CSO providing security in Helmand province during the War in Afghanistan
Active
October 1, 2011 - Present
Country
United States of America
Branch
United States Marine Corps
Type
Special Operations Force
Size
~1,000[1]
Part of
United States Special Operations Command Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command
Nickname(s)
Raiders
Military unit
A critical skills operator (CSO) is a United States Marine in the primary special operations career field of the United States Marine Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC). CSOs, colloquially known as "Raiders", are awarded the Military Occupational Specialty 0372. CSOs are assigned to Marine Special Operations Teams (MSOT), Companies (MSOC) and Battalions (MSOBs).[2] CSOs are trained to execute a variety of missions. Specialized training also provides capabilities in language fluency necessary for crossing cultural barriers, allowing CSOs to connect with local forces and civilians.[3] It takes, at a minimum, four and a half years to create a Marine CSO; a Marine must have served a minimum of three years or achieved the rank of at least lance corporal before being considered a MARSOC candidate.[4][5][6]
The 0372 MOS was created on October 1, 2011. MARSOC's initial requirement for manning was 850 CSOs to outfit 48 fully operational Marine Special Operations Teams.[7]
^Schehl, Matthew L. (2017-08-07). "10 years of MARSOC: How the Marine Corps developed its spec ops command". Marine Corps Times. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
^"Critical Skills Operator Training & Selection". www.americanspecialops.com. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
^"MARSOC command pamphlet" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 8, 2014. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
^Couch, Dick (2 June 2015). Always faithful, always forward : the forging of a Special Operations marine. ISBN 978-0-425-26860-5. OCLC 893894703.
^"MARADMIN 202/11". Marines.mil.
^Cavallaro, Gina. "Amos OKs new MOS for MARSOC". Marine Corps Times. Archived from the original on 2012-03-06. Retrieved 2011-07-01.
^"ITC 2-11 Graduation". marines.mil. Archived from the original on 2012-06-29. Retrieved 2012-06-16.
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Global Information
United States of America
United States Marine Corps
United States Special Operations Command
Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command