From: Los <los@c...>
Date: Sun, 25 Oct 1998 22:52:01 -0500
Subject: Sniper and stuff <was[DS and SG] Regiments of the Crown>
> John M. Atkinson wrote: > Thomas Barclay wrote: OK, I only know two actual snipers from Vietnam, one Marine one Army. (One was my team sergeant for many years) Both were already one their second (the Marine on his third) tour befor ethey became snipers. It true that there was no formal Sniper training back then like there is now, but units ran their own courses in country which in some ways was even better because you are learning from guys fresh from the bush IN the environment you will be operating in. As Tom says snipers were not tasked on a "hey you" type of basis. Usually you had to be a seasoned, mature, infantryman who waw also a damn good shot before even trying out for the job. So your average sniper was already a dead shot with his standard rifle before even getting tasked as a sniper. While the standards for sniper training were uneven from unit to unit and service to service, the snipers were on a whole, a cut well above others. BTW, my team sgt had one kill out at 1100 yards, with his remington 700 (he was the Marine) the army guy used the M14/21). Sniper porgrams nowadays are pretty long (4 weeks to 8 weeks depending on whether its'a line sniper course of you are going to SOTIC (Special Operations Target Inderiction Course). In the US Army, you're not going to get into the course unless you already are a dead shot (39 or 40 out of 40 on the standard army marksmanship test), so guys going into the course already bring their skill with them. It's in no way a "hey you" thing. Most of the training focusses on actaul marksmanship and some fieldcraft (though the second skill is probably more important than the first) Snipers in line battalions have two equally importnat roles, target interdiction and reconnasaince and surveillance. You don't join up as a sniper you are sent by your parent unit. It's a big investment in time and resources. You have to take some of the best guys in your unit and send them away for training. (think of this in SG/DS terms if youa re stationed God knows where with your regt. So you lose them for the trip out and back plus the course). I think it's importnat to have snipers at the battalion level (usualy a squad with maybe threeor four two man teams that you can farm out to teh companies or work independnetly.) But still, I wouln't go overboard on snipers. (like a platoon per bn) They don't have a significant impact on the actual battle, they can at time score the big hit, Their influence in a heads up battle is usually "incidental" to the main course. There's a cost analysis thing you have to do. The cost in training them vs their impact in a big fight. Go for a few high quality guys and keep the rest of your pepole with the line units where they can make a difference.