# .Force Recon Officer



## Plumber (Feb 18, 2016)

So this summer I will be going to PLC with hopes to one day go to IOC. I really want to have a go with trying to join Force Recon but I dont know how that works for officers. All the threads I have seen are related to the enlistment side. Any advice on this?


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## AWP (Feb 18, 2016)

Plumber said:


> So this summer I will be going to PLC with hopes to one day go to IOC. I really want to have a go with trying to join Force Recon but I dont know how that works for officers. All the threads I have seen are related to the enlistment side. Any advice on this?



We have a Force Recon officer on the board when he's not busy. Whatever he says, whether you like it or not, is the advice to follow.

Good luck.


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## Teufel (Feb 19, 2016)

I'm not unfamiliar with the subject. I would warn you that you have a lot of road ahead of you before you are eligible to try out for recon.  Let's assume that you make it through PLC and make it to TBS.  You need to walk out of TBS with an infantry (0302) or ground intelligence (0203) MOS.  Any officer can try out for MARSOC but recon is still limited to infantry and ground intelligence officers.  

Normally an officer will do three years in an infantry battalion (as a rifle or sniper platoon commander depending on his MOS) and then request orders to a recon battalion.  There have been cases where Marines will graduate ground intel school and get an opportunity to try out for recon.  This is really rare though.  The monitor will generally have you screen at a recon battalion and send you to BRC.  Officers currently have a 70-80% attrition rate at BRC so you won't know what battalion you will go to until you graduate.  

The Force Reconnaissance Companies used to be completely independent from the Recon Battalions but now they are subordinate commands. Each coast does Force Reconnaissance differently and has a different means of selecting the officers who go there.  There used to be a lot of screening and selection back in the day but now a lot of it comes down to luck and timing.  There are only two or three platoons in each Force Recon Company at 1st and 3d (2nd Recon doesn't really have a Force Recon Company anymore) so if the spots are filled you are out of luck.

Focus on your close target and pass PLC.  Things could change ten different ways by the time you are in a position to take the indoc to attend BRC.  Just try to be the best officer candidate in your class and take things one step at a time.  Every day is a selection and every task is a test.  Earn your place here everyday.


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## Teufel (Feb 19, 2016)

1st Force Commander's Guidance


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## Ooh-Rah (Feb 19, 2016)

Teufel said:


> Officers currently have a 70-80% attrition rate at BRC



Wow.


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## Plumber (Feb 19, 2016)

Teufel said:


> 1st Force Commander's Guidance



I appreciate the help and guidance.


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## 8654Maine (Feb 19, 2016)

A Force Recon Officer is a breed apart.


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## Teufel (Feb 19, 2016)

Ooh-Rah said:


> Wow.



Yeah it's a no joke course.  Lat movers have the same attrition rate.  Surprisingly the Marines on recon contracts have a lower attrition rate.  I don't think officers are prepared for how challenging the course is.  I think a lot of it has to do with how we prepare officers and lat movers for the course.  Marines used to go through a Recon Indoctrination Platoon at one of the recon battalions or force recon companies before going to BRC.  You would have to return to your parent battalion or company if you quit or failed BRC and face the music.  Now you report to SOI for Basic Recon Prep Course and no one will know if you quit (other than the BRC staff).  

I've screened some young officers and let them take 6 month TAD assignments to my operations section before attending BRPC.  So far none of them have failed or quit BRC.  They know they have to face me and the rest of my Marines if they do and so far every officer I've screened and selected has returned to the company with a graduation certificate.


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## Plumber (Feb 20, 2016)

Teufel said:


> I've screened some young officers and let them take 6 month TAD assignments to my operations section before attending BRPC.



What exactly is TAD assignments?


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## Teufel (Feb 20, 2016)

Temporary Assigned Duty.  They are "on loan" from their original units until they pass BRC.   They fail....they go away....


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