Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard/I was just wondering if you...

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Expert: Rod Powers - 1/11/2006


Question
I was just wondering if you could tell me about the marines force recon. I am just wanted to know what exactly they do. I mean im aware they are put on the ground to take note on enemies and things like that, but I also here that they go in to eliminate or capture enemies, do small raids, and things of that nature. An from what I here they are doing those things more and more as time goes on.  is there any truth to this at all.

thank u!

Answer
Hi Vin,

You may wish to read my article about U.S. Military special operations forces at: http://usmilitary.about.com/od/jointservices/a/specialops.htm

I talk about Marine Corps Force Recon in Part II of the article, beginning at the page located at: http://usmilitary.about.com/od/jointservices/a/specialops2_2.htm

The *primary* job of force recon is to provide covert recon capabilities.  That's where most of their training is focussed.  However, the Marine Corps has now officially entered the Special Ops Community (SOCOM), so they are now getting some of the missions that have traditionally been reserved for Special Ops, such as small unit raids, covert captures and covert explosive operations.

For more information about the United States Military, feel free to visit my military information website at:  http://usmilitary.about.com

Hope this helps!

Rod Powers
http://usmilitary.about.com  

Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard

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Rod Powers

Expertise

Rod Powers is considered one of the premire experts about U.S. Military career information on the planet. He has more than 30,000 articles about U.S. Military career information on the About.com U.S. Military Careers Information website at: http://usmilitary.about.com. Additionally, he is the author of "ASVAB for Dummies," "ASVAB AFQT for Dummies," (available in Dec 2009), and "Veteran Benefits for Dummies," all published by Wiley Publishing. He is also the author of "Barrons' Guide to Officer Candidate School Tests," published by Barron's Educational Series.

Experience

Rod Powers is a retired Air Force first sergeant, with 23 years of active duty service, 11 of those years as an Air Force First Sergeant. He has helped thousands of military members, recruits, and military applicants since he took over the About.com U.S Military Careers Information site in 1999. He has a reputation for "telling it like it is," so questions may not be answered based on "what you want to hear," but will be answered based of the bast available information, concerning the service/situation.

Education/Credentials
Rod is a distinguished graduate of the Air Force Noncommissioned Officers Academy, the Air Force Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy, and the Air Force First Sergeant Academy. He also holds an Associates Degree in Personnel Administration from the Community College of the Air Force (CCAF).

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