Requirements for fmf pin?
While there are more than 30 warfare designator pins and numerous other navy badges that can be earned by those who serve in the Navy, an FMF sailor stands apart from their peers. This is because it designates that the sailor has taken it up upon themselves to commit to being a year-long member of the Fleet Marine Force.
The challenging course is designed to instruct sailors in everything Marine Corps like rank structure, history, field communication, tactical fundamental procedures, security fundamentals, and so much more.
It allows a sailor to more thoroughly understand the methodologies of the Marine Corps and better support its ongoing mission.
The prestigious honor signifies a rite of passage that was obtained by completing demanding hours of study to pass rigorous exams and evaluations as well as remaining dedicated to excellence throughout their Navy career.
Not all sailors are eligible to earn the Fleet Marine Force badge. Only those who are attached to Marine units that are forward-deployable can pursue the badge.
Any sailor who wishes to obtain their FMF badge can begin pursuing the requirements the day they arrive at their designated Marine Corps unit. However, they must belong to a combat element of a Marine Expeditionary Force that is operational for at least one year before this and meet various physical fitness standards.
There are three types of Fleet Marine Force qualifications: officer, enlisted, and chaplain.
Fleet Marine Force officer qualifications place a greater emphasis on larger issues that affect the Marine Corps while enlisted FMF qualifications are aimed at the small unit level. This is because, unlike officers, enlisted sailors are tasked with lower level commands and work personally with Marines. Fittingly, this means that their qualifications are focused on aspects such as weapons, combat, fighting positions, and field communication.
A sailor pursuing their FMF badge is required to take and pass the Marine Physical Fitness Test and qualify on the rifle range. This is typically a deceptively easy first step for many sailors who are familiar with physical fitness testing.
Upon arrival at the Marine Corps Unit, Navy personnel who want to earn their FMF badge are provided with a Personal Qualification Standards textbook. This more than 400-page book effectively functions as the handbook and contains knowledge ranging from land navigation tactics to profiles of some of the most distinguished Marines throughout history.
After obtaining the text, the sailor must present themselves to a non-commissioned higher-up who is familiar with Fleet Marine Force and receive instruction on one or more topics of Marine Corps knowledge that will be tested. This can include anything from weapon fundamentals to first aid and field sanitation fundamentals, and familiarization to combat communications.
Once the instructing Marine is confident the sailor possesses an excellent understanding of the material, he or she administers a verbal exam and practical application of the skills studied. If the sailor passes these exams, they are given a signature of approval for that section of their Marine Corps knowledge acquisition.
The knowledge and skill acquisition process typically lasts eight to 11 months, after which a written test is administered and a board of senior and high-ranking NCO marines and sailors who are FMF-qualified is convened.
Fleet Marine Force boards consist of two distinct parts. The first section is a rigorous examination of the sailor’s knowledge of the Marine Corps, including the Marine Air-Ground Task Force and its subordinate components, Marine history and Marine customs and courtesies. The sailor is only permitted to move on to the second portion if the first is completed successfully.
The second section of the oral exam consists of a thorough oral examination pretraining to the platform that the sailor is assigned to. For example, a sailor belonging to the Air Combat Element is tested on various aspects of Marine Corps Aviation, from the names and operation of different aircraft to the members of a MAW squadron.
If a sailor can successfully complete the physical fitness, knowledge and skills acquisition and boards portion of the qualification, they are awarded their Fleet Marine Force pin.
However, in order to keep this prestigious achievement, they must also work to maintain it through continued physical fitness, combat and rifle range testing.
Marines say that military badges are always earned and never given. The successful completion of the rigorous testing that a sailor undergoes to earn their Fleet Marine Force badge proves this to be true.
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — After spending more than 21 years of his life in the Marine Corps and reaching the rank of master sergeant, now Navy Lt. Calvin B. Gardner, Sr., thought he’d learned everything there is to know about his beloved Corps.
He knew that he had already attended every military education course offered by the Corps, to include the Noncommissioned Officer’s Course, the Career Course and the Advanced Course just to name a few. These courses alone are viewed by many Marines as the premier enlisted leadership courses available, so why should he think otherwise?
This is exactly what he thought in July 2007 when he had to choose whether or not he would pursue his Fleet Marine Force qualification as a Navy Chaplain. Another side of him knew that throughout his 24-year military career, he had never been the type to not reach a little higher when it came to furthering his education. The chaplain from 2nd Maintenance Battalion, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, soon realized that his decision to pursue the coveted badge was just the beginning of a year-long struggle.
