In enlisted boot camp at Parris Island or San Diego and the officer’s Basic School at Quantico, VA no one escapes from the Rifleman’s Creed. Every Marine is trained, first and foremost, as a rifleman, for it is the rifleman who must close with and destroy the enemy.

The rifleman remains the most basic tenet of Marine Corps doctrine. All else revolves around him or her. Marine Aviation, Marine Armor, Marine Artillery, and all supporting arms and war-fighting assets exist to support the rifleman.

It is believed that MGen. William H. Rupertus, USMC, authored the creed shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. It is commonly known as the Rifleman’s Creed, but it has also been called “My Rifle: The Creed of a United States Marine.” Every Marine must memorize this creed. And, every Marine must live by the creed.

Categories: Recruit Training, USMC