A female Marine officer has graduated from the Scout Sniper Unit Leaders Course and is on track to become a future recon or sniper platoon commander.
The female lieutenant graduated from the arduous and physically demanding Infantry Officer Course only in summer 2018; only the second woman to accomplish the feat so far.
She is slated as a ground intelligence officer, which generally is considered a track route for future reconnaissance or sniper platoon commanders.
Marine Corps Training and Education Command confirmed to Marine Corps Times that the lieutenant graduated from the Scout Sniper Unit Leaders Course, held at Quantico, Virginia, in July.
It’s another sign of progress as women continue to integrate in previously closed combat related job fields.
The three-week sniper leaders course prepares junior officers and noncommissioned officers in the employment of Marine snipers.
The training includes tactical decision-making, orders development, counterinsurgency operations and familiarization with weapons and optics. The course culminates with a field exercise where the candidates conduct a sniper control center.
The course is not an equivalent to the grueling 79-day basic scout sniper course where Marines earn the 0317-scout sniper job field.
However, the female Marine lieutenant is on track to become the first female 0203 ground intelligence officer.
The ground intel officer field is seen as a pathway to becoming a recon or sniper platoon commander.
Her graduation from the sniper leaders course puts her one step closer to commanding sniper or recon Marines on the battlefield.
Shawn Snow is the senior reporter for Marine Corps Times and a Marine Corps veteran.