For Sailors, earning and wearing the FMF badge means that they have taken a step well above their peers. These badges signify that they have dedicated at least one year to learning the ins and outs of the Marine Corps. They become experts in everything most Marines only learn the basics of: the Marine Air-Ground Task Force, its subordinate components, history, customs and courtesies.
“The badge symbolizes that we’ve gone deeper in our relationship with the Marine Corps,” said Cmdr. Vincent DeCicco, group surgeon for 2nd MLG. “We’ve tried to help integrate with the Marine Corps team more effectively so that we understand the operations, what Marines go through and where they come from.”
There are three types of FMF qualifications: officer, enlisted and chaplain. The Office of the Chief of Naval Operations Instructions define the requirements for naval officer and enlisted qualification respectively. According to the documents, individuals who wish to qualify for any one of these three badges must first spend at least one year with a Marine unit, pass a Marine Corps physical fitness test, finish a six-mile forced march, complete the Personal Qualification Standards book and pass an oral board exam.
Each qualification brings new opportunities for potential success to individual Sailors depending on their type of job. Gardner’s recent qualification as a Fleet Marine Force chaplain has created a deeper connection to the Marines and Sailors that he deals with on an everyday basis. He said he’s confident that this new connection will help him as he moves forward with his Marines.
“The knowledge I’ve gained and the training I’ve done is to become a better chaplain,” Gardner explained. “It brings to me a better understanding of the institution that is the Marine Corps, how it operates and why it does what it does. In turn, I’m able to perform my chaplain duties in a
more proficient manner.”
There are some differences between the enlisted Sailors who wear the FMF badges from the officers. DeCicco said FMF officer qualification focuses more toward the bigger issues that affect the Marine Corps and its major commands.
Petty Officer 1st Class Sybil Litchfield, an FMF qualified hospital corpsman with the 2nd MLG Group Surgeon’s Office, said enlisted FMF qualification aims more toward the small unit level. She said that unlike naval officers, naval enlisted personnel are often tasked out to lower level commands at the company and platoon levels where they personally deal with individual Marines on a day-to-day basis. She also said that their training must focus more on things like weapons, land navigation and fighting postitions.
“The enlisted are more oriented to the smaller pictures,” the Fort Wayne, Ind., native said. “We mainly focus on the specific individual tasks. We’re boots in the dirt with the individual Marines, so our relationship is different.”
Most Sailors who partake in this qualification don’t have the luxury of spending more than 21 years in the Corps among a plethora of Marines. They don’t have the advantage of constant physical training or years of furthering their knowledge about the Corps.
Gardner, however, had no trouble overcoming the physical requirements needed for qualification, although he feels that if his knowledge prior to gaining his FMF badge could be measured on a scale of one to 10, he would be rated a six even despite his upper hand.
The Detroit native said that he was blown away when he first saw what the PQS had in store for him, stating that it was “the hardest part about getting the badge, as it should be.” He realized how much he didn’t know about the Marine Corps.
DeCicco, a native of Long Island, N.Y., said that even though nearly 100 percent of program participants earn their FMF badges, it’s not easy by any means. He said the
teachers and their knowledge are almost always nearby; the individual Sailors just have to seek them out and have the desire to learn from them.
“Marines say their titles are earned and never given,” said DeCicco, who currently serves as the senior member of 2nd
Any sailor who wishes to obtain their FMF badge can begin pursuing the requirements the day they arrive at their designated Marine Corps unit. However, they must belong to a combat element of a Marine Expeditionary Force that is operational for at least one year before this and meet various physical fitness standards.
The Fleet Marine Force Warfare Insignia, also known as the Fleet Marine Force badge or FMF pin, are three military badges of the United States Navy which are issued to those U.S. Navy officers and sailors who are trained and qualified to perform duties in support of the United States Marine Corps. There are currently three classes of the Fleet Marine Force pin, being that of enlisted, officer, and chaplain.
The Fleet Marine Force Enlisted Warfare Specialist Device (FMFEWS) is a qualification insignia of the United States Navy earned by enlisted U.S. Navy sailors assigned to the Fleet Marine Force of the U.S. Marine Corps who have successfully completed the requirements of the Enlisted Fleet Marine Force Warfare Specialist (EFMFWS) Program per OPNAV Instruction 1414.4B. This involves serving one year with a Marine Corps unit (two years for reserves), passing the Marine Physical Fitness Test (PFT), a written test, demonstrating skills used in service with the Marines such as weapon breakdown and familiarization, land navigation, combat communications and an oral examination by senior enlisted sailors who are FMF qualified. The Enlisted Fleet Marine Force Warfare Specialist designation is most commonly awarded to the hospital corpsman (HM) and religious program specialist (RP) ratings, although it is also awarded to other sailors who support Marine Corps commands (e.g. Logistics Specialists assigned to medical logistics companies). It was created in 2000.[2][3][4][5]
An enlisted U.S. Navy sailor who has qualified, may place the designator (FMF) after his or her rate and/or rate; for example, HM3 John Doe, USN, having qualified for his FMF pin, is identified as HM3 (FMF) John Doe, USN. As of 2004[update], all U.S. Navy corpsmen assigned to a Marine unit are required to earn the FMF badge within 18 months of their being assigned to said unit.
