Military News
Sniper Training
By Pfc. Coltin Heller
Jun 28, 2008 - 11:49:51 AM

Blackanthem Military News

A Soldier from the 56th Stryker Brigade peers into the scope of his M-104 50. caliber Anti-Materail Rifle at targets down the range at Fort Indiantown Gap.

FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, PA. - Training for Soldiers, no matter the role they play, never ends.  And for some, such as the snipers from the 56th Stryker Brigade, it is just beginning.  Soldiers from different units came together for the Long Range Marksmanship Course, involving firing multiple weapons and some classroom instruction. 
   
"This is the first time a long range course had been geared toward snipers," said First Sergeant Marc Weiss, the NCOIC of the Pennsylvania Marksmanship Training Program.  "We come out here about once a quarter.  This training is designed, so that when the Soldiers are done, they can better perform their tasks."

"We are here to familiarize ourselves with the various weapons systems that we use," said Staff Sgt. Ed Macheack, a sniper from the 1/112th Headquarters Headquarters Company.  "We do this by fire at targets whether they are pop-ups or Iron Maidens, which are silhouettes 20 by 40 inches and make of half inch steel."

Some of the various systems used by the Soldiers were the M-104 Barrett 50.caliber anti-material sniper rifle, and variations of the M-16 and the M-4 which were used to engage targets as well as for spotting.  The Soldiers also acquire such skills as target detection, range estimation, and the ballistics on the weapons they train on.

While the LRMC is a class, only four hours of the entire time spent training is spent in the classroom.  "This is our classroom," said 1st Sgt. Weiss motioning to the range.

The rest of time the Soldiers spend out on the range, with days lasting 18 hours at times.   The Soldiers are tested throughout the course and are expected to rise to the standards of qualification put on them by the course.  If they do not succeed in these challenges they will have to drop the course.  The same applies to the written test at the end of the course.
   
To add to the precedence of the first time course, sniper instructors came from Ft. Benning to lead the Soldiers in their training making them more effective snipers by fine tuning each Soldier's skills.

Even though the sniper unit is new, coming through the modularity transformation of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard; their deployment looms at the end of the year.  And although the Soldiers have a lot to learn in the course Weiss is not worried.

"The students here are professionals.  It's hard to gauge the Soldiers improvement, because they are that good," said Weiss.  "There is a high caliber of confidence when it comes to the students."

ADDITIONAL PHOTO:

An instructoin from the Fort Benning Sniper School tells a Soldier from the 56th Stryker Brigde where the next target will be.

Part of the Long Range Marksmanship Course is familiarization with the weapon, by firing it, and learning about it.