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The Definitive Spec Ops Resource

THE DEFINITIVE SPEC OPS RESOURCE FOR FITNESS AND SELECTION

Marine Critical Skills Operators

Marine Raider Killed in Predeployment Training Accident Identified

Marine Raiders undergoing pre-deployment were in a training accident when a tactical vehicle rolled over. One Marine was killed and two others injured in an accident on Saturday at Camp Pendleton, CA. One Marine, identified by the Marine Special Operations Command as Staff Sgt. Joshua Braica, 29 of Sacramento, CA was fatally injured in the accident.

Braica had been in the Marine Corps in July 2010. He was injured when the tactical vehicle he was driving, a Polaris MRZR off-road tactical vehicle experienced a rollover on Saturday. Briaca was seriously injured and after initial treatment at the base, was then transferred to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla where he died on Sunday evening.

“Staff Sgt. Joshua Braica, 29, a critical skills operator with 1st Marine Raider Battalion, suffered critical injuries when the MRZR tactical vehicle he was driving experienced a rollover,” was the official statement from MARSOC. “He was medically evacuated to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla. He did not survive his injuries, passing away the evening of April 14.”

Two other Marine Raiders were injured in the accident. The Marine Corps is investigating into what led to the crash of their vehicle.  

The Polaris MRZR is a Special Operations vehicle is small (holds 4-6 passengers), diesel or gas-powered and extremely mobile. It has a 900 cc 4-stroke engine and can do upwards of 60 mph across country. It carries up to 1500 pounds and is easily air-transportable.

Polaris MRZR tactical vehicle.

Major Nick Manwweiler, a spokesman with U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Special Operations Command said that the vehicle Braica was driving has been used by the Marine Raiders for a few years.

“It can go long distances at high speeds,” he said.

After joining the Marines in 2010, Briaca, originally an intelligence specialist, deployed to the Indo-Pacific region as part of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, at Camp Pendleton in 2011. Briaca volunteered for and passed the course to become a Critical Skills Operator in 2015. At the time of his death,  he was a member of the 1st Marine Raider Battalion stationed at Camp Pendleton and deployed a second time in late 2017.

His unit was in training for another deployment scheduled in late May, Manweller said. “Marine Raiders are tasked with dealing with some of the most sensitive national security challenges that our country faces,” Mannweiler added.

Braica was a graduate of the Marine Corps Intelligence Training Center, Marksmanship Instructor Course, MARSOC’s Individual Training Course, MARSOC’s Basic Language Course, the MARSOF Technical Surveillance Course, the MARSOF Network Operators Course, the Basic Airborne Course, and Military Freefall School.

His personal decorations include the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal with Gold Star; two Good Conduct Medals; the National Defense Service Medal; the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal; the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; and three Sea Service Deployment Ribbons.

“Our thoughts are with the family and teammates of Staff Sgt. Braica during this difficult time. MARSOC is providing care and support to them and we urge respect for their privacy as they grieve this loss,” MARSOC said in the statement. “He is survived by his wife and son.”

Photos: USMC/Polaris

 

Marine MARSOC Critical Skills Operator (CSO) Selection Outline

The Marine Corps took its time to become part of SOCOM but now their MARSOC units are not only part of the SOCOM umbrella but growing in both size and influence. The Corps keeps a pretty tight lid on their operators and their training. We visited their booth at the annual SOFIC event in Tampa. And when the conversation got around to visiting their Selection and Assessment Course, you could feel the brakes applied quickly. We were told to contact the headquarters and broach the subject with them. And we’re still waiting for a reply. Which isn’t surprising.

The MARSOC operator is much like the operators in the Army, Navy and Air Force. They are older and more mature, most are married with families.  The Corps is looking for self-starters who are initiative-driven and is constantly looking to improve themselves and those around them. The CSO MOS for enlisted is 0372 and for Officers, it is 0370.

