SCHOOL OF INFANTRY
SCHOOL OF INFANTRY
"Every Marine is, first and foremost, a Rifleman"
WHAT IS SOI
THE FIRST STOP FOR NEW MARINES
The School of Infantry is where new Marines go to learn the skills that make "every Marine a rifleman."
SOI West is at Camp Pendleton, California while SOI East is at Camp Johnson, North Carolina. All Marines will attend this follow-on school after graduating from Boot Camp regardless of MOS.
There are two sides of SOI - Marine Combat Training, known as MCT, and Infantry Training Battalion, known as ITB.
At Recruit Training, Marines were taught fundamentals of rifle marksmanship and patrolling. At SOI, Marines learn how to operate machine guns, throw grenades, patrol, and more.
SOI serves as an MOS School for Marines selected into the 03 - Infantry Occupational Field. They will be in the Infantry Training Battalion and will compete for MOS's.
Marines of other MOS's attend SOI before shipping to their actual MOS school. They will attend Marine Combat Training and learn the basics of being an infantry Marine.
ITB
INFANTRY MOS SCHOOL
At SOI, 0300 Basic Infantry Marines will be assigned to the Infantry Training Battalion where they will learn the skills to become 0311 Riflemen, 0331 Machine Gunners, 0341 Mortarmen, 0351 Infantry Assaultmen, and 0352 Antitank Missilemen in order to provide basically qualified infantrymen to the fleet Marine forces.
ITB courses are a maximum 59 days long, although they vary based on the particular MOS.
A full discussion of ITB and the MOSs that can be earned there is located in our MOS Schools page (click here for ITB).
MCT
INFANTRY BASICS FOR ALL MARINES
MCT is a fully-integrated school. Its 29-day course puts all basically trained Marines through a rigorous course of instruction. Upon graduating this course, Marines are considered "combat ready."
Following graduation from MCT, Marines will go to their MOS school to develop the skills necessary to earn their assigned MOS.
FAQ's
YOU ASKED, WE ANSWERED
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