Here's something else to consider about being a Scout/Sniper in the Marines Corps: chiggers.
My cousin became a scout/sniper while in the Corps from '92-'96, and towards the end of that, I recall him mentioning chiggers (aka redbugs) in reference to his sniper training, which he did at Camp Lejeune, I think he said. Now, Camp Lejeune is in North Carolina, and thus presumably loaded with chiggers, to say nothing of fireants. I was about eight when I heard that, so I didn't think of all the possible implications of the chigger problem, but it occurred to me a few months ago that he must have had to lie face-(and thus crotch-)down in the dirt for hours on end, which I figure would be no fun, due to the chiggers that he made mention of. This is perhaps something to think about if you're enlisting from a part of the country that would send you to Camp Lejeune to do scout/sniper school--I'm guessing that the people who do basic at Parris Island are fed to Lejeune, and the people who do basic at San Diego are sent to Camp Pendleton. I think I read that you can also do sniper-school at K-Bay in Hawaii and one of those 16,000 Marine bases on Okinawa, which, like Pendleton, are probably free of chiggers and fireants; however, I don't know how people go about getting assigned there--most likely, you go to the school at the camp where you were already stationed.
