The Basic School

Following the principle that every Marine is a rifleman, The Basic School trains every Marine officer to be a provisional rifle platoon commander. The 26-week course, located in Quantico, Virginia, focuses on teaching newly-commissioned lieutenants basic infantry skills while also refining their leadership styles for more practical application in the Fleet. Six companies of approximately 250 lieutenants each rotate through TBS every year. A Staff Platoon Commander, usually a Captain with several years experience, monitors, instructs, and mentors each of the six platoons composing a typical company.

At first, much of the training revolves around the individual: students must earn their initial martial arts belt, qualify on the rifle and pistol ranges, and satisfy the Corps?s minimum swim requirements within the first six weeks. Early classes include Marine Corps organization, military law, history and traditions, and personnel administration.

Beginning with land navigation, the curriculum gradually shifts to more field-based training. Over the course of three field exercises and one week of MOUT (Military Operations in Urban Terrain), students become increasingly familiar with communications gear and procedures, platoon-level tactics, infantry weapons, the effects of combined arms, combat engineering, logistics, casualty assessment and evacuation, patrolling, military intelligence, and convoy operations. Lieutenants hold two billets (one garrison and one field) as anyone from a squad leader to company commander. Their performance in these roles, as evaluated by their SPC or another instructor, provides the basis for much of their standing within the company. Other factors include grades on written exams, PFT score, and times for the Double Obstacle and Endurance courses.

Students enter their MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) preferences after four months of thorough exposure to their possible choices. Selection is based on class standing and the needs of the Marine Corps.

TBS has no final exam. Instead, it culminates with a force-on-force field exercise affectionately known as ?The War.? Students apply the knowledge they have learned and the skills they have developed over the past 6 months in various mock-combat scenarios that pit one half of the company against the other. The relief of graduation is tempered by the anticipation of MOS school and, finally, joining the Fleet.

So, what do you want to do in the Marine Corps?