Bellows Air Force Station, Hawaii. (March 24, 2025): The goal is to make America’s most lethal infantry even more deadly. In this photo by Corporal Matthew Benfield, Marine students with the School of Infantry-West, Advanced Infantry Training Battalion, carry out close quarters combat operations during the Advanced Infantry Marine Course (AIMC). This demanding program is designed to certify Marines as squad leaders, the first rung of the Corp’s leadership ladder.

This seven-week course is a crucial step in the career progression of combat Marines. The AIMC covers a wide range of fighting skills including calling for fire support, patrolling, and how to operate in both urban and jungle environments. Marines are also taught critical casualty care and advanced life saving techniques to treat combat injuries.  

Most critically, the AIMC takes advantage of the thick jungles and mountainous terrain of Oahu to push Marines to their limits. The steamy tropical environment, and its effects on the body and mind, provides an ideal test of an individual’s stamina and mental toughness. Students experience constant stress, lack of sleep, and extreme exhaustion conducting long range patrols in the jungle. As future leaders, Marines are taught to be decisive when giving orders and adaptable in their approach to combat operations. If they successfully pass this extremely realistic course, future squad leaders will earn the respect of their troops as leaders of Marines.