QUANTICO, Va. - Not many Marine Corps bases offer the variety of training facilities that Marine Corps Base Quantico does. This is why the Scout Sniper platoon, 2nd Battalion, 25 Marines, a reserve unit out of Garden City, N.Y., came aboard Quantico to train April 6-7.
The unit has been to Quantico for annual training before but this time around, the unit received new M40A5 bolt-action sniper rifles from their armory. Because the unit will soon replace their old rifles with the M40A5, the 14 Marines on deck took the time to gather data and train the known-distance qualification course with them.
“Everything is functioning great and the Marines are transitioning well to the new weapons,” said Sgt. Joseph Sciutto, platoon sergeant, Scout Sniper Platoon. “These guys are extremely dedicated and put a lot of hard work into everything they do. But most of all, they work well together as a team to accomplish any task.”
Based in an urban environment, the unit usually visits a range at Camp Smith in New York or Fort Dix in New Jersey. The unit wanted a longer range to train on, so they traveled to Quantico’s Weapons Training Battalion’s Range 4, which distance ranges from 100 to 1,000 yards.
Not every member of the unit was present during the training event. A few Marines were lucky enough to be currently deployed with the Marine-Air Ground Task Force/Africa. Those who accompanied the unit, including two who just recently graduated from the Scout Sniper Basic Course aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C., were delighted about training aboard Quantico and the quality of help they received during their stay.
“This was my first time doing anything aboard Quantico,” said Capt. Ramon McCrimmon, platoon commander, Scout Sniper Platoon. “We have had a great experience with the personnel here, from accommodating us with ammo or supplying a vehicle and ammo driver for us. I’m really looking forward to coming back to train more with my Marines.”