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by Sgt. Kenneth G. Lewis
Marine Corps News
September 20, 2004

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- The Marine Corps ethos is that "every Marine is a rifleman." But not every Marine will always have a rifle.

So training to fight off the enemy with the standard-issue M-9 mm pistol has become a priority with so many Marines squaring off with insurgents in Iraq. It's so important the Marine Corps enlisted a man many consider the nation's foremost authority on handgun training to help prepare deploying Marines.

Marines from the I Marine Expeditionary Force Headquarters Group are among the latest to undergo the Defensive Handgun and Defensive Urban Rifle courses sponsored by Defense Training International, Inc. John S. Farnam, a former Marine and president of DFI, conducts the training. He has personally trained thousands of federal, state and local law enforcement personnel in firearms tactics.

Unlike the normal pistol and rifle ranges the Marines visit every fiscal year, these ranges are set up specifically to equip Marines with skills needed in Iraq. Students in the course never hear commands such as "load" or "make ready" in Farnam's courses, which also include steel-rotator targets and the opportunity to exit a vehicle, as if on patrol, with a fully loaded weapon before moving forward on foot, using different points of cover and concealment.

"We run our ranges hot. Marines will have loaded weapons overseas, they should train the same way," Farnam says. "Marines are my most enthusiastic students. They come out with no complaints or whining, just anxious to train"

Marines welcomed the chance to fire live rounds in a dynamic format.

"On the basic range, there is no sense of urgency like there is in a real firefight," says Staff Sgt. Nelson Reichert, MHG's supply chief, and an Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran. "This is one of the best courses I have ever attended. The course allows more realistic scenarios vice the standard target that you just aim and shoot at.

"More Marines should be (afforded) the opportunity to attend this course," Reichert added. "Over there we had closer contact with the people. The skills they teach us here will help those that are deploying handle the situation better."

Marines were impressed not only with the training but the lecture and critiques each Marine received after each portion of firing.

"John and his crew are outstanding instructors. They do a great job of critiquing you after each exercise and do a good job of bringing you up to speed," said Cpl. Michael E. Stewart from Braceville, Ohio, and member of MHG's Nuclear, Biological and Chemical team.

Farnam says he's happy to please - especially when Marines are the customers.

"This is the highlight of my year," he said. "Law enforcement agencies and other professions we train may never have to utilize the tactics we teach. However, each individual student we have taught over the past few days will almost certainly be involved in a gunfight. We just want to help bring them home safe."

The course covers pistol firing because not all Marines - including most officers and staff noncommissioned officers - aren't issued a rifle. Most, however, can check out a rifle from a field armory before venturing into potentially hostile areas.