Royal Marines selection and training

Royal Marines recruit training is the longest basic modern infantry training programme of any North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) combat troops. The Royal Marines are the only part of the British Armed Forces where officers and other ranks are trained at the same location, the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines (CTCRM) at Lympstone, Devon. Much of the basic training is carried out on the rugged terrain of Dartmoor and Woodbury Common with a significant proportion taking place at night.

All potential recruits take a psychometric test and are interviewed at the Armed Forces Careers Office (AFCO) to assess their suitability. A series of physical assessments are conducted including a sight test and medical examination. Then the Pre Joining Fitness Test: two 1.5-mile runs (2.4 km) on a treadmill at 2% incline, the first to be completed within 12 minutes 30 seconds, the second within 10 minutes, with 1 minute of rest in between. Currently all Royal Marines recruits must be male and aged 16 to 32 (they must be in Recruit Training before their 33rd birthday) Due to the July 2016 lifting on the ban on women in Ground Close Combat roles, females will be permitted to join all British military infantry units, including the Royal Marines Commandos by the end of 2018.

The final selection assessment for potential recruits is either the Potential Royal Marine Course (PRMC) for ratings candidates, or the Potential Officer Course (POC) and Admiralty Interview Board for officer candidates. PRMC and POC last three days and assess physical ability and intellectual capacity to undertake the recruit training. Potential Officers must be aged 18 to 25.

The first weeks of training are spent learning basic skills that will be used later. This includes much time spent on the parade ground and on the rifle ranges. The long history of the Royal Marines is also highlighted through a visit to the Royal Marines Museum in Southsea, Hampshire. Physical training at this stage emphasizes all-round physical strength, endurance and flexibility in order to develop the muscles necessary to carry the heavy equipment a marine will use in an operational unit. Key milestones include a gym passout at week 9 (not carried out with fighting order), a battle swimming test, and learning to do a "regain" (i.e. climb back onto a rope suspended over a water tank). Most of these tests are completed wearing fighting order of 31 lb (14 kg) of Personal Load Carrying Equipment. Individual fieldcraft skills are also taught at this basic stage.

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Wikipedia