USMC snipers

O

Oldjarhead

New member
I was not a Marine sniper, so I have a question to any USMC sniper or for any former snipers. I know snipers in training are called PIGS. (Professional instructed gunman) When they graduate sniper school, they are called HOGS. (hunter of guman) Is there a acronym for the word PORK? It may be Hollywood fiction, but on the USA network show, SHOOTER, the Marine sniper characters, would call each other PORK. Can you clue me In? Thanks.Just wondering if it actually has a actual Corps meaning.
 
"PORK" is not a term that I have personally heard of. I was on a STA team for a while back in 2005-2006, but realized I liked plain jane infantry better. I don't recall hearing the terms PIG and HOG used then, but I know for a fact that it is used now as my son graduated DM school when he was in Marine SF (Security Forces, not "Special") a few years ago. Now is in a weapons company in the 3rd Marines and trying to get in STA platoon. The point is, I think both PIG and HOG are fairly new terms. Never heard of PORK.
 
The military loves acronyms. We could do several pages, but many of them would end up being deleted.
 
Are Marines influenced by movies and tv, too?
Maybe those terms have been adopted rather than being original to the Marine Corp.
 
Is there a acronym for the word PORK? It may be Hollywood fiction, but on the USA network show, SHOOTER, the Marine sniper characters, would call each other PORK.
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Shooter is derived from a book in which the main character referred to one of the other characters as "Pork".

There may have been an explanation of why he called him that in the novel, but I don't recall it.
 
Are Marines influenced by movies and tv, too?
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Yes! At least they're influenced by call of duty... Which is as relevant to movies and TV. I never heard "stay frosty" prior to playing COD with friends in 2007-2008. No one said it before then. Now, apparently a whole bunch of jarheads are telling each other that.
 
Pork was a slang used by the character Bob lee Swager in a book called Shooter. It was the inspiration for a move by the same name.

Swager called cops Pork instead of pig when he didn't think they were very competent.

It has no use I ever heard in the USMC.
It's a work of fiction.

Even PIG and HOG are relatively new terms. They were not used in the early 70s at the close of the Vietnam war.
 
I can't recall him ever using the term to refer to cops. He called Nick Memphis by the nickname "Pork" throughout the book but, as far as I can tell, he never used the term to refer to any other person.

I had a vague recollection that he may have called his spotter (Donny Fenn) in 'nam "Pork" as well, but I looked through the book and couldn't find any such references in a quick scan.
 
Well if you have the book I'd consed to the point. You are probably correct. I didn't read it. I was only told about it.

But I do know it was not a term used in the 70s or very early 80s by Marine Snipers. And I never heard PIG or HOG in those days either.
 
About the Stephen Hunter books. It's my recollection he used the nickname 'Pork' for his spotter in Viet Nam, Donny, and for Nick Memphis too. It was not a derogatory term.
This is as John above has mentioned.

I've never heard 'pig' or 'hog' used as the original poster asked about but there's no particular reason I ever would have heard the terms except in news stories or fiction stories.
 
I have heard the SAW referred to as "the pig". One of my luetenants uses to call it that. Never heard of pork though. This was 1999.
 
I have heard the SAW referred to as "the pig".
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That name was originally given to the M60... and the M240G that replaced it later received that beloved moniker. I guess a 249 would qualify.

Even PIG and HOG are relatively new terms. They were not used in the early 70s at the close of the Vietnam war.
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Best I can tell, PIG and HOG are terms that are less than 10 years old. I never heard them in my not-so-long ago days, and I would have if they were in common use.
 
Good information, but one glaring problem your time line. If this name started with the M60 then that predates my 1996 boot camp date. That is 21 years by now:eek: I am feeling older as type. So ten years does not seem work.
 
Good information, but one glaring problem your time line. If this name started with the M60 then that predates my 1996 boot camp date. That is 21 years by now I am feeling older as type. So ten years does not seem work.
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"Pig" in reference to a belt fed weapon is different than "PIG" the modern craze sniper acronym. One refers to the weight of a machine gun (fat/heavy as a pig), and has been around forever. It's used commonly in the book "Guns Up" IIRC, which was written by a machine gunner in vietnam. "PIG" the acronym, use to reference snipers as "professionally instructed gunmen," is new.
 
The "pig" was the M60 machinegun. It was fat, it was heavy, awkward to carry, and it ate a lot (when it felt like lit, ;)).

PIG is "professionally instructed gunman"? Seriously??

Sounds like someone is full of Special High Intensity Training....
:rolleyes:
 
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