A Reconnaissance Sniper Course student engages targets with the M110 Semi-Automatic Sniper System (SASS) during marksmanship training on Camp Pendleton, Feb. 25, 2021. Photo by Ethan E. Rocke/Coffee or Die Magazine.
From the “fighting tops” of continental ships to the streets of Iraq, the Marine Corps has a long and proud tradition of lethal marksmanship. Nowhere is that tradition more evident than among the Corps’ elite Scout Sniper community.
Since World War II, the Marines have produced some of the world’s deadliest marksmen by way of the Scout Sniper Course. As early as 1943, Scout Snipers proved to be a critical asset to battlefield commanders. When talk of possibly doing away with the Scout Sniper Course began to circulate around the Corps, Marines in the service’s elite Reconnaissance community came together to develop the new Recon Sniper Course.
Coffee or Die embedded with the first-ever Recon Sniper Course, following students and instructors throughout the nine-week course from February through April. The first of our two-part Coffee or Die episode on RSC takes viewers inside the intense, elite training and explains how the new RSC will benefit future generations of Marines and continue the Corps’ reputation for producing some of the deadliest shooters in the world.
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Mac Caltrider is a senior staff writer for Coffee or Die Magazine. He served in the US Marine Corps and is a former police officer. Caltrider earned his bachelor’s degree in history and now reads anything he can get his hands on. He is also the creator of Pipes & Pages, a site intended to increase readership among enlisted troops. Caltrider spends most of his time reading, writing, and waging a one-man war against premature hair loss.
