The Fleet Marine Force (FMF) breast insignia is issued in three degrees: Fleet Marine Force Warfare Officer, Enlisted Fleet Marine Force Warfare Specialist, and Fleet Marine Force Qualified Officer, which is awarded only to Navy Chaplains who meet the requirements set forth in SECNAVINST 1412.10 and features its own specialized insignia that is bereft of the crossed rifles found on the other two.
Established to recognize the service of Navy personnel who are assigned to Fleet Marine Force commands, the FMF breast insignia was preceded by a FMF ribbon. OPNAVINST 1414.6 eliminated the ribbon, replacing it with the FMF Qualified Officer program; those who had earned the FMF Ribbon were not grandfathered in to automatically receive the new insignia. This OPNAVINST was in turn canceled by SECNAVINST 1412.10 dated 8 January 2013, establishing the FMF Warfare Officer program (along with the Qualified Officer program for Chaplains). The requirements for the Enlisted FMF Warfare specialist had been laid out nearly nine years earlier in OPNAVINST 1414.A, one of just a few warfare qualification instructions that were not canceled in 2013.
The vast majority of enlisted personnel who qualify for the FMF badge come from one of two ratings, Hospital Corpsman (HM) or Religious Program Specialists (RP), who are permanently assigned to Marine Crops command while on Type 2 or Type 4 sea duty; they become eligible for the qualification after serving 12 consecutive months or at least 90 consecutive days directly supporting a USMC operational command during combat or peacekeeping assignments. Also eligible are Corpsman who’ve been assigned to certain operational commands, Enlisted Full Time Support, and Selected Reserve personnel.
The time of duty requirements are more stringent for officers, who must also serve 12 consecutive months assigned to a command of the Marine Corps’ operating forces, but who are required to be deployed at least 179 days to a unit that is in direct support of a USMC operational command during combat or for an overseas contingency operation.
Personnel Qualification Standards for earning the FMF qualification for both officers and enlisted Sailors are found in the NAVEDTRA 43908 series.