Royal Marines Reserve

Service:Royal Marines
Branch:Royal Marines Reserve
Level:Rating,Apprenticeship
Adventure
Civilians
Combat and security
Marine pointing a gun
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The role at a glance

What you’ll do

Joining the Royal Marines Reserve means being a part-time soldier, but a fully trained Commando. You’ll do the same Commando course as everyone who wears the green beret, but you’ll spend evenings and weekends completing the same standards and times. It’s your opportunity to add a challenge to your everyday life, using your newly developed skills in operational environments, all over the world. As soon as you’re trained, you're deployable, which means going wherever you’re needed, from conflict zones, to areas hit by humanitarian crisis.

If you have questions, talk to us

Your role

  • Learn management and leadership techniques in an environment that’s far removed from any office, and excel in a career that runs alongside your day job. You could find yourself deployed to operate anywhere from the most treacherous swamps to the barren Arctic.
  • Develop a wide range of new skills through your military training, and gain the unique personal qualities like a level of determination, discipline and organisation that can only come from earning your green beret.
  • Play an active role in global operations, doing the same job as your regular counterparts, as part of the most elite amphibious fighting force in the world.
  • Choose a specialisation and gain a range of new skills that can be applied directly to operational situations. You could become a Heavy Weapons Specialist, landing Craft Coxswain, PTI, Assault Engineer or Swimmer Canoeist.

What you’ll get

Skills for life

Qualifications you'll gain

  • A Level 5 Diploma in Management and Leadership from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI)
  • Vocational qualification based on your chosen specialisation

Skills you'll develop

  • Determination, discipline, and confidence that will transfer into your civilian life
  • A level of physical and mental excellence that will see you shape your life

What you'll need

Eligibility

  • You must be aged 16 to 32 when you start training
  • The upper age limit may be waived for applicants with previous Royal Marines experience as a trained rank depending on specialisation, currency and rank
  • Qualification requirements vary depending on the role
  • A National of the United Kingdom, A Commonwealth Citizen or Dual National
  • Minimum height of 145cm
  • A maximum BMI of 28 (there may be some exceptions to this maximum if your waist measures less than 94cm) 
  • A minimum weight of 65kg or a minimum BMI of 23
  • Must pass Royal Marines Reserve Selection Weekend
  • Pass the Naval Swimming Test
     

Skills and interests

  • A desire to be part of a team
  • A need for adventure
  • Maintained physical and mental fitness
     
Check Eligibility

Starting your career

Joining process

Once you’ve confirmed your eligibility, the joining process is as follows:

  • Submit an application

    Your first step is to fill in an online application form. If you have any questions beforehand, you can phone us on 0345 600 3222

  • Presentation

    You will be invited to attend an Initial Maritime Reserves Presentation (IMRP) at your nearest Unit. This is your chance to have a look around, meet the team, ask any questions and find out about life in the Reserves

  • Defence Aptitude Assessment (DAA) and interview

    You will be invited to your nearest Armed Forces Career Office (AFCO) for an interview, where we will check your eligibility and outline the joining process. You will then sit the DAA, which assesses: Verbal Reasoning, Numerical Reasoning, Work Rate, Spatial Reasoning, Electrical Comprehension and Mechanical Comprehension.
    To prepare, you can practise the DAA

  • Join your local Unit

    You will then be invited to join your Unit for Attestation. This involves swearing allegiance to His Majesty The King and signing the Official Secrets Act. At this point you’ll be join a holding troop, and will attend weekly drill nights, however you won’t be able to start formal training until you pass your medical and fitness test

  • Basic Fitness Test (BFT)

    The BFT is a three mile outdoor run completed in under 22 minutes 30 seconds

  • The Potential Royal Marines Course (PRMC)

    This two-day introduction to life in the Royal Marines Reserve is your opportunity to show you have what it takes to cope with the rigours of Basic Training. You’ll need to complete a number of physical tests to progress


Initial training

Once you’ve passed the recruiting process you’ll begin Basic Training at your unit and at Commando Training Centre Royal Marines (CTCRM) in Lympstone. Here you’ll learn the skills you need to become an elite amphibious soldier.

Basic Training Phase 1a – Carry out field exercises, starting with basic skills like camouflage, concealment, and weapon handling, while also developing leadership skills.

Basic Training Phase 1b – Gain more specific skills like marksmanship, map reading and helicopter drills, as well as mastering team tactics and extending your leadership skills even further. This course culminates in a two week Reserve Forces Commando Course (RFCC).

The RFCC includes an endurance course, a nine-mile speed march, a Tarzan assault course, and a 30-mile march. If you pass them, you’ll earn your coveted green beret. You’ll then become a Rifleman for the first two years of your career.

 Continuation Phase 2 Training - This includes Field Firing, Survival Exercise, Modernised Urban Combat and an advanced operational shooting package.     

There's also a swimming test, so if you can't swim, make sure you learn by the time you join us.


Professional training

Typically, after serving as a General Duties Rifleman, you can choose an area of specialisation and train for roles such as Heavy Weapons, Landing Craft, PTI, Assault Engineer and Swimmer Canoeist. And the higher up the ranks you climb, the more options you’ll have open to you.