When I went through the Marine Scout Sniper School it was roughly three months, and every day they basically try to destroy you. Physically, mentally, no sleep, no food, nonstop, whatever they can do to get you to quit, to say, “I can’t do this anymore, I want to leave.” It’s one of the most revered, renowned, and difficult schools in the United States military, and has one of the highest attrition rates.
Immediately after graduating, we deployed to Iraq. When you’re out there for real, you’re in an austere and hostile environment. You might be doing long-range reconnaissance or delivering precision fire to eliminate a specific threat; you might be doing things that cause people to lose their lives. In those moments, it really sinks in: Nothing else in life is that hard or that complicated. You understand why there’s such a rigorous indoctrination: Protecting yourself and your brothers, that’s what really matters. You have to know that the guys you’re working with will not quit. And it all comes back to this HOG’s tooth.
When you start your training, you’re called a PIG, a professionally instructed gunman. If you graduate, you earn the title HOG, which means hunter of gunmen. That’s when they give you your HOG’s tooth, the projectile from a .308-caliber bullet you wear around your neck. It’s the portion that penetrates your target. They say the tooth represents the bullet that was destined for you, but since it’s around your neck, you’re in control of your destiny. You’re safe.
I earned mine in 2005, and it’s been off my body maybe three times. I wear it under my clothing. I could care less if anyone knows I have it. It’s for me and me alone. Any time I meet adversity or something I’m not expecting, that’s basically what I go back to. It’s a reminder that whatever I’m facing now is pretty insignificant compared to other things I’ve dealt with.
I will never stop wearing my HOG’s tooth: I could be working at Lowe’s or working for a Fortune 500 company behind a desk and I will still wear it. I will never not wear it.
~ Marshall Bowen, private security and high-threat protection for U.S. government officials in the Middle East; owner, .308 Ghillies, a firearms retailer; Philip, SD