The Marine Corps announced Tuesday it will create a new primary military occupational specialty for battlefield scouts, formalizing a reconnaissance role that had previously existed only as an additional qualification.
The new specialty, designated MOS 0315 Scout, takes effect October 1, 2026. Scout platoons of 26 Marines will be embedded directly in infantry battalions, with Scout Teams also added to light armored reconnaissance battalions.
“This professional, purpose-built force will provide commanders with the organic reconnaissance and surveillance capabilities essential for success on the future battlefield,” said Lt. Gen. Jay M. Bargeron, deputy commandant for plans, policies, and operations, in a Marine Corps press release Tuesday.
The decision followed “extensive live-force experimentation,” or combat simulations, that identified a gap in dedicated battalion-level reconnaissance capabilities, according to the formal announcement published in an administrative message to the force.
Scouts will carry advanced optics, communications suites, field sensors and unmanned aerial systems. Each platoon will include a Joint Fires Observer, a trained specialist who coordinates air and artillery strikes on target.
“These Scouts will be our eyes and ears, extending our sensing capabilities and enabling commanders to make faster, more effective decisions to win our nation’s battles,” Bargeron said.
Marines in the new specialty will be armed with the M4 Service Rifle, M320 Grenade Launcher and M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle. To earn the 0315 MOS, Marines must complete either the Infantry Common Core Course or the Infantry Rifleman Course, then graduate from the Ground Reconnaissance Course. Marines already holding the 0317 Scout Sniper designation can transfer laterally without additional training.
Marine Maj. Gen. Michael A. Brooks, commanding general of Training Command, told reporters in May that Corps leadership had been weighing whether to elevate scouts to a primary MOS, comparable to machine gunners (MOS 0331) and mortarmen (MOS 0341).
“There is interest in turning our scout MOS, which is 0315, into a primary MOS,” Brooks said during a media roundtable. “You’d have an 0315 scout as a primary MOS. We don’t do that right now. It’s an additional MOS.”
The Corps formalized the plan through a Tuesday administrative message and a simultaneous press release from headquarters.
Lt. Col. Worth Parker, a retired ground reconnaissance and special operations officer, described the scout role to Task and Purpose as distinct from Recon Marines, who typically operate at greater distances from the forward edge of the battle area.
“Let’s say a rifle company is going to assault an objective,” Parker said. “You might use the scouts to find a route to the objective and then bring them back to link up with the company commander to take that company on to where they have to go.”
The new MOS elevates scouts to the same standing as other core infantry specialties within the Marine Corps force structure. The 0315 designation is set to activate across the force in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2026.
