0351 Assaultman MOS Patch

The 0351 assaultman carried the Mk 153 Shoulder-Launched Multipurpose Assault Weapon, a launcher of more than 20 pounds, plus rockets of about 16 pounds apiece and the demolition charges for breaching. It was one of the five core infantry specialties of the Marine Corps, alongside the 0311 rifleman, the 0331 machine gunner, the 0341 mortarman and the antitank missileman. Assaultmen worked out of the assault section in each rifle company's weapons platoon. Their business was armor, bunkers, walls and doors. One Marine writer called the assaultman the Ph.D. of the infantry, for how much he had to know about rockets, explosives and thermal optics.

The SMAW was fielded in 1984 with an effective range of about 500 meters, and through the Global War on Terror it was the assaultman's main weapon. During the fight for Fallujah in November 2004, assaultmen with SMAWs and demolition charges kept the attack moving forward through the city. Training at the School of Infantry covered demolitions, rocket employment, thermal optic target identification and machine guns. In practice plenty of assaultmen also ended up behind a .50 cal or filling a rifle squad when the mission called for it. In the late 2010s the Corps began phasing out the 0351 MOS under Marine Corps Force 2025, moving the assault role into the 0311 rifleman field, adding combat engineer platoons to rifle companies and bringing in the Carl Gustaf 84mm recoilless rifle.

The patch measures 4.5 inches wide by 3.25 inches tall with a red merrowed edge running all the way around. A black band across the top reads MARINE CORPS in white block letters, split in the middle by a small American flag. The scarlet center carries 03 and 51 in large white numerals on either side of a gold and silver eagle, globe and anchor, with SEMPER FIDELIS stitched beneath. ASSAULTMAN runs across the black band at the bottom, so there is no doubt which corner of the 03 field it belongs to. It has an iron-on backing and can be sewn on as well.

An assault section was thirteen Marines in a rifle company's weapons platoon, a small crew with a lot of weight on its backs. They were the Marines who knew the backblast area, the misfire drill and which charge fit the wall in front of them. The job asked for math and patience inside a field built on aggression, and that mix gave the MOS its reputation. Anyone who wore 0351 belongs to the line of Marines who opened the way for the rest of the company.

It fits a shadow box with your company photo and a 0311 or combat engineer patch, or the vest you wear to a battalion reunion. It also makes a good gift for a son or grandson who wants to know what his father did in the weapons platoon. Scarlet, black and gold, and a number every grunt recognizes.