Sniper Field Training Exercises

By Kevin R. Mussack

    Whether in a military or police context, successful sniper operations require the delivery of people, equipment and skills to the right place at the right time.  This delivery can only occur successfully if all the people involved are adequately trained.

    Often, training in the sniper community focuses on those individual tasks critical to the mission such as sniper marksmanship while neglecting some critical collective tasks.  Once the snipers have achieved the necessary proficiency in their individual tasks, sniper operations training must be conducted.  Field Training Exercises (FTXs) that closely simulate actual sniper missions should occupy at least as much training time as that dedicated to sustaining individual skills.

Sniper operations FTXs benefit an organization in a number of ways:

•     Leaders have the opportunity to exercising their skills and accumulate experience.  Lessons learned can be applied in subsequent FTXs and integrated into the unit's Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) thereby enhancing the operational readiness of the unit.  Focusing on individual training neglects the need to train the leaders.  Additionally, leaders who have experience with sniper FTXs develop an appreciation for the capabilities and limitations of the snipers they command and will be more likely to utilize them properly in combat.
•     FTXs, which closely simulate combat operations by allowing the fewest administrative exceptions, harden the participants to the realities associated with sniper operations.  Over time the participants will become accustomed to the miseries common to life in the field.  Once the participant takes exhaustion, discomfort and stress for granted he would be better able to focus on the mission.
•     During FTXs, equipment is continuously tested and evaluated.  An item of equipment, which seems to make sense in garrison or on the firing range, sometimes loses its utility after a few days in the field.  Individuals familiar with the rigors of the field generally distill their individual kits to the bare essentials with few if any "nice to have" items included.  This distillation process gave rise to the phrase, "Travel light, freeze at night." The equipment configuration and packing list must be documented in the units' SOP and made uniform.
•     When FTXs last several days and nights the participants are afforded the opportunity to practice a logistical routine.  How the team conducts their sleep cycles, water replenishment activities, eating and field hygiene should be practiced to the point of habit.  These practices must be standardized and documented in the unit's SOP so that members of different teams can be rotated with minimum adaptation required.
•     Maintaining communications during FTXs provides ample opportunity to practice with the equipment, encrypt and decrypt messages, construct and use field expedient antennae, use proper radio procedure and to act as part of a radio net.  The transportation of the radio and secure equipment along with spare batteries influences the selection of load bearing equipment and the prioritization of essential items.  The requirement that the sniper team maintain radio contact will present opportunities to solve problems related to radio communications not found in the classroom.
•     While afield the sniper team must perform seamlessly many of the techniques taught separately in the classroom.  Practicing the integration of numerous individual tasks into a larger combined task is the principle benefit of an FTX.

The keys to a productive sniper FTX are:

• Detailed Planning
• Complete Preparation
• Uncompromising Execution
• Detailed After Action Review (AAR)

    As an aid in the planning and conduct of sniper FTXs, the most current versions of the following references may be useful:
 

    Evaluators are a critical element in the success of a sniper FTX.  Due to the nature of sniper operations the activity is hard to observe and measure.  Competent evaluators should be attached to each sniper team for at least part of the entire duration of the exercise so that the team's performance can be observed and evaluated.  During an FTX the evaluator keeps a physical distance from the team except as required for evaluation purposes.  He quietly observes and records the actions of the sniper team throughout the exercise so that the technical and tactical proficiency of the team can be assessed.   The evaluator is not a spy.  His role is to observe and record the team's actions during the exercise.  Additionally, the evaluator acts as a coordinator for administrative and safety issues related to the exercise.  The evaluator may, as his judgement directs, act as a coach or advisor to the sniper team when an opportunity to instruct presents itself.  Those activities corrected on the spot that do not reoccur are not recorded as negative observations by the evaluator during an FTX.  However during periods of testing the evaluator will not coach or advise.

    Each FTX should focus on developing some particular collective task.  In the beginning the exercises should be kept simple and straightforward with a minimum number of distractions.  As the proficiency of the teams improve the complexity of the missions should be increased so to always present a challenge.  Eventually groups of sniper teams should be able to conduct complex sniper missions such as "Wolfpacking" and Mutually Supported Retrogrades.

    Whenever possible integrate live fire into the FTX.  Particularly with snipers, live fire is considered a treat and will help to motivate and reward the troops.  These live fire portions of each exercise should present realistic challenges to the snipers.  Exploit every opportunity to create interesting but plausible live fire adjuncts to the exercise.  Sometimes coordinating with units in nearby training areas can pay off in this respect.  Coordination with an artillery unit firing illumination missions might allow for night sniper firing under that same illumination thereby reducing training costs while adding a new dimension to the sniper FTX.

    FTXs for sniper operations are not fun.  These exercises are mostly hard, unglamorous infantry work with very little "high speed" activity.  Properly planned and executed these exercises will test the men, the equipment, the leaders and the SOP.  Every FTX offers a lesson to be learned.  The amount of training value drawn from any FTX will be proportional to the amount of planning and preparation done beforehand and the enthusiasm with which it is executed.

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