PURCHASED AND MODIFIED IN ONE ITERATION; THE SYMPOSIUM CONCURS WITH THE EYE RELIEF ENHANCEMENT KIT (EREK) UNTIL THE ADJUSTABLE BUTTSTOCK IS FIELDED. LARUE RCO MOUNT; SOLVES THE PRODUCT QUALITY DEFICIENCY REPORT PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH THE TA-51 RCO MOUNT FOR ALL SERVICE RIFLES. COMMON WEAPON SLING; THERE ARE A NUMBER OF AUTHORIZED AND UNAUTHORIZED SLING CONFIGURATIONS WITHIN THE MARINE CORPS. THE WG SOUGHT TO CONSOLIDATE THE TYPE OF SLING IN USE BY ENDORSING THE PURCHASE OF ONE COMMON SLING. THE ESC FURTHER CLARIFIED THIS AS REQUESTING A SLING THAT NOT ONLY MEETS THE NEEDS OF TABLES 1-4, TRAINING, AND COMBAT, WHILE ALSO MAINTAINING PARADE SLINGS FOR CEREMONIAL USE AS WELL. AMBI-CONTROLS: THE ESC ENDORSED THE REQUEST TO ISSUE AMBIDEXTROUS CONTROLS TO UNIT ARMORIES IN ORDER TO ENABLE LEFT HANDED SHOOTERS TO KEEP THEIR STRONG HAND ON THE WEAPON AND STILL CONDUCT THE NECESSARY MOVEMENTS TO OPERATE THE WEAPON. MARKSMANSHIP PROGRAM MANAGEMENT SECTION (MPMS) WILL MONITOR ALL MODIFICATIONS AND THEIR DOCTRINAL EFFECTS AND MAKE ADJUSTMENTS ACCORDINGLY. (B) USING THE M27 INFANTRY AUTOMATIC RIFLE TO QUALIFY ON THE RIFLE RANGE. THE ESC DID NOT CONCUR WITH THE WGS RECOMMENDATION TO ALLOW MARINES TO QUALIFY WITH THIS WEAPON. THE ESC RECOMMENDED THAT ANNUAL RIFLE TRAINING (ART) IS TO BE CONDUCTED WITH THE MARINE CORPS SERVICE RIFLE ONLY. ALL ANNUAL RIFLE TRAINING SITES WILL ENFORCE THE CURRENT STANDARD OF THE SERVICE RIFLE. (C) THE USE OF ATTACHMENTS WHILE CONDUCTING ART. THE ESC CONCURRED WITH THE WG MINORITY REPORT AND RECOMMENDED AUTHORIZING THE USE OF ALL ATTACHMENTS ISSUED TO THE SHOOTER. HOWEVER, THE USE OF BIPODS DURING THE CONDUCT OF TABLE 1A WAS DETERMINED TO BE AN AID WHICH DOES NOT ALLOW THE SHOOTER TO EXERCISE THE FULL RANGE OF FUNDAMENTAL SKILLS AND NEGATES THE EVALUATION. THEREFORE, THE ESC RECOMMENDED THAT BIPODS NOT BE ALLOWED DURING TABLE 1A. MPMS WILL INCLUDE THIS RECOMMENDATION IN ALL MARKSMANSHIP CORRESPONDENCE. (D) THE USMC SERVICE PISTOL PROGRAM. THE ESC CONCURRED WITH THE WG RECOMMENDATION THAT THE MARINE CORPS COMMON SKILLS TRAINING AND READINESS PISTOL EVENTS BE ALIGNED TO MCO 3574.2K AND TO IMPLEMENT THE MARINE CORPS COMBAT PISTOL PROGRAM (TABLES 1-2) SERVICE-WIDE. MPMS WILL MONITOR ALL MODIFICATIONS AND THEIR DOCTRINAL EFFECTS AND MAKE ADJUSTMENTS ACCORDINGLY.
D. WG 4 RANGE FACILITIES. WG 4 MET TO DISCUSS FACILITIES ISSUES AS THEY RELATE TO RANGE INFRASTRUCTURE. AFTER IN-DEPTH BRIEFINGS FROM RANGES AND TRAINING AREA MANAGEMENT, THE WG DID NOT HAVE ANY ISSUES THAT WERE BROUGHT TO THE ADVOCATE. THE EDUCATION GIVEN TO THOSE IN ATTENDANCE ABOUT MARINE CORPS RANGE CONSTRUCTION AND FUNDING WILL MAKE THIS WG AN ENDURING WORKING GROUP AND A MAINSTAY FOR THE SYMPOSIUM.
