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POLICE SNIPER TRAINING
By John Plaster, Major Director of Instruction Minnesota National Guard Counter Sniper School St. Paul, Minnesota
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.
FACTORS AFFECTING PERFORMANCE
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 there 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.
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 experiencing noise and light distractions. Even the conspicuous presence of nonsniper observers increases pressure during firing exercises.
PRACTICAL SHOOTING EXERCISES
Taking into account the various stresses under which police snipers must operate, exercises have been developed to help them acquire the qualities needed to perform--concentration, patience, discipline, and confidence. First, practice sessions should be clearly divided into two phases--practice fire and exercises. During practice fire, officers fire at bulls eye targets individually and at their own pace, using a prone-support position with bipod or sandbags. They record each shot and confirm their zero, thus preparing themselves for the exercises that follow.
In the second phase, snipers engage specially modified silhouette targets. Learning to focus on vital areas makes the exercises more demanding. Therefore, affixed to each silhouette is a balloon, either on the head or center chest. The size of the balloon is proportional to distance--3 inches at 100 yards, 5 inches at 200 yards, 10 inches at 300 yards. By using balloons, a less-than-precise shot that otherwise would be credited as "excellent'' now becomes a complete miss. And psychologically, the instant feedback of watching a "bad guy'' wave back causes snipers to resolve to hone their skills. Likewise, confidence soars after repeated successes. The purpose of these exercises is not marksmanship practice, which the sniper has already completed, but the application of it.
Taking into account the various stresses under which police snipers must operate, exercises have been developed to help them acquire the qualities needed to perform--concentration, patience, discipline, and confidence. First, practice sessions should be clearly divided into two phases--practice fire and exercises. During practice fire, officers fire at bulls eye targets individually and at their own pace, using a prone-support position with bipod or sandbags. They record each shot and confirm their zero, thus preparing themselves for the exercises that follow.
In the second phase, snipers engage specially modified silhouette targets. Learning to focus on vital areas makes the exercises more demanding. Therefore, affixed to each silhouette is a balloon, either on the head or center chest. The size of the balloon is proportional to distance--3 inches at 100 yards, 5 inches at 200 yards, 10 inches at 300 yards. By using balloons, a less-than-precise shot that otherwise would be credited as "excellent'' now becomes a complete miss. And psychologically, the instant feedback of watching a "bad guy'' wave back causes snipers to resolve to hone their skills. Likewise, confidence soars after repeated successes. The purpose of these exercises is not marksmanship practice, which the sniper has already completed, but the application of it.
To underscore further the emphasis of one-shot kills, snipers receive only one round for each engagement. If they miss a balloon, they cannot engage it again. This helps them to recognize, mentally, the finality of each shot fired. Also, to instill a "pressure to perform,'' snipers complete several exercises individually while others watch or with external light and sound distractions. For variety, snipers fire the exercises in daylight and at night under artificial illumination. Interestingly, most students who fired well during the bulls eye practice have exaggerated expectations when they first fire these exercises. And typically, they initially miss. However, after several drills, they quickly acquire the necessary skills for successful engagements.
NEUTRALIZING SHOTS
This exercise demands true precision, for it challenges the shooter to place accurately a round in a suspect's neural motor strips or brain stem, the tiny impact points for head shots that neutralize a human almost instantly. This is a "no option left'' engagement, because the suspect is pressing a weapon against a hostage and anything but a neutralizing shot could still allow the trigger to be pulled.
Since the intended impact points are less than 2 inches wide, this exercise should not be practiced or attempted from more than 200 yards, although 100 yards is preferable. The targets should be life-size human head photographs, side views for engaging the neural motor strips (above each ear), or a back view for engaging the brain stem. These areas should be highlighted, both to help the sniper focus on the correct impact point and to evaluate the results clearly.
This exercise can be made more demanding by imposing a time limit, or by adding visual and noise distractions and the presence of onlookers. The most demanding level would be to combine it with the fleeting target exercise.
THE FOLLOW-UP SHOT
This exercise is actually a contradiction to the philosophy of one-shot kills. In this drill, snipers must revolt their weapon instantly and prepare to re-engage the same target. Why? Even the most perfectly fired shot can be disrupted by a sudden gust of wind, can be slightly deflected by an invisible wire, or can result in only a wounding hit.
For this exercise, two or more balloons are placed on a single silhouette. The sniper is issued the same number of rounds, all of which are loaded into the rifle. To add pressure, this is a timed event that begins when the first shot is fired and ends with the last shot fired. Regardless of time lapsed, the shooter earns a "no go'' if no balloon is hit.
CONCLUSION
Accuracy is not the sole determinant of a police sniper's performance. Qualities such as concentration, discipline, confidence, and patience must be honed to fire successfully under pressure. These procedures and shooting exercises can contribute to a shooter being psychologically and physically prepared to neutralize a suspect--one of the most pressured situations in law enforcement.
Accuracy is not the sole determinant of a police sniper's performance. Qualities such as concentration, discipline, confidence, and patience must be honed to fire successfully under pressure. These procedures and shooting exercises can contribute to a shooter being psychologically and physically prepared to neutralize a suspect--one of the most pressured situations in law enforcement.
Inquires of association benefits, applications, and additional information can be obtained by e-mailing the American Sniper Association at AmericanSniper1@aol.com, or by visiting our web site at www.americansniper.org.
posted by Security and Safety Supply @ 8:58 AM
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