The Corps is pushing a new sustainment pistol course that will speed up the annual qualification and shorten the amount of time Marines spend at the range.
The new sustainment course of fire for the Combat Pistol Program will have fewer training blocks and require 100 rounds of ammunition less than the normal course of fire for the annual program, according to an administrative message published Monday.
Prior to the announcement of the new sustainment pistol qualification course, Marines had five blocks during their annual qualification and 200 rounds of ammunition per Marine. The new sustainment course shortens the qualification process to three training blocks and 100 rounds per Marine.
Marines qualifying on the pistol annually usually go through several training blocks that consists of dry fire and refresher training, with blocks four and five consisting of a pre-evaluation shoot and then the actual qualification.
The new three block sustainment course ties all the refresher training into one block, with a pre-evaluation shoot and then a qualification round.
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But the new sustainment course isn’t going to help everyone: It’s primarily aimed at those Marines who qualified expert or sharpshooter during the five block course of fire. And the original five block pistol qualification course is not going anywhere either.
Marines who shoot the accelerated sustainment course of fire but only achieve marksman, the lowest qualification rating, will be required to attend the full five block qualification course of fire the following year.
“This program has proven to retain or improve upon a Marines performance while dramatically minimizing time on the range, targetry, and ammunition,” the MARADMIN reads.
Marine Corps Combat Development Command had actually approved the new sustainment pistol course in a 2016 MARADMIN, which noted that further details would be made available in a future message covering implementation.
The Corps is currently also in the process of seeking new technology that could create an automatic scoring rifle range, which could dramatically impact time at the range and limit the number of Marines needed to run the course of fire.
The new tech could see electronic scoring, automated targets and pits, and electronic displays that track a shooter’s score and shot placement.
Shawn Snow is the senior reporter for Marine Corps Times and a Marine Corps veteran.
