Bulletin Board
Update: 01 December 2025
♦ Registration for courses will be opened no earlier than 45 days prior to the course start date.
♦ Course forms have been updated with new templates. Please utilize the forms located under the "Forms" tab for Division Schools courses.
♦ Units are responsible for providing students with weapons and NVG's from their own armory if they are registered to attend the Combat Marksmanship Coaches Course (CMC) or the Warfighting Skills Course (WSC). Division Schools and Headquarters Battalion does not provide these items.
Join the Division Schools Team
If you are interested in an assignment to Division Schools, please contact our SNCOIC or Operations Chief:
SNCOIC
Gunnery Sergeant J. AcostaGarcia
Office Number: 760-725-8759
Operations Chief
Gunnery Sergeant Philip T. Talbert II
Office Number: 760-725-8758
Assignment to Division Schools provides an opportunity for Marines to expand their instructing abilities outside of their MOS. Please contact our SNCOIC or Operations Chief for rotation information or any other information regarding the Division Schools team.
What is Division Schools?
Division Schools is a valuable asset to all 1st Marine Division units, providing a means to fulfill training and education requirements while alleviating the logistical burden on units. This support includes producing specific Military Occupational Specialties, fulfilling Professional Military Education requirements, and meeting Training & Readiness Standards. Division Schools achieves this by offering the following courses:
(Click on the links for further course information)
a. Combat Marksmanship Coach
b. Combat Marksmanship Trainer
9. Night Imaging and Threat Evaluation (NITE) Lab
While Division units will have priority, Division Schools also accepts nominations from over 180 units across IMEF, TECOM, MARCORSYSCOM, MCI-WEST, and MARFORRES. Some courses will have control dates to manage priority and ensure consistent enrollment, while other courses may not have such date controls. In these cases, priority will only be a factor if seats become competitive. Please refer to the individual course tabs for more details.
Courses Offered
Division Schools offers the following courses and hosts the following events. Any questions concerning any of the following should be directed to the Division Schools staff.
Standard Courses (Courses that have been offered by Division Schools for over six months)
♦ Combat Marksmanship Coach (CMC)
♦ Combat Marksmanship Trainer (CMT)
♦ Standard Bearer Challenge
♦ Blue Diamond Challenge
♦ Annual Division Squad Competition
Nomination Process
(Registration opens 45 days prior to start date)
The nomination process for Division Schools utilizes
MS Forms. MS Forms facilitates by providing a survey-style submission process that ensures required information is filled and submitted to the appropriate course personnel.
The link below leads to an example course submission:
At a minimum, the unit will provide for each individual Marine:
- Rank
- Last Name
- First Name
- Middle Initial
- EDIPI
- PMOS
- BMOS
- Date of Rank
- Duty Status
- Unit
- Company/Battery/Section
- Base From
- Phone Number
- Email Address
- Billeting (Required or Not Required)
- POC (Rank, Name, Phone Number, Email)
- Remarks
Each of the courses offered by Division Schools publishes an MS Form link prior to the execution of each course. Unit training offices need to pay close attention to each course's required nomination process dates to ensure effective nomination submissions:
Example:
- CPLC 8-24 (01/52 Seats)
Registration Open: 1 July 2024
Registration Closed: 5 August 2024
Report: 9 August 2024
Convene: 12 August 2024
Graduation: 29 August 2024
Redundancy is always a good thing to ensure your Marines are registered for a course. Division Schools in the past has utilized the following Outlook Mailbox for nominations but way forward will only utilize this method as a communication tool for Division Schools staff to send units confirmation of their Marines' registered status.
Confirmation emails will be sent out via the Operations Chief and the lead instructor from the course.
Nominations will no longer be taken via our Outlook mailbox starting July 2024.
Division Schools will reply to your nomination either confirming that your nominations have been seated for the requested course or advising the contrary. If your nomination is unable to be seated, we will normally offer the next availability that works for your unit and/or the individual Marine. If you do not receive a reply to your nomination within 24-48 business hours, please contact the Operations Chief.
