MCRD/ERR PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. -- Range Co. personnel from WFTBn. have recently implemented a new marksmanship training program for female recruits who fail to qualify on the rifle range during initial qualification, and also while in the Marksmanship Training Platoon.
The new program, entitled Remedial Marksmanship Platoon, is a specifically designed to reduce female entry-level separations because of not qualifying on the rifle range.
"The reason the RMP started is because they had a high number of [entry-level separations] among female recruits, and they wanted to give them another chance to qualify," said Sgt. Dale Wills, Primary Marksmanship Instructor for the first RMP.
To form the RMP, 10 or more unqualified recruits from a series are assigned to an entirely separate platoon with their own senior drill instructor and two drill instructors.
Prior to the establishment of the RMP, female recruits who failed to qualify were dropped to the next platoon on Grass Week, which is when recruits learn the fundamentals of shooting their M-16A2's. With RMP, however, recruits go through their own Grass Week, but instead of the PMI and coaches simply teaching them the basics all over again, they focus more on each individual recruit's problems and provide more one-on-one attention to help each grasp what she might have missed the first time.
"I try and put it in their perspective - how they look through the sights, how they pull the trigger," said Wills. "Not everybody learns at the same level, so it needs to be broken down purple dinosaur style."
After their week of snapping in, they join in with a platoon that is qualifying on the range for the first time, in an attempt to exercise their newly-honed marksmanship skills.
If they fail to qualify the second time around, they have three additional days in MTP to qualify.
So far, the new program has proven successful, with a 94 percent success rate for recruits who failed to qualify on initial qualification. Out of 18 recruits who were in RMP, 17 qualified.
"I realized what I was doing wrong, so I was able to correct it," said Recruit Lindsey M. Jones, Platoon 4038, Papa Co., 4th RTBn., who said her biggest problem was getting comfortable in the shooting positions.
Jones shot a score of 110 on the day of initial qualification - 80 points short of qualifying - but quickly earned Sharpshooter during her time in RMP.
"The program did exactly what it was designed to do - there has been a decrease in ELS's," said Gunnery Sgt. Charles Smith, chief instructor for Marksmanship Training Unit, who revealed that the biggest challenge PMIs face during RMP is motivating unqualified recruits.
Although the program has proven to be successful through its first and only platoon of female recruits, Wills has a different perspective on the importance of qualifying the first time.
"It is successful, but when you look at marksmanship you need to apply it to Initial Qualification because you're not going to get a second chance in combat," he said. "These are the building blocks for phase three marksmanship, which is what Marines do everyday in Iraq and Afghanistan, and they don't get second chances."