Santa Margarita Gun Club

RSO Certification

The Santa Margarita Gun Club conducts live-fire events (practice and matches) using range facilities on the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base installation. Military requirements for live-fire operations are very stringent, and one of the requirements is that any live-fire events must have a Camp Pendleton MCB certified Range Safety Officer (RSO) present.

In order to ensure that the SMGC can continue to hold matches and other live-fire events at Camp Pendleton, the club invites as many people as possible to obtain the base RSO certification.

There is a multi-step process to obtain an RSO certification valid at Camp Pendleton MCB.

  1. Contact the SMGC HP Director (Contacts page => RSO Information) and inform the club that you intend to obtain RSO Certification. You may review the Distance Learning Course (DLC) materials while you wait for confirmation from the club.
  2. After being contacted by the club with a letter of authorization, you may take the DLC proctored exam. Complete the “Distance Learning Course” and the subsequent online exam. This exam is proctored and should be taken on base at one of the Camp Pendleton Learning Resource Center (LRC) locations.

    Civilians have the additional option of taking the DLC proctored exam on the morning of a Camp Pendleton RSO live instruction class. This will take place at Camp Pendleton Range Operations Division. You must inform the club if you intend to take the exam in this manner.

    Military personnel must take the DLC proctored exam at an LRC.

  3. After successfully passing the proctored online exam, notify the SMGC High Power Director (Contacts page => RSO Information) that the DLC course and exam were successfully passed and provide a date in which you would like to attend the Camp Pendleton RSO class (live instruction).
  4. Await confirmation from the SMGC HP Director that you have been officially enrolled in the Camp Pendleton RSO live instruction class. Do not go to the live instruction course location until you receive notification from the HP Director. You will not be admitted to the class and will be turned away unless enrolled by the HP Director.

    Note that this step is not required by civilians who made arrangements to take the DLC proctored exam the morning of a Camp Pendleton RSO live instruction class. Admission to the live instruction class was already arranged, contigent on your success in passing the DLC proctored exam.

  5. After confirmation from the HP Director is received, print out the Camp Pendleton RSO Class/Course Handout and Exam Answer Sheet and attend the live instruction class on the assigned date/time. An exam covering the live instruction class will be administered afterwards.
  6. After successfully passing the Camp Pendleton RSO exam, that information will be passed on to the club by Camp Pendleton Range Control.

The following documents are available for download (PDF files):

If you wish to view the RSO Distance Learning Course materials, you can request a CD from the SMGC, or you can view them directly online as the materials are hosted on the SMGC website. You can also view the DLC materials at one of the Learning Resource Centers. Though, it is recommended that you review the Distance Learning Course materials at home on your own time prior to taking the DLC online exam (proctored) on base at a Learning Resource Center to maximize your ability to pass the exam.

Note that the SMGC hosted RSO distance learning course materials are password protected. These materials are being hosted for SMGC members and patrons, so the password protection is in place to prevent casual, non-SMGC affiliated persons from browsing the materials. To get access to the SMGC hosted materials, simply contact the SMGC and the credentials will be supplied to you.