When qualifying for the Enlisted Fleet Marine Force Warfare specialist pin, a sailor (typically a hospital corpsman, logistics specialist, religious programs specialist, personnel specialist, along with some construction battalion "SeaBee" units [when directly assigned to a U.S. Marine Corps combatant command]) is required to have detailed knowledge on the following subjects:
CORE
Additionally a second section of the course is detailed toward the element of the United States Marine Corps with which the candidate is assigned. For example: a line corpsman with an infantry battalion will learn the Ground Combat Element (GCE).
GCE
[6]
Furthermore, to finally qualify, a candidate is expected to perform a disassembly and reassembly of many of the taught weapon systems, operate a SINCGARS radio, plot various points on a map, perform various carries and life saving medical techniques, and in many cases perform (and pass) a Marine Corps Physical Fitness Test (PFT) and Combat Fitness Test (CFT).
Although this qualification is for enlisted personnel serving in the United States Navy, it is unique in that only Commanding Generals or Commanding Officers of qualifying U.S. Marine Corps commands, Division, Group, or Wing; can approve awarding of the designation. As such, to some corpsmen it is the most coveted warfare insignia within the hospital corpsman community.
The eagle, globe, and anchor (EGA) makes a clear statement that the wearer is a member of the Navy/Marine Corps team. The crossed rifles symbolize the rifleman ethic of the Marine Corps; every Marine is a rifleman, just as every Sailor is a firefighter and damage controlman aboard ship and submarine. The surf and sand represent the "littoral zone," the coastal regions where sailors have served alongside Marines as they earned their reputation and world's respect -- "the shores of Tripoli" and the "sands of Iwo Jima." The scroll at the bottom stating "Fleet Marine Force" shows the exclusive community they belong to.
The Fleet Marine Force Warfare Officer (FMFWO) Insignia is earned by Navy officers assigned to the Fleet Marine Force of the U.S. Marine Corps who have completed the requirements including serving for one year in a Marine Corps command, completing a written test, passing the Marine PFT, and an oral board conducted by FMF qualified officers. The FMF Qualified Officer Insignia is most commonly earned by staff officers in the medical fields, and chaplains[citation needed], although it is also awarded to other officer communities, such as Civil Engineer Corps and naval gunfire officers. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis became FMF qualified while serving as a JAG officer.[citation needed]
The FMFWO insignia is a gold, highly polished, metal device depicting the eagle, globe and anchor (EGA) atop two crossed rifles on a background of ocean swells breaking on a sandy beach atop a scroll with the words "Fleet Marine Force."
The EGA makes a clear statement that the wearer is a member of the Navy/Marine Corps team. The crossed rifles symbolize the rifleman ethic of the Marine Corps; every Marine is a rifleman, just as every Sailor is a firefighter and damagecontrolman aboard ship and submarine. The surf and sand represent the "littoral zone," the coastal regions where Sailors have served alongside Marines as they earned their reputation and world's respect -- "the shores of Tripoli" and the "sands of Iwo Jima." The eagle, continents, and rifles are highlighted with a highly polished silver finish.[7] The qualification was created in July 2005; SECNAVINST 1412.10 outlines the requirements for qualification.
Chaplains do not bear arms; therefore, they are designated as Fleet Marine Force Qualified Officers vice Fleet Marine Force Warfare Officers, and are waived from completing certain [weapons related] portions of the Personnel Qualification Standards (PQS). The Chaplain version of this badge does not include the crossed rifles and has a gold anodized finish.[8]
As a result of the Fleet Marine Force Qualified Officer and Enlisted Fleet Marine Force Warfare Specialist programs,[9] the Navy Fleet Marine Force Ribbon was replaced effective October 1, 2006.
Those individuals who previously qualified for the Navy Fleet Marine Force Ribbon will retain the FMF designator; however, they are not entitled to wear the EFMFWS insignia until completing another FMF assignment and meeting all requirements outlined in OPNAVINST 1414.4B.
