Hunters: U.S. Snipers in the War on Terror Read Online Free
Author: Milo S. Afong
Tags: Ebook, US-Army, afghanistan, Sniper, SEALs, USMC, Iraq, Specops, USN
only for their survival, but also for the success of the supported unit’s mission.
School also teaches individuals to think independently. The problem in this area is that sometimes the proper use of a sniper team is not determined by the sniper teams themselves, which can lead to poor employment. For snipers, the mentality is to stay one step ahead of their enemy in every way. For this to happen, sniper team leaders need the freedom to make decisions that are vital for success. If that freedom is not established among the supported unit or the battalion, then the team is already at a handicap in its capability to be instrumental.
Another quality students learn from sniper school is patience. This is especially needed during the stalking phase. The experience gained from here then spills over into other aspects of sniping.
Stephen Johnson, a Marine sniper, describes his experience:
The aspect that stands out the most from my learned patience from stalking, in sniper school, is the marksmanship aspect at the end of the stalk. Even though we shot blanks, I still remember the difficulty in assuring that everything was correct. I remember the mental checklist—did I camoufl age well, is my blast lane long enough, can I burn through the vegetation to confirm sight of the objective, shadows, defl ection—all running through my head simultaneously.
This aspect of training I found to be absolutely true when confronted with an insurgent placing an IED alongside MSR bronze near Haditha, Iraq. I remember that day vividly.
It was clear and crisp with a steady wind reaching gusts of twenty miles per hour. It was the middle of the afternoon when a white truck stopped at the road intersection and two males got out. This immediately drew my attention as I sighted in behind the scope to get a better view of what they were doing. They couldn’t have stopped at a better spot in relation to where I was set up. It was almost as if they ended up directly in my line of sight.
Unfortunately for them the driver of the truck jumped into the back of the truck bed and picked up something heavy. I could tell by the way his back was slumped over, and he struggled to hand it to the passenger waiting alongside the truck. He received it and ran to the side of the road. This immediately led me to believe that they were planting a roadside bomb.
From my training and experience I knew I had to act. I tracked the suspect through my scope until he stopped along the edge of the road. This would be my one opportunity. All my training began to race through my head as I refused to accept missing a shot. I lined up the crosshairs on his chest silhouette and applied a slow and steady trigger squeeze. He immediately hit the ground as I saw a pink mist spray from his body.
Just as during stalking, my final firing position was undetectable. The patience needed for making this shot transferred from training to real life and was successful.
Marine sniper Jon S. also describes two very similar situations, one during school, the other in Iraq.
During sniper school, my final objective was to make two shots at an unknown distance. My partner and I waited in position over twelve hours to make the shots. We needed every ounce of energy to stay awake because we’d been moving for four days straight, constantly going from one mission to another with resupplies in between. By the final day, we were exhausted. As we waited, the order to shoot was finally given over the net, and if we’d been complacent, we would have failed.
In Iraq, during Operation Phantom Fury in Fallujah 2004, our team had been awake for over twenty hours. Insurgents continued to fl ank the company we were supporting and our team was asked to over-watch for a platoon moving to secure an area. Everyone in our team was exhausted, but when we were in position, my spotter noticed three men with weapons moving towards the Marines in front of us and we eliminated them. After we killed them, I realized
School also teaches individuals to think independently. The problem in this area is that sometimes the proper use of a sniper team is not determined by the sniper teams themselves, which can lead to poor employment. For snipers, the mentality is to stay one step ahead of their enemy in every way. For this to happen, sniper team leaders need the freedom to make decisions that are vital for success. If that freedom is not established among the supported unit or the battalion, then the team is already at a handicap in its capability to be instrumental.
Another quality students learn from sniper school is patience. This is especially needed during the stalking phase. The experience gained from here then spills over into other aspects of sniping.
Stephen Johnson, a Marine sniper, describes his experience:
The aspect that stands out the most from my learned patience from stalking, in sniper school, is the marksmanship aspect at the end of the stalk. Even though we shot blanks, I still remember the difficulty in assuring that everything was correct. I remember the mental checklist—did I camoufl age well, is my blast lane long enough, can I burn through the vegetation to confirm sight of the objective, shadows, defl ection—all running through my head simultaneously.
This aspect of training I found to be absolutely true when confronted with an insurgent placing an IED alongside MSR bronze near Haditha, Iraq. I remember that day vividly.
It was clear and crisp with a steady wind reaching gusts of twenty miles per hour. It was the middle of the afternoon when a white truck stopped at the road intersection and two males got out. This immediately drew my attention as I sighted in behind the scope to get a better view of what they were doing. They couldn’t have stopped at a better spot in relation to where I was set up. It was almost as if they ended up directly in my line of sight.
Unfortunately for them the driver of the truck jumped into the back of the truck bed and picked up something heavy. I could tell by the way his back was slumped over, and he struggled to hand it to the passenger waiting alongside the truck. He received it and ran to the side of the road. This immediately led me to believe that they were planting a roadside bomb.
From my training and experience I knew I had to act. I tracked the suspect through my scope until he stopped along the edge of the road. This would be my one opportunity. All my training began to race through my head as I refused to accept missing a shot. I lined up the crosshairs on his chest silhouette and applied a slow and steady trigger squeeze. He immediately hit the ground as I saw a pink mist spray from his body.
Just as during stalking, my final firing position was undetectable. The patience needed for making this shot transferred from training to real life and was successful.
Marine sniper Jon S. also describes two very similar situations, one during school, the other in Iraq.
During sniper school, my final objective was to make two shots at an unknown distance. My partner and I waited in position over twelve hours to make the shots. We needed every ounce of energy to stay awake because we’d been moving for four days straight, constantly going from one mission to another with resupplies in between. By the final day, we were exhausted. As we waited, the order to shoot was finally given over the net, and if we’d been complacent, we would have failed.
In Iraq, during Operation Phantom Fury in Fallujah 2004, our team had been awake for over twenty hours. Insurgents continued to fl ank the company we were supporting and our team was asked to over-watch for a platoon moving to secure an area. Everyone in our team was exhausted, but when we were in position, my spotter noticed three men with weapons moving towards the Marines in front of us and we eliminated them. After we killed them, I realized
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