Does the Navy’s small arms training need an overhaul?

In the last couple of years, photos of Sailors firing rifles have gone viral for all the wrong reasons.

The first photo showed a ship’s captain aiming a rifle with a backward optic. This led to a great many laughs at the captain’s expense, and he was eventually relieved of duty.

The second photo showed Sailors shooting rifles with the same optic installed in various – mostly incorrect – ways. To the Sailors’ credit, this time, all optics were facing the right direction.

The rifle is the main fighting weapon and the most versatile personal fighting weapon of the U.S. military, so these photos sparked a debate over the quality of the Navy’s small-arms training.

Not everyone agrees on whether the Navy needs to provide more small arms training for its troops, and each side presents valid arguments.

The Navy needs more small-arms training

Any servicemember could find themselves in a situation where they’d need to use a rifle to defend themselves or their fellows, and although it’s unlikely that Sailors would have to rely on a rifle to do so, it’s not impossible.

Sailors receive pistol and shotgun training during boot camp, but do not receive basic rifle training.

A U.S. Navy Sailor fires a rifle during small arms live-fire training aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) while underway in the Pacific Ocean Sept. 22, 2023. Nimitz is underway conducting routine operations. (U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Timothy Meyer)

Post-boot camp, Sailors, who wish to join a ship’s Security Reaction Force, take the SRF-B/A course which teaches them rifle skills. Additionally, some Sailors – like SeaBees, Masters-At-Arms, and others in similar positions – are better trained in small arms use across the board. However, this isn’t enough and the vast majority of Sailors receive little training with small arms.

By limiting the training to certain career fields, you isolate institutional knowledge to only those fields. On the other hand, by expanding small arms training throughout the Navy, you increase the readiness of the entire institution. It would make the Navy more capable overall and likely better to exhibit the warrior spirit should the United States enter combat with a near-peer force.

In terms of line items on a budget, basic training and continued education with small arms would cost very little. Further, the small monetary cost would be an investment in force readiness and allow for greater career field and role flexibility amongst Sailors – and a flexible force is often a winning force.

Training should extend to not just rifles, but to machine guns.

Take the Marine Corps. The branch, as a whole, trains its entire force in the use of rifles, as well as on the basics of machine guns and grenade launchers. Although the difference between an admin Marine and a Marine rifleman is vast, the admin Marine will still have a greater ability to engage an enemy force when necessary. In the early days of the Iraq war, for example, noncombat Marines were pressed into combat roles when needed.

If properly trained, Sailors off all specializations could successfully fill in security roles with Masters-At-Arms Sailors, or even augment SeaBees in the field.

Small arms training isn’t necessary

Sailors assigned to Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island (LHD 8) participate in a mass casualty drill on the pier, Feb. 24, 2026. Makin Island is currently homeported in San Diego. (Photo by Seaman Abraham Ramirez/USS Makin Island)

On the other hand, others argue that for the average Sailor, small-arms training wouldn’t be a valuable time investment.

Time is often precious in the military, and Sailors training to shoot rifles and machine guns would be a bad time investment

To illustrate the time commitment required, we should look at the Marine Corps.

The Corps’ boot camp has two weeks dedicated to learning to shoot a rifle. Beyond boot camp, non-infantry MOSes spend several weeks at Combat Training to learn basic infantry skills, including more advanced small arms training. That’s a lot of time that could be spent on more valuable efforts.

In modern warfare, Sailors are extremely unlikely to engage in small arms combat. Instead, a more valuable use of time would be to have Sailors refine the skills relevant to their jobs.

The time spent refining a Sailor’s skills in their job and in extra duties, like damage control, would likely save more lives and provide a more capable Navy. Additionally, ships rarely have a full complement of Sailors, not every position is filled, and removing Sailors from their roles to train them on small arms could create issues with ship readiness and capability.

In the likelihood that Sailors would be in small arms situations, they would very likely be working with Marine forces who would provide the necessary force to counter small arms situations. It would be better to keep engines running, jets flying, and the ship’s systems running than teaching sailors small arms skills.

Related: Coast Guard will stand up its own Special Missions Command to better counter maritime threats

The middle ground

Petty Officer 2nd Class Benjamin Shendaily adds up the score for a Sailor during an M-16 rifle re-qualification gun shoot on the flight deck of the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Champlain. Lake Champlain is underway with Carrier Strike Group One conducting Composite Training Unit Exercise in preparation for a future deployment. (U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Nathan K. Serpico/ Released)

The moderate option would be to expand the Navy’s small arms training, but not force every Sailor to attend weeks of shooting classes.

Rather, the Navy could focus on training Sailors piecemeal. This approach could start spreading small arms skills within the fleet, bringing more institutional knowledge to the Navy as a whole. Those trained Sailors could then refine the limited small arms training that other Sailors receive.

Cross-training between Seabees and Masters-At-Arms with the larger Navy does currently exists, but it’s not something routine.

Instead, strategically trained sailors, who could even train with Marines, could help bring small arms knowledge to the fleet and improve the limited training sailors already receive.

Feature Image: U.S. Navy Fire Controlman 3rd Class Zach Parks, assigned to Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship USS Comstock (LSD 45), loads an M4A1 rifle while conducting small arms qualification courses in the Pacific Ocean, Dec. 6, 2025. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Trent A. Henry)

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