0311 Rifleman MOS Patch

Among Marines, 0311 needs no translation: it is the rifleman, the primary infantry MOS for enlisted Marines and the nucleus of the fire team. The 03 puts him in the infantry field, and the 11 makes him the rifleman. Riflemen are the scouts, the assault troops and the close combat force of the Marine Air Ground Task Force. The rifle squad's mission is written plainly: locate, close with and destroy the enemy by fire and maneuver, or repel the enemy's assault by fire and close combat. This patch carries that number and that job, and nothing else.

Beyond the rifle squad, riflemen fill the scout team in a Light Armored Reconnaissance squad, the scout snipers in an infantry battalion, and the reconnaissance and assault teams in recon units. The road in runs through the School of Infantry, at Camp Geiger, North Carolina, or Camp Pendleton, California. The kit has included the M4 carbine, the M203 grenade launcher, the M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle, and the AT4 and M72 LAW rockets. Fire team leader, rifle squad leader and rifle platoon guide are the NCO billets that grow out of it, and the next step up is 0369, infantry unit leader. Marine riflemen went ashore at Tarawa, Saipan, Iwo Jima and Okinawa, and later generations fought at the Chosin Reservoir, Hue City, Fallujah and in Helmand Province.

The patch is the classic MOS shape, 4.5 inches wide and 3.25 inches tall, with a red merrowed edge. "MARINE CORPS" runs in white across a black top band, and "RIFLEMAN" sits in a black band along the bottom. On the red center panel, a big white "03" and "11" flank the eagle, globe and anchor, stitched in gold and silver with the Western Hemisphere on the globe. "SEMPER FIDELIS" curves beneath in white serif letters. Scarlet, gold and black, no unit, no rank, just the number and the job.

Every Marine learns to shoot and move in recruit training, which is why the rest of the Corps knows exactly what an 0311 does and what it costs. The work is long movements on foot, weight on the back, weather that does not let up, and close combat when it comes. Marines call them grunts, and the grunts wear the word as a compliment. Squad leaders and platoon sergeants across the Corps started in the same fire teams. A rifleman who reads this will recognize the patch before he reads the number.

It fits a shadow box with a set of dog tags and a platoon photo from the School of Infantry, or a jacket worn to a battalion reunion. It also makes a good gift for a son or grandson who wants to understand what Dad did. Measures 4.5 x 3.25 inches with a merrowed edge and iron-on backing, and it can also be sewn on. For an 0311, the number says the rest.