First let me apologize for barking at any of my RO’s or competitors during this match. I was up till midnight fielding calls about the match and out of the rack at 4:00am to prepare and set targets. The RO’s did a great job and I couldn’t do it without them. Again, sorry if I pissed anyone off by being short during this event.
Back to the AAR at hand. Owning a training facility, I have a hard time seeing things that aren’t functional without saying something about it. Being a sniper requires certain skill sets, lacking these can produce unexpected consequences. If you fly a Little Bird, jump out of planes or kick doors for a living, you need skill sets specific to that endeavor. Having spent the majority of my life, 24 years on a SWAT team, I can tell you that those who didn’t have the necessary abilities had a very difficult time, and yes in some instances failed when called upon.
Owning the most expensive piece of gear is great, but has no direct correlation to the ability to win or succeed during a special threat situation. Obviously, mixing the two, great gear, in combination with skills is a winning combination for those who possess them.
I had the luxury of standing back and observing action on the range, some were even comical. I wanted to break down some areas where I saw needs and hopefully correct some issues we saw.
Patience:
I threw this in, not because it was evident at this match but because it is required of all marksmen. Our last team sniper match, we had a four-hour stage and attention spans waned quickly. Target came up and shooters were not ready. Those who require lots of social activity are not the best candidates for sniper work; you need the lone wolf mentality. It takes a lot of mental toughness to lay for hours for the one shot. I have a good friend, Dan Colosanto who uses the word “kicker” to describe sniping. Yes it might be a simplistic description of the job, but in some sense it describes what is expected. You have a guy who stands on the sideline by himself with one skill set, kick the ball. When the game is on the line, they are asked to make the kill shot. Make it and you’re a hero, miss and you are the dog of the day. Snipers have other abilities, but to the untrained they wouldn’t know what they are.
Situational awareness:
Is the shooter aware of all things going on around him? In one of the last DDM classes, after several days in the building, students were required to describe the inside of the bunk house from memory. Simply being able to memorize during a “kims game” is not necessarily a watermark of a sniper. Being a precision marksmen requires you to aware of all aspects of your surroundings, not knowing what yard line you are on after shooting the stage is probably not a good thing.
Multi-task:
Can you do more then one thing at a time or do you have tunnel vision? When you come to the line, are laying out your gear are you listening to what is going on and commands that are being given. Being that a match is a reasonably low stress environment, at least compared to taking a humane life, you should be able to listen and set up your gear. During a real SWAT situation or military operation commanders do not have the time to do individual briefs because you can’t pick up gear and listen at the same time, something we see all the time.
Communication:
Communication takes practice, and poor communication raised its ugly head on the sectorization drill. Shooters had to describe what window a target was to be engaged from, from four picture quality buildings. My moms blue car is hardly a good description unless you are describing the vehicle to your brother. Descriptions need to be specific to what you are describing, brown building, when you have two down range just won’t suffice either. Look at what features separate what you are observing from other buildings and pass information that is specific. I also didn’t see many supporting the precision shooter with his glass on the same stage. Most AR shooters had weapons with 10X scope or some type of magnification. If they had watched and called the corrections for the misses the scores would have been higher and times faster.
Physical conditioning
Good hits and low time win matches. I saw some improved time with guys who showed up 40 pounds lighter. Congratulations, not only on better time during the stage but to your general health as well.
If you missed targets, either stationary of movers, you probably know what you did wrong when it happened. Most of the above are areas are not interesting and some times hard to put time into, but when you do, you will see the fruits of your labor. T.J.
Back to the AAR at hand. Owning a training facility, I have a hard time seeing things that aren’t functional without saying something about it. Being a sniper requires certain skill sets, lacking these can produce unexpected consequences. If you fly a Little Bird, jump out of planes or kick doors for a living, you need skill sets specific to that endeavor. Having spent the majority of my life, 24 years on a SWAT team, I can tell you that those who didn’t have the necessary abilities had a very difficult time, and yes in some instances failed when called upon.
Owning the most expensive piece of gear is great, but has no direct correlation to the ability to win or succeed during a special threat situation. Obviously, mixing the two, great gear, in combination with skills is a winning combination for those who possess them.
I had the luxury of standing back and observing action on the range, some were even comical. I wanted to break down some areas where I saw needs and hopefully correct some issues we saw.
Patience:
I threw this in, not because it was evident at this match but because it is required of all marksmen. Our last team sniper match, we had a four-hour stage and attention spans waned quickly. Target came up and shooters were not ready. Those who require lots of social activity are not the best candidates for sniper work; you need the lone wolf mentality. It takes a lot of mental toughness to lay for hours for the one shot. I have a good friend, Dan Colosanto who uses the word “kicker” to describe sniping. Yes it might be a simplistic description of the job, but in some sense it describes what is expected. You have a guy who stands on the sideline by himself with one skill set, kick the ball. When the game is on the line, they are asked to make the kill shot. Make it and you’re a hero, miss and you are the dog of the day. Snipers have other abilities, but to the untrained they wouldn’t know what they are.
Situational awareness:
Is the shooter aware of all things going on around him? In one of the last DDM classes, after several days in the building, students were required to describe the inside of the bunk house from memory. Simply being able to memorize during a “kims game” is not necessarily a watermark of a sniper. Being a precision marksmen requires you to aware of all aspects of your surroundings, not knowing what yard line you are on after shooting the stage is probably not a good thing.
Multi-task:
Can you do more then one thing at a time or do you have tunnel vision? When you come to the line, are laying out your gear are you listening to what is going on and commands that are being given. Being that a match is a reasonably low stress environment, at least compared to taking a humane life, you should be able to listen and set up your gear. During a real SWAT situation or military operation commanders do not have the time to do individual briefs because you can’t pick up gear and listen at the same time, something we see all the time.
Communication:
Communication takes practice, and poor communication raised its ugly head on the sectorization drill. Shooters had to describe what window a target was to be engaged from, from four picture quality buildings. My moms blue car is hardly a good description unless you are describing the vehicle to your brother. Descriptions need to be specific to what you are describing, brown building, when you have two down range just won’t suffice either. Look at what features separate what you are observing from other buildings and pass information that is specific. I also didn’t see many supporting the precision shooter with his glass on the same stage. Most AR shooters had weapons with 10X scope or some type of magnification. If they had watched and called the corrections for the misses the scores would have been higher and times faster.
Physical conditioning
Good hits and low time win matches. I saw some improved time with guys who showed up 40 pounds lighter. Congratulations, not only on better time during the stage but to your general health as well.
If you missed targets, either stationary of movers, you probably know what you did wrong when it happened. Most of the above are areas are not interesting and some times hard to put time into, but when you do, you will see the fruits of your labor. T.J.
