ow U.S. Military Trains Snipers

Every branch of military has snipers. One in particular, however, has risen above the rest--United States Marine Corps Scout Sniper School. The Marine Corps Sniper School has become known as the finest sniper school the United States has to offer, and accepts members from all branches of the military. Each branch will select a few soldiers for the school, known as "sniper candidates." These candidates often represent the best of the best, as sniper school is a rigorous program that tests soldiers both mentally and physically.

Candidates are chosen not only for their marksmanship skills, but also for their power as an individual and decision making ability. Simply hanging out at the gun range Las Vegas does not make you a sniper. A sniper has a lot of responsibility; he must be called upon to engage in stealth missions and is relied upon to take out high ranking enemies or disrupt communications. He must also be able to take a life when necessary and act independently. A sniper must be able to make decisions, rather than radio in questions at all times.

The Marine Scout Sniper program is two months of rigorous training. Candidates hone their marksmanship and physical abilities every day, and must be taught all the technical aspects of making a shot. They play a lot of games that are designed to hone these skills. The three aspects of training a sniper undertakes include: marksmanship, observation, and stalking.

The marksmanship training involves learning the effects of physics on a bullet. Snipers must gauge distances, curvature of the bullet through the air, wind, and even the earth's rotation in order to make their shot hit their intended target. Gravity and wind have the most effect on a bullet, and must be taken into careful consideration. If you were to drop a bullet from the muzzle of a gun at the same time it was fired, both bullets would hit the ground at the same time. The difference between the two is obviously the speed in which they are travelling, so the bullet will arc through the air. To compensate for this at long distances, snipers learn to shoot above their target so that the bullet's fall will line up with the target. Knowing the distance of a shot is incredibly important for this step, as even the slightest miscalculation could lead to a shot being well above or below where it needs to be.

Wind can be calculated based on a variety of things, such as the blowing of leaves or with handheld anemometers. The longer a bullet is in the air, the more it will be affected by wind. Things such as humidity and temperature also affect a bullet's trajectory. Cold air makes it harder for the bullet to travel at maximum speed, while hot air provides minimal resistance. A sniper's target may also be moving or at an odd angle, and the appropriate adjustments must be made. The sniper learns all of these things both in the classroom and at the firing range.

A sniper's job also entails observation. His skill set often places him in front of friendly lines doing reconnaissance, so he must be able to observe and identify objects with the utmost accuracy. To do this, a sniper will often play a game called the "KIMS game."

Different objects will be placed on a table, including things such as paper clips, a pen, or a piece of paper with writing. The snipers are given a minute to look at everything, then must describe everything they saw on the table. They are not allowed to call the things out by name, and must describe an object such as a paper clip as "silver, metal wire, bent in two oval shapes."

As time goes on, the snipers are given more objects and less time to memorize them. Near the end of the course, the snipers will look at the table in the morning, do their day's training, then be called upon to recall the items in the evening. Afterwards, they must locate objects through their scope that are placed within a field or a forest.

The final aspect of a sniper's training is stealth. They must be able to move without being detected in order to make their observations and to get into position for a shot. This could entail hours of agonizingly slow crawling or waiting for days in the same position while observing the enemy.

Perhaps the most difficult game the sniper must take part in is called the "stalk." The stalk takes place in an open, grassy field, and begins 1,000 meters away from observers with binoculars. Two of the training crew are called "walkers" and will walk through the field trying to find the snipers as they approach the observers. The snipers must come within 150 meters from the observers and fire a blank shot. After the shot is taken, the sniper must hold and make sure that his position wasn't detected by the muzzle flash of his gun. If he is cleared, he must move to a secondary position and fire a second shot. Again, he must go undetected by the observers. If the sniper is detected at any time during the stalk, he fails the game. Too many fails and he is kicked out of the sniper training program.

After completing their training, the candidates become bonafide snipers. They are now able to stalk into dangerous situations without being detected, make completely accurate observations, and if necessary, eliminate enemy officers, communications equipment, or vehicles.