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SNIPER.LEB
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1990-10-09
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September 1990
POLICE SNIPER TRAINING
By
John Plaster, Major
Director of Instruction
Minnesota National Guard Counter Sniper School
St. Paul, Minnesota
You have one shot, one scoped sight, one compressed
controlled breath, one squeeze of a honed trigger. In twenty
one-hundredths of a second, you will be either a ``hero'' who
saved an innocent life or an incompetent who caused the death of
a helpless hostage. Fellow officers, department officials and
city administrators await the sound of your rifle. Possibly,
the entire Nation sits riveted to television sets for news of
the outcome. Life or death, success or failure, is only one
sensitive squeeze away.
One of the most pressured situations in law enforcement
occurs when a police sniper is called upon to neutralize a
suspect. In no other police encounter is so critical a
responsibility reduced to the perfect execution of one shot.
There is no room for error. For example, in a recent hostage
incident, a police marksman's fire hit the suspect three times.
The shot was accurate, but not precise; deadly, but not
instantaneously so. The badly wounded suspect survived long
enough to kill a female hostage before dying himself.
The point here is not to criticize one officer's
performance under incredible pressures. Rather, it is to better
understand these pressures and how to address them in police
rifle marksmanship training.
This article summarizes the critical training techniques
that can contribute to perfect performance during an actual
police sniper engagement. These special shooting exercises can
improve the likelihood of perfect one-shot performance, even
under physical and psychological stress.
BACKGROUND
The Minnesota National Guard Counter-Sniper School is a
7-day course for sniper teams, including those of law
enforcement. At the beginning of the course, instructors issue
one live round to students and caution them that during the
final course of fire, they must hit a specially designated
target with this single round or fail the course. Throughout
the training, students are continually reminded that their
success depends on hitting one target with this round.
After 7 days of training, and a 10-shot record fire,
instructors provide students with a fresh round for the one
they've carried for the past week. Then, each student is called
upon to engage one special half-size silhouette. The stress
accompanying this shot is purely psychological and largely
self-induced. No one shouts at the students; no physical stress
accompanies this special one-shot kill.
Yet, based on experience, some 33 to 40 percent of all
student snipers fail what is a relatively simple shot. For those
students who are police officers, the failure record is 1 in 12.
These are the same students who achieved high scores in the
preliminary 10-shot record fire. In fact, at times, the same
marksmen shot perfect record fires, only to miss the one-shot
kill event. In all probability, some special stress factors
affected a sniper's performance when emphasis was placed on that
one shot. But the stress factors that emerge during training are
similar to those a sniper must overcome to achieve perfect
one-shot performance during a real incident.
FACTORS AFFECTING PERFORMANCE
``Know Thyself/Know Thy Rifle''
To achieve near-perfect performance, police snipers must
develop complete confidence in their weapons and their
abilities. To paraphrase an old adage, ``Know Thyself/Know Thy
Rifle.'' Since no two rifles fire precisely the same, officers
should be issued one rifle each exclusively for their own use
and should practice firing it under many different
conditions--summer/winter, day/night, close range/long range,
slow fire/rapid fire, uphill/downhill. Snipers must know
exactly where the round will impact when set for a particular
distance. Although for urban situations the zero at 100 yards
is best, firing at other zero-distances is recommended to become
familiar with the scope or to determine if the scope has a
bullet drop compensator.
Firing only one type of round is also recommended. The
round should be match grade, preferably of the same lot number.
Based on the rifle's performance, snipers should each develop a
``data card'' that notes precisely how the rifle is ``held'' or
``lead'' when engaging targets at various distances under
varying conditions. Consistent use of these techniques develops
a sniper's confidence in the rifle, scope, zero, and ammunition,
so that the sniper knows with certainty where the rounds will
impact.
Patience and Discipline
By developing the qualities of patience and discipline
through a concept referred to as, ``This is the last shot for
the rest of my life,'' snipers become conditioned to regard each
round fired in practice as a single, final event with an exact
beginning, a definite end, and a standard for achievement.
During range fire, they should individually remove each round
from the cartridge box, load it, fire it, ``call'' it, observe
the results through the spotting scope, and then record it.
Recording each shot individually is critical. Police
snipers should each maintain a record book to note the history
of their fire with a particular rifle. Not only does this help
snipers to concentrate on each shot, but it also helps them
identify minor deviations in the ``book'' data versus their
rifle and ammunition. This generates information for the data
card. For example, a sniper may learn that the first shot fired
in practice--the so-called ``cold barrel zero''--could vary by
several inches from subsequent shots. It's only through such
exacting attention to detail that the sniper can develop into a
precision marksman who focuses not on three-shot groups but on
individual shots.
Snipers should pace their practice fire by mentally
planning each shot, then analyzing it afterward. It is also
useful to dry fire between each live-fire shot. Only five
rounds should be fired into a single target to better focus the
shooter's concentration. Also, accomplished marksmen should
fire no more than 15-20 rounds total during a practice session
to prevent them from sliding into undisciplined ``banging
away.'' By habitually applying these proven techniques during
practice fire, snipers develop the patience, concentration, and
discipline critical for precision shooting.
Pressure to Perform
Pressure to perform is purely psychological and
self-induced. It is the result of allowing concentration to
waver once the person realizes others expect exceptional
performance. It reflects a drop in self-confidence, a subtle
doubt that success is attainable.
To perform successfully, police snipers must not allow
themselves to feel rushed merely because someone gives them the
``green light.'' All doubts must be channeled mentally into
oblivion. Contrary to belief, public competition does not
alleviate these doubts. The pressure to perform when all
attention is focused on the sniper alone, by those who expect
perfect results, is totally different from the pressure
experienced during competition. During the real incident, a
sniper is competing with no one.
Again, learning to overcome external distractions by
concentration is the matter at hand. During some shooting
exercises, snipers should fire individually while being observed
by teammates, as well as when they are exper