thedrifter
03-14-08, 01:29 PM
MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va.-- The snipers of 2nd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, spent March 13 engaged in live-fire exercises at Range 305 March 14, as the battalion enters its final days of annual training.
“The purpose of this range is to zero the recently-issued Mark-12 and M-40A3 rifles, as well as allow the snipers to hone their skills at engaging targets at unknown distances,” said Gunnery Sgt. James C. Bartolucci, the Scout-Sniper Platoon commander.
Working in traditional shooter-spotter teams, the snipers zeroed their rifles and telescopic sites to calibrate them by firing at 100-meter targets. They practiced shooting out to a distance of 450 meters.
As one sniper fired, his spotter observed the bullet’s impact using an M-49 spotting telescope, a process referred to as “calling shots.”
“The sniper capability will enable the battalion to project an offensive asset beyond what security forces generally possess,” said Bartolucci. “The snipers will also enhance the intelligence-gathering ability in the battalion’s [area of operations].”
The upcoming deployment will be Bartolucci’s fourth with the battalion and his second tour in Iraq. In his civilian life, he is a police officer with the Brick Township, N.J., Police Department.
The capabilities of a sniper team and the right weapons are almost endless.
“You take a good sniper and that A3, and there’s nothing you can’t hit within 1,000 yards,” says Gunnery Sgt. Rodger E. Hoke, the range safety officer for the day.
Hoke, a 19-year veteran of the battalion’s Company E, is preparing for his fifth deployment as a Reserve Marine and second tour in Iraq. A Mechanicsburg, Pa., native, Hoke works as a mason for a commercial construction company. He is also a part-time farmer.
Next to the snipers on Range 305, the Weapons Company platoons, along with augments from Company D, 4th Marine Logistics Group, conducted a modified Marine Corps Combat Marksmanship Program live-fire exercise.
The range itself is steeped in rich Marine Corps tradition. A monument on the far end, just behind the firing line, was erected in honor of Col. William “Ironman” Lee, who enlisted in the Corps in 1918 and retired in 1950.
“They have the training and real life experience to succeed in combat,” said Maj. Danan J. Campbell, the Weapons Company executive officer, who has opted to fly from his home in Sacramento, Calif., for reserve drills one weekend a month with his Marines in Garden City, N.Y., since October 2007. “It’s the Marine behind the rifle that gets the job done.”
The battalion will mobilize onto active duty this summer and receive intensive training at the Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif., before leaving in September for a 7-month tour in Iraq.
“The purpose of this range is to zero the recently-issued Mark-12 and M-40A3 rifles, as well as allow the snipers to hone their skills at engaging targets at unknown distances,” said Gunnery Sgt. James C. Bartolucci, the Scout-Sniper Platoon commander.
Working in traditional shooter-spotter teams, the snipers zeroed their rifles and telescopic sites to calibrate them by firing at 100-meter targets. They practiced shooting out to a distance of 450 meters.
As one sniper fired, his spotter observed the bullet’s impact using an M-49 spotting telescope, a process referred to as “calling shots.”
“The sniper capability will enable the battalion to project an offensive asset beyond what security forces generally possess,” said Bartolucci. “The snipers will also enhance the intelligence-gathering ability in the battalion’s [area of operations].”
The upcoming deployment will be Bartolucci’s fourth with the battalion and his second tour in Iraq. In his civilian life, he is a police officer with the Brick Township, N.J., Police Department.
The capabilities of a sniper team and the right weapons are almost endless.
“You take a good sniper and that A3, and there’s nothing you can’t hit within 1,000 yards,” says Gunnery Sgt. Rodger E. Hoke, the range safety officer for the day.
Hoke, a 19-year veteran of the battalion’s Company E, is preparing for his fifth deployment as a Reserve Marine and second tour in Iraq. A Mechanicsburg, Pa., native, Hoke works as a mason for a commercial construction company. He is also a part-time farmer.
Next to the snipers on Range 305, the Weapons Company platoons, along with augments from Company D, 4th Marine Logistics Group, conducted a modified Marine Corps Combat Marksmanship Program live-fire exercise.
The range itself is steeped in rich Marine Corps tradition. A monument on the far end, just behind the firing line, was erected in honor of Col. William “Ironman” Lee, who enlisted in the Corps in 1918 and retired in 1950.
“They have the training and real life experience to succeed in combat,” said Maj. Danan J. Campbell, the Weapons Company executive officer, who has opted to fly from his home in Sacramento, Calif., for reserve drills one weekend a month with his Marines in Garden City, N.Y., since October 2007. “It’s the Marine behind the rifle that gets the job done.”
The battalion will mobilize onto active duty this summer and receive intensive training at the Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif., before leaving in September for a 7-month tour in Iraq.