Jess Battison
If we’ve got some mad set of skills, skills so specific and world-class that we make it through a brutal selection process, then we’d hope we’re absolutely raking it in.
And a job that requires such a vital, specific skills is of course a Royal Marine Sniper – which is obviously not a job for everyone.
But a TikTok by ‘howmuchthough’ explains the details of their pay and it’s perhaps not raining as much as you’d think.
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The Royal Marines are the UK’s Commando Force, an elite fighting force. And they apparently have ‘one of the best sniper units in the world’ so it’s certainly ‘not an easy job by any means’.
The narrator explains that to make it as a Sniper for the force you ‘need to have already proved yourself as a competent marine’.
And you’ll need ‘20/20 vision without the use of glasses or contact lenses’, pass a hearing test and then take part in a one-week selection course.
After that, you’ll be placed on a 13-week Platoon Weapons Class 3 training course.
Not just about shooting, it covers a range of skills and it’s apparently acknowledged as ‘one of the hardest military training courses in the world’.
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It’s definitely not just your standard training for a job learning how to correctly lift boxes or spot a shoplifter, it is said to have a mega failure rate of 50 percent.
And then once you’ve made it through all this selection and training to earn the title of Sniper, ‘surprisingly there isn’t any extra pay’.
The narrator explains: “There’s a whole host of skills you can have in the military that grant you extra bonuses on base pay such as parachuting and jump pay.
“But snipers seem to get left out here, meaning that their pay is the same as that of any other Royal Marine.”
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According to the Royal Navy site, Royal Marines Commandos have a starting salary of over £20,000 after completing training and can earn up to £51,000.
The video says Corporals make ‘anywhere from £33,065 to £35,419’, Sergeants ‘£37,198 to £41,039’ and a Colour Sergeant ‘from £41,872 to £44,564’.
The video adds: “With this said, your skill set may lend itself nicely to the special force, giving you an edge in the special force selection. If you made it, you would then be on a better table.”
But viewers can’t believe it, calling the pay ‘shocking’.
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Others wrote: “Get 45 grand for doing a lot less, drinking tea for most of the day.”
Another called it ‘mad’.
But many do also point out that Royal Marines also get the likes of free medical care, free gym access, subsidised accommodation and seven weeks of paid holiday.