MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. (July 9, 2013) -- As of November 2014, the Combat Pistol Program will replace the Entry Level Pistol Program, Marine Corps-wide. Marines from Weapons Training Battalion, aboard Marine Corps Base Quantico are training the instructors to equip their units to make the transition.
As a result, fourteen Marine pistol instructors from units around the country visited Marine Corps Base Quantico from July 8-11, 2013, for a period of instruction concerning the new Marine Corps pistol qualification program.
“This training is more advanced than the ELP,” said Staff Sgt. Chris Matthews, company gunnery sergeant/operations chief of Marksmanship Training Company. “This week we are teaching the Marines how to instruct the CPP.”
It’s only natural that Marine Corps Base Quantico should be the schoolhouse for the new program, as it’s taken more than 1 1/2 years for 70 Quantico Marines to develop the course.
“The course is fun, but challenging,” said Chief Warrant Officer 4 Chris Wade, gunner of Weapons Training Battalion. “Seasoned Marines may even find it challenging.”
Although the fundamentals of ELP are still taught in the course, CPP presents changes including drawing from a holster and time constraints.
“It’s no longer a point and shoot qualification,” said Wade. “We are going to evaluate technique and accuracy with stress and time-limits thrown into the mix. CPP is not a joke.”
One of the ways Marines can do well with the program is to dry practice during the course.
“When a Marine comes we are going to teach him how to shoot the pistol, not just give a test,” said Wade. “Dry practice is essential to success.”
With a course compiled of: classes ranging from CPP development to differences between ELP and CPP, dry practice, Indoor Simulated Marksmanship Training and live firing. The students in the course can expect to learn all they need to implement the course with their Marines.
“You’re going to get the doctrine this week,” Wade said to the class. “With CPP, the Marines are forced to practice. They have to be focused.”
“We are teaching how to fight with a pistol.”
Correspondent: samuel.l.ellis@usmc.mil