Re: anyone know of these people?
<span style="font-weight: bold">The following is my AAR written after attending the McMillan Sniper School. Please note, the McMillan Sniper School is now under different management, when I attended it was operated by GPS.</span>
Myself and another SWAT officer were given a scholarship to attend the McMillan Sniper School. The scholarship was given by Kelly McMillan and it covered ALL expenses and tuition for Basic Sniper, Counter Sniper, Sniper Instructor and Advanced Sniper.
First off I am greatful for Kelly McMillan's generousity because this was not a cheap venture for him. Second, I am equally greatful that the McMillan family has nothing to do with the McMillan Sniper school, they are two different entities. I am greatful that they are seperate because I value McMillan products but feel that the McMillan Sniper school is mediocre at best. So here is the low down....
The Basic Sniper Course-
"Experience the best tactical precision rifle techniques taught anywhere! Learn to apply precision shooting skills under any all conditions, placing emphasis on how to fight with a sniper rifle instead of simply shooting bulls eyes. For experienced shooters this enhances, reinforces and tests on demand shooting & mental skills. No prerequisite. 3 days/32 hrs." This is the course description from the McMillan Sniper School web site.
Here are the items to be covered per the web site...
" - Rifle Sight-in & Data Book Use
- Understanding Basic Ballistics
- Advanced Marksmanship Drills
- Slings & Position Shooting
- Low-light Shooting (every night)
- Unconventional Positions
- Moving Targets (day & night)"
Counter Sniper Course-
"Put your skills to the test! For two days after each course we conduct field training exercise, multiple scenarios & problems presented to solve using skills learned & practiced in the course. Pre-requisite: Sniper course. 2 days/20 hrs." This is the course description from the McMillan Sniper School web site.
Here are the items to be covered per the web site...
- Intro to Hostage Rescue Skills
- Scouting, Range Est. & Sketches
- Urban counter-sniper exercises
- Live-fire: Extreme angle from 220'
- Live-fire: Urban hides exercises
- Live-fire: Glass shooting
- Live-fire: Night Vision shooting
Day 1/2/3/4/5 (Basic Sniper and Counter Sniper)- We have a classroom portion and begin to discuss the basics. It is stressed that we will not be given a lunch and to eat/hydrate as we go. The class room portion is short and everyone is given an 18 page handout. Next, instructor Rick Furr walks us through a very detailed inspection and proper set up of a scoped rifle. This is by far the best part of the entire course. Mr.Furr is a wealth of knowledge and does an outstanding job. Next we head down to the range and zero weapons. After weapons are zeroed we begin to cover some basic drills and aquire dope for 75,50 and 25 yards. Next we get dope for 200 yards and begin ranging targets and aquire dope for 275, 300, 350, 400, 440, 500, 555 and 920. We fire 15 rounds at extreme angles at true distances of 115 and 200 yards. The class builds one urban hide together and then break up into groups to build another. Various other drills are done at 100 yards with slings and shooting on your side. We shoot movers at 100 yards (approximately 60 rounds total). Another highlight was we were given a tour of the McMillan Bros and McMillan Stock factory which was really great. Ken and I were actually fortunate enough to get a persona tour two days prior to the school tour. Ken's trigger was giving him problems and Kelly McMillan himself gave us a detailed tour.
So the first five days touched upon several items but never really explained them in detail. Minute of Angle was never really explained. There were students that still had very little understanding of MOA by day 5. Shooting positions and Data Book were not covered in enough detail. We did not shoot enough movers and did not shoot nearly enough high angle. 15 rounds of high angle, 10 rounds at 155 yards and 5 rounds at 200 yards was an unjust act considering the venue had so much to offer. The urban hide portion was valuable but way to short. Vehicle hides were brought up but we never were able to do them or discuss them. Position shooting was basic at best. The closest we came to night shooting was taking a shot or two close to dusk. This pisses me off because it was advertised that there would be night shooting EVERY night including on movers and it never happened. Night Vison shooting and glass shooting was also advertised but never happened.
The next two days covered Sniper Instructor which is described on the web site as this...
"For the experienced Police sniper, we introduce the teaching skills necessary to prepare new shooters for sniper duties. The majority of each day is taught by the students to give hands-on experience and confidence to teach these skills on their own. This is a seven-day course, the first five being Sniper & Counter-sniper, as you are required to teach for two days what was covered in those portions. 7 days/70 hrs."
" - Instructor Responsibility & Liability
- Coaching Techniques
- Writing POST approved Curriculum
- Teaching Basic Ballistics & Weather
- Developing Drills & Exercises
- Writing Qualifications
- Teaching Hostage Rescue"
Basic teaching techniques were covered briefly and then the students took turns teaching topics that were covered in the first five days. Things that were not covered...
- Coaching Techniques
- Writing POST approved Curriculum
- Teaching Basic Ballistics & Weather
- Developing Drills & Exercises
- Writing Qualifications
- Teaching Hostage Rescue
Instructor responsibility and Liability were touched on but not covered in any detail. My biggest problem with this course was that anyone able to take the first 5 days of instruction were then qualified to take Sniper Instructor. I don't understand how you can take Sniper and Counter Sniper but not advanced sniper then be qualified to teach????
Advanced Sniper... the final two days....
"The most physically demanding course we offer. This course actually starts every night after the first five days of the Sniper & Counter-Sniper course, preparing the student and their equipment for the final two days of live fire stalking exercises. Pre-requisite: Sniper & C-S courses. 2 days/20 hrs."
" - Camouflage principals
- Ghillie suit construction
- Stalking techniques
- Route planning
- Basic desert survival
- Live-fire stalking exercises"
Items not covered...
- Stalking techniques
- Route planning
- Basic desert survival
Camouflage principals and Ghillie were touched on only by the Marines in our class during the Instructor portion of the school. The advanced sniper course was a series of live fire stalking excercises which is good training but if this was your first sniper school you would be lost and only learning by trial and error.
Over all my biggest beef was safety. I have been witness to one too many injuries on the range and when I'm in a class with several people with little to no range time I want safety to be a major concern of the school I'm attending. During the course we had atleast two Negligent Discharges and a possible third. The saftey brief was too vague. They had a plan with maps to the nearest medical facility and a med kit but as a student you had to take the time to look at the med plan and inquire about the med kit.
Many of us take training seriously because we understand the importance of it. I feel the McMillan Sniper School only gives shooters/operators a small taste of what sniping is all about and they leave too many topics uncovered or barely covered. Bill Graves and the McMillan Sniper School must make serious changes before I would ever recommend the school to anyone. They have a great venue they just need to focus on the period of instruction and organization of training.
I know this write up sounds pretty negative and it is not intended to be a slap in the face to the school or its instructors. Bill Graves is a very motivated person who cares about teaching, that is obvious. It is the syllabus and organization of training that hinders the learning experience.
