Sparrowhawk
08-30-04, 08:19 AM
Anyone here gone through this school?
<hr>
Top gunners
Sniper school at Camp Pendleton teaches students more than accurate shooting
12:50 AM PDT on Monday, August 30, 2004
By HENRI BRICKEY / The Press-Enterprise
[b]Marine Sniper Course [/img]
The 50-day Scout Sniper Basic Course is offered four times a year at Camp Pendleton. The maximum class size is 24 students.
30 percent of the students will drop out.
Last fiscal year, the course produced 42 certified scout snipers.
http://vvakerry.bizland.com/sniper29h1_300.jpg
Two-man Marine teams participating in the sniper training at Camp Pendleton work on their marksmanship with rifles during the target engagement part of field skills training.
CAMP PENDLETON - After crawling on his belly almost half a mile through the sweltering August sun, the sniper was finally in position to take out the enemy he had been stalking the past two hours.
Before he could squeeze off the shot, an enemy soldier peering through a pair of high-power binoculars spotted him.
If it hadn't been practice, the sniper probably would have been killed.
For the next two months, the student and about two-dozen other Marines will try to perfect their skills at Camp Pendleton's Scout Sniper Basic Course. After graduating in September, many will head to Iraq where they will likely experience more sniper action than any American conflict since Vietnam.
"The commanders in Iraq want more of them," said Maj. Stephen Armes, commanding officer of the Advanced Infantry School at Camp Pendleton, where the snipers are trained.
One reason for the snipers' popularity in Iraq, instructors at the school say, is the urban terrain and guerrilla-style warfare insurgents are waging against the coalition forces in Iraq. With no battle lines drawn, American forces constantly must be on the lookout for enemy activity in any area. Often, it is the sniper's job to find the enemy before the enemy makes his attack.
Frank Bellino / The Press-Enterprise
Two-man Marine teams participating in the sniper training at Camp Pendleton work on their marksmanship with rifles during the target engagement part of field skills training.
Walking through the entrance of the Quonset hut where the 50-day sniper course is taught at Camp Pendleton, students pass the Sniper Hall of Fame - a collection of recent history's most celebrated combat marksmen.
The newest section of the tribute features a captured Iraqi flag, photos of enemy dead, a list of Iraq's most wanted and the names of snipers who have made their mark in Iraq.
"There will be a lot to add to that before this war is over," said Staff Sgt. Brian Dow, chief instructor.
Dow and the other half dozen instructors at Camp Pendleton's sniper school have trained many of the snipers now on the ground in Iraq. There are three other sniper schools in the U.S., one in Hawaii, one in North Carolina and one in Virginia.
Instructor Sgt. Joshua Hamblin was attached to a sniper platoon during the invasion of Iraq in April, 2003.
During a three-day period while guarding a base on the outskirts of Iraq, Hamblin, 28, killed 18 enemy soldiers. Another sniper working alongside Hamblin at the time is credited with 14 kills during the same three-day period.
One graduate who finished the school in December was deployed to Falloujah, Iraq, in February and has more than 30 confirmed kills as of last month, according to Hamblin.
"He's the superstar right now," Hamblin said. "He was getting five kills a day for a while."
Important roles
Killing is only part of a sniper's job, though.
"Everyone thinks snipers are out shooting all the time. That's not always the case," Armes said.
On many missions, Armes said, the sniper will never fire a shot.
A typical mission for a two-man sniper team may be calling in artillery, mapping out areas for future battles or observing enemy troop strength.
"You'll have a 20-year-old kid two years out of high school advising a battalion commander with 25 years of military experience how to deploy 800 Marines on a battlefield," Armes said.
In Iraq, where one platoon of about 25 snipers is assigned to an 800-man Marine infantry battalion, the snipers stick relatively close to their assigned units. They might watch stretches of roadway for insurgents placing roadside bombs, protect convoys from attack during stops and secure airfields where enemy forces might try to shoot down aircraft with shoulder fired rockets.
The snipers are carefully chosen.
"They're hand-picked according to their professionalism, fitness, maturity and marksmanship" Armes said.
The Marines don't want blood-thirsty killers, they want perfectionists, Armes said.
Any prior infractions or disciplinary problems immediately disqualify a prospective candidate. Prospective snipers also must qualify for a secret security clearance.
A sniper must be mentally capable of handling the potentially violent nature of his work, Armes said, explaining that shooting an enemy during the heat of battle with a machine gun is different than stalking a person and watching them through a scope as they die.
"It's very personal, so we need someone who is very mature," Armes said.
Making the grade
Once accepted to the school, 30 percent of the students will drop out.
For one student, three weeks into the course, the academics have been the hardest part of sniper school.
"You have to study a lot or you won't make it through this course," said the student.
Hitting a moving target the size of a watermelon from a distance of 10 football fields involves as much science as skill.
"It takes an analytical mind to do the job," Hamblin said.
Students spend almost half of the time at Marine sniper school in the classroom. There they learn mathematic formulas used on the battlefield to determine how wind, distance, angle and other factors can influence a bullet's path to its target.
Besides his high-power rifle and radio, a sniper's most critical piece of equipment is a calculator, Dow said. Each sniper also carries a data book filled with references on determining distances, measurements, lead formulas and other technical tips to aid the shooter in hitting the target.
Marksmanship, or the lack of it, disqualifies most students.
Another critical element to a sniper's success is patience.
Once deployed , it isn't unusual for a sniper team to sit in one position for up to 72 hours.
"You'll be sitting there watching something for days on end. It's miserable," Hamblin said.
Upon graduation from the scout sniper school, each student will receive the title Hunter of Gunmen and be given the sniper's necklace - a 7.62 bullet on a string. Called a Hog's Tooth, the charm is supposed to protect snipers from the enemy.
