U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Dakota Meyer, right, shakes hands with Sgt. Maj. of the Marine Corps Carlos A. Ruiz, at the 2-26 Basic Reconnaissance Course graduation at Camp Pendleton, Calif., April 3, 2026. (Jordan Gilbert/U.S. Marine Corps)
A former active-duty Marine who was awarded the Medal of Honor in 2011 for heroism in Afghanistan is ready to shoulder a new challenge as a 37-year-old reservist: reconnaissance work.
Sgt. Dakota Meyer completed the service’s grueling 12-week course and had his military occupational specialty redesignated from infantryman to reconnaissance Marine, according to a Facebook post Friday.
The service’s senior enlisted leader, Sgt. Maj. of the Marine Corps Carlos Ruiz, attended a ceremony the same day and shared the news of Meyer’s completion of the course.
Meyer reposted the announcement of the accomplishment to his official Instagram page Friday with a caption reading: “No quit. No shortcuts.”
The course features an intensive training regimen that includes amphibious operations, water survival, land navigation, patrolling and combat conditioning.
The course is noted for its high attrition rate and for demanding greater physical and mental standards than the average Marine.
Former President Barack Obama bestowed the Medal of Honor on Meyer in 2011 for his actions during an ambush in the Ganjgal Valley of Afghanistan two years earlier.
Medal of Honor recipient Sgt. Dakota Meyer is congratulated by President Barack Obama during his award ceremony Sept. 15, 2011. Meyer was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroic actions in Afghanistan in 2009. (Daniel Wetzel/U.S. Marine Corps)
At the time, Meyer was a 21-year-old corporal serving as a turret gunner with an embedded training team from the III Marine Expeditionary Force out of Okinawa, Japan.
Meyer fought down a mountainside to rescue wounded troops and recover the bodies of fallen comrades. He ventured into direct enemy fire to reach the troops, defying orders to stay in a safer position.
Marine Corps officials credited Meyer with helping save the lives of 36 U.S. and Afghan troops. The ambush claimed the lives of five Marines and nine Afghan allies.
Meyer was only the third living service member from the war in Afghanistan to receive the award, and the first living Marine to be given the honor for battlefield heroics since the Vietnam War.
After leaving active duty, Meyer became a firefighter and motivational speaker. He reenlisted as a reservist almost a year ago during a ceremony hosted by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
“The great part about being in the reserve is I’m still a citizen when I’m not on orders,” Meyer told reporters at the ceremony. “When I’m on orders, I’ll comply obviously with whatever the standard is.”
Ruiz noted in his post that the group of graduates that included Meyer is “one of the final classes prior to a transition in the reconnaissance training progression.”
He was referring to ongoing adaptations tied to the Marine Corps’ Force Design 2030 initiative, which places increased emphasis on reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance capabilities as part of a broader restructuring of the force.
Officials have not publicly detailed any specific changes to the course or when they will take effect.
