SniperFest: The Fundamentals of Sniper Coaching

The function of a sniper is one which’s typically misunderstood by most of the people. In numerous films and video video games, the sniper character is a sneaky lone wolf who makes use of an unique takedown rifle that packs right into a briefcase and comes geared up with a pink laser sight. He mutters some cliché like “one shot, one kill” underneath his breath earlier than taking out all of the villain’s henchmen with good headshots. In actuality, a sniper’s job is much less glamorous and more difficult — they’re affected person professionals who spend hours (or days) quietly watching an goal from afar. More often than not, nothing occurs, and no one realizes they had been ever there. On the uncommon events when a shot should be fired, the sniper’s response is closely depending on studying environmental components, checking knowledge charts, and listening to enter from a skilled spotter. And a single miss or tiny miscalculation in a type of moments might be actually catastrophic.

SniperFest 2022

Above: Tim Milkovich signifies a goal on the horizon to one of many shooter/spotter groups.

With a view to be taught extra in regards to the abilities {of professional} snipers, I attended the ninth Annual SniperFest coaching and competitors occasion in Peoria, Arizona. SniperFest, offered by TacFlow Academy in partnership with the Arizona Tactical Officers Affiliation (ATOA), is open to legislation enforcement and army snipers from across the nation, and included coaching blocks from a wide range of instructors. Rob Pettorsson of Cadex Defence was sort sufficient to lend me a Cadex rifle and a few 6.5 Creedmoor ammo so I may take part in a number of the coaching segments firsthand.

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Above & Under: Snipers have to be comfy making correct photographs from a wide range of positions, starting from low kneeling behind an peculiar folding chair to standing behind a tripod that’s arrange with a rifle saddle.

The primary block was taught by Juan Ospina, an teacher at GPS Protection Sniper Faculty and former USMC Scout Sniper. It targeted on capturing fundamentals, so college students shot a exact 21-dot drill that rapidly revealed traits in our shot placement. Up-and-down impression distribution is often a byproduct of improper respiratory management, so it’s advisable to exhale firmly and shoot as soon as your lungs are empty. If it’s essential wait quite a lot of seconds on this state, breathe once more to stop shaking. Left-and-right distribution often signifies muscular rigidity affecting your pure level of purpose, so you must calm down and make sure you’re absolutely comfy earlier than breaking a shot.

Subsequent, an Overwatch Requirements course led by TacFlow Academy examined accuracy by varied timed drills — standing to kneeling, sitting to standing, establishing a tripod rapidly, transitioning between a number of targets, and so forth. Every scholar shot the drills, then switched to a spotter function whereas their associate did the identical.

Above: Freddy Osuna of Greenside Coaching helped college students enhance their observational abilities by the comfortable sand, rocky terrain, and dense brush of the Arizona desert. Snipers should be adept at noticing small disturbances in an setting.

Our third session coated monitoring abilities and was taught by Freddy Osuna, a former USMC Scout Sniper and the founding father of Greenside Coaching. These abilities apply to hunters following elk in addition to legislation enforcement officers following a fugitive’s path. For snipers, studying to determine environmental cues similar to disturbances in grime or foliage may help decide a foul man’s course of journey and forestall ambushes by counter-snipers. Osuna instructed college students to pause ceaselessly to pay attention for auditory cues similar to warning calls from birds and advisable using low-power 8-10x binoculars or monoculars to rapidly scan sectors earlier than continuing. (Preserve a watch out for extra in-depth articles on Osuna’s monitoring and observational curriculum sooner or later.)

Lastly, we headed up onto a ridgeline overlooking a dry riverbed for a block on positional capturing. It was taught by Tim and Regina Milkovich, specialists in Precision Rifle Collection competitors capturing. College students went by levels that concerned capturing over the sting of an inclined floor (similar to a constructing’s roof), bracing towards rocky terrain, and establishing behind barricades of various top. Efficient shooter-spotter communication was crucial right here, since less-than-ideal positions led to some misses that wanted to be corrected based mostly on the spotter’s suggestions.

SniperFest concluded with a contest that pitted snipers from businesses all through the USA towards one another to attain the very best rating within the lowest time. This occasion gave me a glimpse of the challenges snipers (and their spotters) face and the exhaustive coaching they undergo to beat them. For extra info on the subsequent annual SniperFest occasion, regulate ATOA’s web site, aztac.org. And if you happen to’re occupied with honing your individual sniper/long-range precision abilities, test TacFlow Academy’s web site at tacflow.com.

Written by Patrick McCarthy