Please note that each of the courses we offer will have their own specific requirements. We advise that you refer to the respective course links for this pertinent information prior to nominating any Marines for a specific course. Failure to adhere to these guidelines or meet set requirements will slow the process down and prevent Marines from promptly being registered for a course.
Billeting and DTS
Billeting
Division Schools provides billeting for Marines attending from external bases. Units are REQUIRED to specify whether their Marines will require government billeting. It is the unit's responsibility to coordinate the timing of billeting arrangements with Division Schools staff.
For Camp Pendleton Marines requiring billeting for any reason, the responsibility lies with their parent unit to submit the billeting request and receive confirmation of the arrangement. Division Schools is not responsible for the billeting of Camp Pendleton Marines until the unit has submitted the request and received confirmation of receipt.
Defense Travel System
Division Schools can provide government billeting upon request. If billeting is unavailable for the requested dates, a non-availability letter may be issued.
Division Schools has access to government dining through the 33 Area Dining Facility.
Travel expenses, rental vehicles, incidentals, and per diem are to be funded by the unit.
Corporals Course Forms
Formal Marksmanship Training Course Forms
Basic Machine Gun Course Forms
sUAS/C-sUAS Integration Course
Updates Pending
SIGMAN Leaders Course
Updates Pending
Headquarters
Director
♦ Lieutenant Colonel James Nilan
♦ Office Number: 760-725-8756
Deputy Director
♦ Captain Michael Olivarez
♦ Office Number: 760-725-8757
SNCOIC
♦ Gunnery Sergeant Jose Acosta
♦ Office Number: 760-725-8759
Operations Chief
♦ Gunnery Sergeant Philip T. Talbert II
♦ Office Number: 760-725-8758
M7 (Navy Education and Training)
♦ Chief Petty Officer Cody Stafford
Instructor Cadre
Corporals Course SNCOIC
♦ Staff Sergeant Gerald W. Boeckman III
♦ Phone: 937-733-7851
Lead Instructor, Formal Marksmanship Training Course
♦ Sergeant Cody Weldon
♦ Email:
♦ Phone: 907-723-7718
Lead Instructor, Basic Machine Gun Course
♦ Sergeant Jacob Helms
♦ Phone: 808-520-4403
Lead Instructor, Combat Trauma Management
♦ HM2 David Hollingsworth
Course OIC, Small Unmanned Aerial Systems Integration
♦ First Lieutenant Gannon Peifer
Course OIC, Signature Management Leaders Course
♦ Second Lieutenant Phuong Tran
♦ Phone: 714-914-2141
Course Chief, Night Imaging and Threat Evaluation (NITE) Lab
♦ Sergeant Justin Goupil
Course OIC, Small Attack Drone Operators Course (SADOC)
♦ First Lieutenant Braeden McClain
Cadre Support Request
Background
Division Schools frequently receives requests to support units across the MAGTF for various machine gun ranges and non-standard shooting packages. To better manage this demand, Division Schools is implementing a formal request process for units to submit through. Each submission for cadre support will receive either an initial approval or denial. If approved, this will initiate a conversation to refine the coordination process.
Submissions
All submissions should be sent to the Operations Chief and SNCOIC.
The email subject line should read:
"CADRE SUPPORT REQUEST" followed by the name of the unit requesting support.
Example: "CADRE SUPPORT REQUEST: V21"
The request must include:
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Dates (From and To)
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Location(s)
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Number of personnel
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Concept of Operations
For any questions, please contact the Division Schools staff. Point of contact information can be found in the Contact Us tab.
Logistics
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Units will be responsible for providing their own weapons and ammunition. Division Schools may offer guidance on this process.
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Units will be responsible for supplying chow and water for their Marines as needed.
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Units will be responsible for providing their own RSO/OIC. If RSO/OIC support is required from Division Schools to meet weapons certification requirements, please indicate this in the request.
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Units will be responsible for providing their own Safety Vehicle and Corpsman support.
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Units will be responsible for providing their own means of communication to Range Safety.
Contact Us
- Director - (760) 725-8756
- Deputy Director - (760) 725-8757
- Operations Chief - (760) 725-8758
- Navy Education Training Office - (760) 763-6632