Marine Corps Rifle Qualification Calculator
Work out your Annual Rifle Qualification. Enter your destroys and mark which drill types you passed to see your classification, the rifle value it is worth toward JEPES, and exactly what the next classification would need.
Calculate your ARQ classification
Destroys
43 / 50One destroy per scored engagement on the evaluation course of fire.
Drills
2 / 3Switch on each drill type you passed at least one iteration of.
Destroys
43 / 50
Drill types passed
2 / 3
Classification
SharpshooterJEPES rifle value
94 / 100
Expert needs 43 destroys and all three drill types. You have the destroys but not the drill types.
The rifle value feeds the Warfighting category of JEPES, which applies to PVT–Cpl.
How ARQ is scored
The Annual Rifle Qualification replaced a course of fire the Marine Corps had used, largely unchanged, since 1907. It is scored on lethality rather than points: each engagement is either a destroy or a miss, and each drill iteration is a straight pass or fail.
Two numbers decide your classification — how many of the 50 destroys you achieved, and how many of the three drill types you passed at least one iteration of. Both minimums have to be met, which is the part that catches Marines out: shooting well cannot make up for a missed drill type, so 50 destroys with two drill types is still Sharpshooter.
The same two numbers convert to a rifle value from 0 to 100 that feeds the Warfighting category of the Junior Enlisted Performance Evaluation System.
Qualification standards
You earn the highest classification whose destroys minimum and drill-type minimum you both meet.
| Classification | Destroys | Drill types |
|---|---|---|
| Expert | 43+ | 3 |
| Sharpshooter | 31+ | 2 |
| Marksman | 15+ | 1 |
Below the Marksman minimums is Unqualified. A Marine who passes no drill type is unqualified no matter how many destroys they achieved.
The three drills
All three are fired at close range after the destroy portion. Passing one iteration of a drill type is what counts toward your classification; the extra iterations are additional attempts.
| Drill | Yards | Rounds | Seconds | Iterations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Failure to Stop | 25 | 3 | 5 | 4 |
| Box Drill | 25 | 6 | 10 | 4 |
| Failure to Stop While Moving | 25 to 15 | 3 | 15 | 2 |
Classification depends on how many distinct drill types you passed, never on which ones.
Course of fire
The evaluation day. The destroy portion is fired from far to near, then the drills. Day two fires the same course as a pre-evaluation.
| Yards | Stage | Rounds | Seconds | Position | Iterations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Destroys | |||||
| 500 | Sustained Fire | 5 | 45 | Prone | 8 |
| 300 | Controlled Pair | 2 | 15 | Standing, kneeling, or prone | 8 |
| 200 | Controlled Pairs (barricades) | 2 | 10 | Standing or kneeling | 7 |
| 200 | Moving Threat Engagement (barricades) | 2 | 8 | Standing or kneeling | 7 |
| 100 | Controlled Pair (barricades) | 2 | 8 | Standing or kneeling | 7 |
| 100 | Moving Threat Engagement (barricades) | 2 | 8 | Standing or kneeling | 7 |
| 25 | Head Shot | 1 | 3 | Standing | 6 |
| Drills | |||||
| 25 | Failure to Stop | 3 | 5 | Standing | 4 |
| 25 | Box Drill | 6 | 10 | Standing | 4 |
| 25 to 15 | Failure to Stop While Moving | 3 | 15 | Standing | 2 |
The destroy portion's 50 iterations are the 50 destroys scored above — one iteration is one destroy opportunity. 160 rounds are fired in total.
Who shoots ARQ
Not every Marine shoots ARQ every year. These are the categories the order sets out; which one applies to you is your unit's call, not this page's.
| Category | Requirement | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Active component, rifle or carbine as T/O weapon | ARQ annually. | MCO 3574.2M ch. 3 |
| Reserve (SMCR) | ARQ at a minimum every two years, fired during the same drill period; scores stay current for two years. Unit and site commanders may still qualify annually. Waivers and exceptions to the two-year policy require Commander, Marine Forces Reserve. | MCO 3574.2M ch. 4 para 2 |
| Reserve waivers | Marine Forces Reserve may process waivers for annual marksmanship qualifications via the first General Officer in the chain of command. | MARADMIN 095/26 para 3.b.6 |
| Consecutive Expert | Qualifying Expert two consecutive years makes a Marine eligible for a one-fiscal-year exemption, granted by a commanding officer at company level or higher. It can repeat every other year while Expert is maintained; qualifying below Expert means firing Expert two consecutive years again to regain eligibility. | MCO 3574.2M ch. 1 |
| E-7 and above | Exempt unless a rifle, carbine, or pistol is their T/O weapon. | MCO 3574.2M ch. 1 |
| O-4 and above, or officers with 13 or more years of service | Exempt unless a rifle, carbine, or pistol is their T/O weapon. | MCO 3574.2M ch. 1 |
| IRR, Standby Reserve, Retired Reserve | Not required to qualify. On returning to the active or reserve component, qualify within the unit's established marksmanship interval. | MCO 3574.2M ch. 1 |
| Separating Marines | Exempt unless they have indicated an intention to re-enlist or extend. | MCO 3574.2M ch. 1 |
| Entry-level training | The Basic School has fully integrated ARQ. The recruit depots are running Entry-Level Qualification pilots through FY26, targeting ARQ-equivalent qualification parity by FY29. | MARADMIN 095/26 para 3.a |
Marines exempt from ARQ whose T/O weapon is a rifle may still owe Tables 3 through 6, now a deployment work-up requirement rather than an annual one.
Frequently asked questions
What is a destroy?
A scored engagement where at least one round lands in the target's destroyed or face-destroyed zone. Anything less counts as a miss for that engagement. The evaluation course of fire has 50 scored engagements, so 50 possible destroys.
How many destroys do I need to shoot Expert?
43 of 50 — and you must also pass at least one iteration of all three drill types. Destroys alone are not enough.
Can I still shoot Expert if I failed a drill?
No. Expert requires at least one passing iteration in each of the three drill types. With two drill types the best available classification is Sharpshooter, however many destroys you achieved.
Does it matter which drills I passed?
No. Classification depends on how many distinct drill types you passed, not on which ones.
How does ARQ affect my JEPES score?
Your destroys and drill types convert to a rifle value from 0 to 100. That value is combined with your MCMAP belt and weighted into the Warfighting category, one of four 250-point categories in JEPES. JEPES applies to PVT through Cpl.
Does every Marine shoot ARQ every year?
No. Reserve Marines qualify at a minimum every two years, senior ranks are exempt unless a rifle or pistol is their table of organization weapon, and a Marine who shoots Expert two years running may be granted a one-year exemption. See the categories above.