The Vickers Machine Gunner was a specialist in his occupation. The gun he would have to use was one of the most complicated pieces of weaponry on the battlefield, he would have to know, off by heart, how to work, fire and maintain the gun in the some of the most adverse conditions in the world. The Vickers was a weapon that would take lives but save lives and to save lives it had to work at all times and in all conditions.
Having succesfully passed his Machine-Gunner training, he would be awarded the Skill at Arms insignia.
The table below shows the preliminary training that a Machine Gunner would have to have undertaken in 1951. This four week course was what every gunner undertook before he would serve in action with the Vickers MG. A further course, the Fire Controllers' Course was an extension to this for those selected as possible Fire Controllers to co-ordinate the Vickers MGs lethal fire.
To decode the lesson numbers please go to the lesson list:
| Subject | 1st Stage | 2nd Stage | 3rd stage | 4th Stage | ||||
| Lessons | Periods | Lessons | Periods | Lessons | Periods | Lessons | Periods | |
| The Gun and Tripod | 1 & 2 | 3 | ||||||
| Stripping | 3, 4, 5 & 6 | 5 | 7 & 8 | 3 | ||||
| General Maintenance | 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 & 15 | 9 | ||||||
| Spare parts and repairs | 17 | 2 | 18 | 1 | ||||
| Immediate Action | 19, 20, 21 & 22 | 11 | 23 | 2 | Revision | 5 | ||
| Mechanism | 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 & 29 | 10 | ||||||
| Causes of Stoppages | 30, 31, 32, 33 & 34 | 6 | ||||||
| Instruments and Aiming | 35 | 2 | 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41 & 42 | 11 | Revision | 3 | ||
| Gun Drill | 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55. | 15 | 56, 57, 58, 59. | 11 | 60 (TOET) | 6 | ||
| Advanced Machine Gun Handling | 61 to 65 | 10 | ||||||
| Visual Training | 66 & 67 | 3 | ||||||
| Section Drill | 68 to 74 | 12 | ||||||
| Indirect Fire Drill | 75 to 82 | 16 | ||||||
| Part I MMG Course | Practices 1 to 3 | 3 | Practice 4 | 3 | Practice 5 | 2 | ||
| Part II MMG Course | Practices 1 to 3 | 2 | ||||||
| TOTAL | 39 | TOTAL | 39 | TOTAL | 39 | TOTAL | 39 | |