The basic MARSOC Teams are assigned to MARSOC Companies and Battalions. Like the other services, the selection and assessment pipeline for the Marine Special Operations units is extremely intense. Even before they can attend Selection, prospective candidates are thoroughly screened. The criteria for that includes but is not limited to:

  • Minimum GT: 105 (no waivers accepted)
  • Minimum PFT score: 225 (regardless of age)
  • Enlisted: Any MOS, E-3 to E-5, between 3 and 7 years time in service
  • Officer: Any O-2 to O-3. First Lieutenant: must be career designated; Captain: no more than 1.5 years time in grade.
  • No NJP within the last 12 months or no more than 2 in the current contract. No NJP as an Officer.
  • No derogatory Page 11 entries within the last 12 months. SNCO & Officer’s with derogatory Page 11 entries require a waiver.
  • No incidents of drug abuse or possession.
  • No adverse fitness reports within 12 months
  • No court-martial convictions
  • Marines must be medically fit and have a current record of NSW/SO Duty Medical Examination
  • Marines must have a minimum of 3 months remaining or agree to an extension to attend Assessment and Selection.  If selected, the Marine must either reenlist or extend to meet minimum 36-month CSO obligated assignment tour at MARSOC. Officers must be willing to execute 48-month obligated assignment tour upon completion of ITC.
  • Marine must be eligible for and maintain a Secret clearance.

Selection and Assessment:

The Corps’ MARSOC Evaluators are looking for the 10 critical attributes in their CSO candidates when they attempt Selection. They are:

  • Integrity
  • Effective Intelligence
  • Physical Ability
  • Adaptability
  • Initiative
  • Determination
  • Dependability
  • Teamwork
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Stress Tolerance

The Assessment and Selection (A&S) course is a mandatory 21-day smoker which the cadre use to screen and select candidates for their physical ability, confidence, and situational awareness. The course is run only 3 times a year. Tests include gated events such as a12-mile ruck march, land navigation, swimming, 11-minute treading water event, and an abandon ship drill.

While some of the events are the same across the board in any SOF unit, they also incorporate their own spin on some of the training events that are more oriented to what CSOs will be expected to perform.

Individual Training Course (ITC):

Once a candidate has been selected and is moving through the CSO pipeline, he will attend the Individual Training Course (ITC). This is a 9-month course is designed to produce Critical Skills Operators for the teams. The ITC consists of 4 phases:

Phase 1: As the starting block for CSOs the first phase is filled with lessons and tests on Basic field skills. Candidates are trained in Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE), Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) and extensive communications training. The strenuous and difficult PT program that begins in the initial phase of training will only increase as the course continues.

Phase 2: During the second phase, the candidates will become proficient in small unit tactics and they’ll be tested in mission planning, fire support training, small boat operations, scout swimming, demolitions, as well as intelligence collection and crew served weapons.

The candidates must first pass a small unit event, a 9-day exercise, which is called “Operation Raider Spirit” where they’ll be tested as members of a small unit as well as getting leadership experience. After a Special Reconnaissance block of instruction, the candidates finish phase 2 is an exercise, “Operation Stingray Fury”, where the candidates will be tested in both an urban and rural setting.

Phase 3: While most Marines are already very proficient in small weapons training and marksmanship, the beginning of the next phase will take the candidates to an even higher plain with close quarters combat (CQB) operations. The skills the candidates are taught here will be the same tactics and procedures that the men in MARSOC battalions have already perfected.

Phase 4: This is the ultimate test for the candidates as they enter an Irregular Warfare training and exercise. Here is where they will be tasked and evaluated to train, advise and lead an irregular force from a partner nation on a series of missions.

The Marines don’t disclose the attrition rates for their MARSOC Selection and subsequent training. Back in 2010, the attrition rate for Selection was about 46 percent which the Corps then ordered to cut to 20 percent by ensuring that the candidates who were tasked to attend were in much better physical condition.

If a candidate passes all of his ITC training, he’ll be awarded the MOS 0372, Critical Skills Operator, and then move on language training and the Airborne Course. Officers will be awarded the 0370 MOS, Special Operations Officer and head off to the Team Commander’s Course (TCC).

There like in the other SOF units, is where the training really begins. CSOs will be assigned to one of the teams and begin their team training as subject matter experts (SME) on either advanced communications, special weapons, engineering, intelligence or advanced special operations.

The MARSOC operators will have up to 85 different advanced courses open to them depending on what their jobs and area of operations are.

MARSOC CSOs have operated in over 40 countries and can conduct:
Foreign Internal Defense, Direct Action, Special Reconnaissance, Counterinsurgency, Security Force Assistance and Preparation of the Environment.

Photos: US Marine Corps