April 3, 2020 | International, Naval
Marine Raiders adjust training, add online courses to weather COVID-19
Shawn Snow Even Marine Raiders are feeling the impact of COVID-19 as the elite special operations unit headquartered in state under a stay-at-home order is being forced to adjust training to comply with state, defense and federal health guidelines. The Marine Raider Training Center aboard Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, is home to the seven-month Marine commando special operator school known as the Individual Training Course, which creates Critical Skill Operators who earn the 0372 military occupational specialty. While COVID-19 continues to rampage across the U.S., North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper issued a stay-at-home order to stem the spread of the virus. According to the New York Times, there are 1,582 reported cases of COVID-19 across North Carolina. To comply with the governor's order, Marine Forces Special Operations Command says it has made adjustments to training to include restructuring the ITC course and adding online training where possible. “The ITC schedule has been restructured to ensure the safety and health of the two classes currently undergoing training. Some of the in-class material has been shifted to online learning, to include parts of the Basic Language Course,” Gunnery Sgt. Lynn Kinney, told Marine Corps Times in an emailed statement. The ITC course is a seven-month training evolution broken down into several phases that includes land navigation, patrolling, small unit tactics, irregular warfare and close quarters battle. MARSOC did not provide any other details regarding the restructuring of the ITC course. “Other parts of the training have been shifted to ensure COVID-19 response requirements,” Kinney said. https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/coronavirus/2020/04/02/marine-raiders-adjust-training-add-online-courses-to-weather-covid-19/