<hr>
Top gunners
Sniper school at Camp Pendleton teaches students more than accurate shooting
12:50 AM PDT on Monday, August 30, 2004
By HENRI BRICKEY / The Press-Enterprise
[b]Marine Sniper Course [/img]
The 50-day Scout Sniper Basic Course is offered four times a year at Camp Pendleton. The maximum class size is 24 students.
30 percent of the students will drop out.
Last fiscal year, the course produced 42 certified scout snipers.
http://vvakerry.bizland.com/sniper29h1_300.jpg
Two-man Marine teams participating in the sniper training at Camp Pendleton work on their marksmanship with rifles during the target engagement part of field skills training.
CAMP PENDLETON - After crawling on his belly almost half a mile through the sweltering August sun, the sniper was finally in position to take out the enemy he had been stalking the past two hours.
Before he could squeeze off the shot, an enemy soldier peering through a pair of high-power binoculars spotted him.
If it hadn't been practice, the sniper probably would have been killed.
For the next two months, the student and about two-dozen other Marines will try to perfect their skills at Camp Pendleton's Scout Sniper Basic Course. After graduating in September, many will head to Iraq where they will likely experience more sniper action than any American conflict since Vietnam.
"The commanders in Iraq want more of them," said Maj. Stephen Armes, commanding officer of the Advanced Infantry School at Camp Pendleton, where the snipers are trained.
One reason for the snipers' popularity in Iraq, instructors at the school say, is the urban terrain and guerrilla-style warfare insurgents are waging against the coalition forces in Iraq. With no battle lines drawn, American forces constantly must be on the lookout for enemy activity in any area. Often, it is the sniper's job to find the enemy before the enemy makes his attack.
Frank Bellino / The Press-Enterprise
Two-man Marine teams participating in the sniper training at Camp Pendleton work on their marksmanship with rifles during the target engagement part of field skills training.
Walking through the entrance of the Quonset hut where the 50-day sniper course is taught at Camp Pendleton, students pass the Sniper Hall of Fame - a collection of recent history's most celebrated combat marksmen.
The newest section of the tribute features a captured Iraqi flag, photos of enemy dead, a list of Iraq's most wanted and the names of snipers who have made their mark in Iraq.
"There will be a lot to add to that before this war is over," said Staff Sgt. Brian Dow, chief instructor.
Dow and the other half dozen instructors at Camp Pendleton's sniper school have trained many of the snipers now on the ground in Iraq. There are three other sniper schools in the U.S., one in Hawaii, one in North Carolina and one in Virginia.
Instructor Sgt. Joshua Hamblin was attached to a sniper platoon during the invasion of Iraq in April, 2003.
During a three-day period while guarding a base on the outskirts of Iraq, Hamblin, 28, killed 18 enemy soldiers. Another sniper working alongside Hamblin at the time is credited with 14 kills during the same three-day period.
One graduate who finished the school in December was deployed to Falloujah, Iraq, in February and has more than 30 confirmed kills as of last month, according to Hamblin.
"He's the superstar right now," Hamblin said. "He was getting five kills a day for a while."
Important roles
Killing is only part of a sniper's job, though.
"Everyone thinks snipers are out shooting all the time. That's not always the case," Armes said.
On many missions, Armes said, the sniper will never fire a shot.
A typical mission for a two-man sniper team may be calling in artillery, mapping out areas for future battles or observing enemy troop strength.
"You'll have a 20-year-old kid two years out of high school advising a battalion commander with 25 years of military experience how to deploy 800 Marines on a battlefield," Armes said.
In Iraq, where one platoon of about 25 snipers is assigned to an 800-man Marine infantry battalion, the snipers stick relatively close to their assigned units. They might watch stretches of roadway for insurgents placing roadside bombs, protect convoys from attack during stops and secure airfields where enemy forces might try to shoot down aircraft with shoulder fired rockets.
The snipers are carefully chosen.
"They're hand-picked according to their professionalism, fitness, maturity and marksmanship" Armes said.
The Marines don't want blood-thirsty killers, they want perfectionists, Armes said.
Any prior infractions or disciplinary problems immediately disqualify a prospective candidate. Prospective snipers also must qualify for a secret security clearance.
A sniper must be mentally capable of handling the potentially violent nature of his work, Armes said, explaining that shooting an enemy during the heat of battle with a machine gun is different than stalking a person and watching them through a scope as they die.
"It's very personal, so we need someone who is very mature," Armes said.
Making the grade
Once accepted to the school, 30 percent of the students will drop out.
For one student, three weeks into the course, the academics have been the hardest part of sniper school.
"You have to study a lot or you won't make it through this course," said the student.
Hitting a moving target the size of a watermelon from a distance of 10 football fields involves as much science as skill.
"It takes an analytical mind to do the job," Hamblin said.
Students spend almost half of the time at Marine sniper school in the classroom. There they learn mathematic formulas used on the battlefield to determine how wind, distance, angle and other factors can influence a bullet's path to its target.
Besides his high-power rifle and radio, a sniper's most critical piece of equipment is a calculator, Dow said. Each sniper also carries a data book filled with references on determining distances, measurements, lead formulas and other technical tips to aid the shooter in hitting the target.
Marksmanship, or the lack of it, disqualifies most students.
Another critical element to a sniper's success is patience.
Once deployed , it isn't unusual for a sniper team to sit in one position for up to 72 hours.
"You'll be sitting there watching something for days on end. It's miserable," Hamblin said.
Upon graduation from the scout sniper school, each student will receive the title Hunter of Gunmen and be given the sniper's necklace - a 7.62 bullet on a string. Called a Hog's Tooth, the charm is supposed to protect snipers from the enemy.