Re: Looking for LEO Precision Rifle/ Sniper Training
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Graham</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: captrichardson</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I have found that with a lot of the "Sniper" training materials and programs out there the main focus is based on long range, and it is really a lot of carryover from the Military programs. IMHO, there are a number of components within LE Sniping that are unique and likewise require a very specific training regiment to address them.</div></div>Precision LE marksmanship training should be long range training. The fundamentals necessary to execute a bain-stem shot at short range are the same.
The key 'compenents' of a <span style="font-style: italic">regimen</span>, like sniper-spotter dialogue,
commentary, incident logging, decision matrices and fielcraft, are almost never taught in a basic course. And there's a reason for that: Basic courses are geared toward LE departments that want to put a 'new guy' behind a rifle and show that he is 'trained' to whatever state standard exists, if it exists. Many LE courses even state at the beginning that the goal is to throw the basics at you for three to five days and see what sticks.
Even then, in my opinion you can't train a sniper, even a LE sniper, to any meaningful standard of competence in three to five days. The result: I have seen many graduates of 'advanced' LE courses who have no idea how to set up their own rifle, or mount a scope, or optically check a rifle scope, or measure a door frame with a mil-dot reticle, or diagnose a shooting problem on paper, never mind also nav, ruck and stalk.
Beware of tourist traps: The courses that deem themselves as 'geared to LE', ones that that limit the student population to police and limit the course material to a knowledge of the fundamentals sufficient to hit a 3x5 at 200 yards with a precision bolt gun, don't teach much capability. This, too, has a result in the real world: At the last LE-only 'sniper' match for 'tactical' teams that I observed, nine of ten stages could have been cleaned with a a .223 AR and an ACOG.
Bottom line, and this is also my opinion: For an LE marksman, being under-utilized and called to real-word scenarios that are far below your personal cabilities is not a bad thing. The other side of that coin is that sending people to attend a basic course, to then represent to the public that we have the ability or the capability to accomplish a task, will not make it a reality. What <span style="text-decoration: underline">is</span> a bad thing is, as a department, to pretend that you have the capability to do something and then attempt it in the real world. That is what gets (the wrong) people killed and generates the lawsuits against departments that we see too often in the news.
OP, that said, as you look for an LE course ask questions about the instructors and about what is taught, and avoid the courses that teach head games, running and pushups, which can be learned without the course fee and travel. </div></div>
Thanks for info Graham! I have spoke to Kraig, through PM and sounds like a great guy with alot of experience!