E. WG 5 COMBAT PISTOL PROGRAM (CPP). THE PURPOSE OF THIS WG WAS TO IDENTIFY CURRENT PISTOL NEEDS THROUGHOUT THE MAGTF AND THE RELEVANCY OF CURRENT TRAINING REQUIREMENTS IN ORDER TO ESTABLISH A RECOMMENDED WAY AHEAD. ESC RECOMMENDED IMPLEMENTING A COMBAT PISTOL PROGRAM, WHICH INCORPORATES A NEW TARGET AND ADDITIONAL AMMUNITION REQUIREMENTS, WITH CURRENT TARGETS IN USMC INVENTORY. MATERIAL CHANGES REQUIRE FURTHER STUDY. RESULTS WILL BE PRESENTED AT NEXT YEAR'S SYMPOSIUM WITH A COST ANALYSIS ON TARGETRY ASSOCIATED WITH SWITCHING TO A NEW TARGET AS WELL AS ADDITIONAL AMMUNITION REQUIREMENTS. MPMS WILL MONITOR ALL MODIFICATIONS AND THEIR DOCTRINAL EFFECTS AND MAKE ADJUSTMENTS ACCORDINGLY.
F. WG 6 COMBAT MARKSMANSHIP COACH (CMC)/COMBAT MARKSMANSHIP TRAINER (CMT) COURSES. THE PURPOSE OF THIS WG WAS TO IDENTIFY ISSUES RELATED TO TRAINING AND MANPOWER IN ORDER TO IDENTIFY SHORTFALLS AND DEVELOP A RECOMMENDED SOLUTION. WG 6 DISCUSSED THE ISSUES ASSOCIATED WITH THE CMC AND CMT COURSES. THE ESC CONCURRED WITH THE WGS RECOMMENDATION TO DEVELOP A MARINENET CLASS VIA THE DISTANCE LEARNING TARGETING BOARD. ONCE THIS IS IMPLEMENTED, CMCS AND CMTS WILL BE REQUIRED TO MAINTAIN CURRENCY VIA THE MARINENET COURSE. WTBN QUANTICO WILL WORK IN CONJUNCTION WITH ALL 14 MARKSMANSHIP TRAINING SITES TO DEVELOP SOLUTIONS TO ANY SHORTFALLS IN BOTH THE CMC AND CMT COURSES.
G. WG 7 COMPETITION IN ARMS PROGRAM. THE PURPOSE OF THIS WG WAS TO ADDRESS THE ORIGINAL INTENT OF COMPETITIVE MARKSMANSHIP WITHIN THE MARINE CORPS AND IDENTIFY ITS APPLICABILITY TO COMBAT MARKSMANSHIP. WG 7 DISCUSSED COMPETITIVE SHOOTING AND HOW IT CAN BETTER SERVE THE MARINE CORPS THROUGH IMPROVED MARKSMANSHIP THROUGHOUT THE CORPS VIA CLINICS AND COACHING EVENTS, AS WELL AS INTEGRATION OF WOUNDED WARRIORS INTO THE COMPETITIVE PROGRAMS. THE ESC RECOMMENDED TO THE ADVOCATE THAT A MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT BE MADE BETWEEN MARINE CORPS RECRUITING COMMAND AND THE MARINE CORPS SHOOTING TEAM THAT WOULD SERVE BOTH INTERESTS. MARINE CORPS SHOOTING TEAM WILL OVERSEE ALL EVENTS AS THEY MOVE FORWARD.
4. SYMPOSIUM WAY AHEAD. THE COMBAT MARKSMANSHIP SYMPOSIUM MET ITS INTENT TO GAIN A CLEAR PICTURE OF THE CURRENT STATE OF MARKSMANSHIP IN THE MARINE CORPS AND THE STEPS WHICH NEED TO BE TAKEN IN ORDER TO IMPROVE AN ALREADY ROBUST PROGRAM. THE SYMPOSIUM WILL BECOME AN ANNUAL EVENT WITH THE NEXT ITERATION TO BE HELD IN OCTOBER OF FY12. WTBN, QUANTICO WILL DRAFT A CALL OUT MESSAGE FOR TOPICS AT THE 2012 COMBAT MARKSMANSHIP SYMPOSIUM IN AUGUST 2011 IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN RELEVANT DISCUSSION.
5. RELEASE AUTHORIZED BY LTGEN GEORGE J. FLYNN, DEPUTY COMMANDANT, COMBAT DEVELOPMENT AND INTEGRATION.//