Career progression

Once you’ve passed out of training after 32 weeks of rigorous physical and mental assessments, you’ll be assigned to a Commando Unit as a General Duties Rifleman. It’s a job that most Commandos do for two years before they choose to specialise. Once you’ve decided on a specialisation, which could be anything from Mountain Leader to Sniper, you undertake an intensive training package.

At this point in your career, you’ll have achieved more than most do in a lifetime. And that’s just the beginning. You’ll be a Commando first, and a specialist second, and if you display the right attributes you’ll progress quickly. In short, all promotions are on merit. That means you can go as far as you want.

Initial training as a Royal Marines Commando Officer is the most rigorous of its type in the world. That’s because at the end of it, you’ll be one of the most elite amphibious soldiers on the planet. Over 15 months you’ll develop all the skills you need to be a Commando. Your performance in a set of gruelling physical assessments will confirm your right to wear the green beret. And once you’ve proved yourself to be a natural leader, you’ll be ready to lead the best.

As soon as you’ve joined your unit, you’ll command up to 30 highly trained Commandos, on operations all over the world. There you’ll develop the field-craft and tactical expertise that will help you to cope with any environment, and become a leader in the truest sense. Like all the Naval Service, promotion is entirely based on merit, so you can go as far as you want.