2RHPZ
06-06-2004, 06:12 AM
True Bravery
By SGT Thomas Blahnik,
B CO, 1-15 IN, 3D BDE, 3D ID (M), U.S. Army - SEO
It is a common myth throughout the world that "snipers are cowards." I have
heard that phrase uttered hundreds of times, yet I continue to shake my head at
these misinformed people. Far from cowardly, snipers are very brave individuals.
Nevertheless, this misconception about snipers persists and hurts our
profession. I will, therefore, seek to dispel this myth of snipers being cowards
with facts, experience, and my own opinion by covering what a sniper is and what
a sniper does to establish that snipers act out of bravery, not cowardice.
Before we consider the sniper's courage, we must address some misused terms,
including "sniper," and "assassination." What is the origin of the term "sniper"
and what does it mean? The term was first used during the 1800's in British
India. The British hunters often hunted a long-billed wading bird of the genus
Capella commonly known as a snipe. This bird's quickness and small size made it
a hard target to shoot. As a result, the best of these snipe hunters became
known as snipers. Later, the German Army appropriated the term for military use.
A review of dictionaries and official government documents provides some
understanding of the modern definition of the term "sniper." "Sniper," as
defined in Webster's University Dictionary, is "a skilled military rifleman
detailed to spot and pick off enemy troops from a concealed place." In 1992,
COL. W. Hays Parks (U.S.M.C), Special Assistant for Law of War Matters,
published his "Memorandum of Law on the Legality of Snipers." (Department of the
Army Pamphlet 27-50-241.) Parks summarized the various definitions and
descriptions of the term "sniper". Parks concluded, "[a] sniper is a lawful
weapon system. Sniper use by the armed services of the United States is entirely
consistent with the law of war obligations of the United States." His work makes
clear that snipers engage lawful military targets, just as do regular soldiers,
but do so at greater ranges.
What then, of the terms "assassination" and "assassin." In 1989, Parks addressed
these terms in his "Memorandum of Law: Executive Order 12333 and Assassination."
(Department of the Army Pamphlet 27-50-204.) Parks opined that "assassination,"
in peace time, "would seem to encompass the murder of a private individual or
public figure for political purposes, and in some cases also require that the
act constitute a covert activity, particularly when the individual is a private
citizen." Colonel Parks then went on to define the legal use of military snipers
in a wartime mission against "civilians who work within a military objective,
the substitution of a civilian in a position or billet that would normally would
be occupied by a member of the military" counterinsurgency or Guerrillas, and
any other person connected with the military or it purpose." Parks distinguished
the lawful targeting of military officials and civilians for military objectives
from assassination as a purely political tool. Further, the Random House
Dictionary, 2nd Edition 1987, defines assassination as "to kill suddenly or
secretly, especially a politically prominent person."
A comparison of sniping and assassination shows that while they may have some
overlap or interchangeability from a layman's perspective, they are legally
distinguishable and are not completely synonymous. Moreover, the comparison of
these definitions does not address the ultimate goal of this paper, the question
of a sniper's courage. It is necessary then to take a closer look into the
primary mission of a military sniper and his training.
The Army sniper's primary mission is to deliver long-range, precision fire on
key targets and targets of opportunity. His secondary mission is to collect
battlefield information and report it to the command and control structures.
These are very specific missions with very real dangers. To be able to carry out
these missions, a sniper performs most of his work behind enemy lines. At best,
a sniper may have with him a lightly-armed security contingent -- but more
likely, the only person accompanying a sniper is his "spotter." Without
minimizing the importance of the spotter, his main function is to observe a
target area and provide data to the shooter. This job is not nearly as easy as
it may seem. The spotter must also be fully qualified and trained as a sniper to
carry out the mission.
The two team members usually will train as a team during normal peacetime
operations, which is critical to the cohesiveness of this unit in carrying out a
mission. The U.S. Army Sniper School is five weeks long in duration, nearly 400
hours of intensely-packed training. The classes are usually small and have a
high failure rate. Before a student can even be considered for attendance to
sniper school, he must meet stringent qualifications and pass a mental
examination. Once enrolled in the school, the "express train" (called training)
starts moving at top speed. The first week consists of physical training every
morning followed by a long day of classroom instruction. These first few weeks'
worth of nights are spent pouring sweat and hard work into the construction of a
ghillie suit. The ghillie suit is a special hand-made form of camouflage. It was
originally designed during the 1800's by Scottish game wardens to help aid them
in catching poachers. The sniper students spend an average of 30-50 hours of
labor and love in this construction process. The allotted time for construction
does not begin until around 1800 hours, at the end of class.
The classes themselves cover a wide range of topics. Some of the most important
to the actual shooting process are range estimation, wind classification, and
ballistics. Ballistics, the external and internal functioning of the rifle and
bullet, is the first important lesson. A sniper must know the why and how of
ballistics intimately. Without this basic stepping stone, the concepts that are
taught later will be lost. The next big lesson is range estimation. The sniper's
rifle is set up to achieve MOA (minute of angle) accuracy. In more common terms,
this means that the bullet should impact within a one-inch circle for every one
hundred meters. This works out to 2" at 200 meters, 5" at 500 meters, and 10" at
1000 meters. The military sniper's rifle is equipped with a special mil dot
reticle to help him determine range to a target. The mil dot reticle is a laser-etched pattern made up of eight horizontal and eight vertical dots placed on a normal-looking crosshair reticle. The sniper learns a formula that is applied to the
information gathered with the special scope. The algebraic formula is "size of
target height (or width) in inches x 25.4 then divided by the size of the target
in mils as determined with the mil dot scope." This means that the sniper must
very closely know the size of his target and accurately determine its relational
size using the rifle's specialized scope. Once the sniper determines the
target's range, he can adjust the scope for elevation. When shooting at a 700
meter target, the rifle already shoots (+/-) seven-inch groups. A normal human
head only represents a 10-inch target. This only leaves 3" for error. Improper
range estimation, being as little as 20 meters off, can result in a missed
opportunity and a failed mission. As important as range estimation is, it is not
the greatest cause of missed targets -- wind is.
The sniper must learn to take into effect both the wind's speed and its exact
direction. At the longer ranges, there can actually be several different winds.
There may be one wind from left to right at 8 mph and then farther out a second
or third wind in a different direction and speed. All these winds must be
calculated. The sniper must learn to properly gauge the wind speed using natural
indicators like grass, smoke drift, and trees. Of the many types of wind
indicators the most accurate is reading mirage. Reading mirage is the act of
watching and interpreting the heat waves moving above the ground. The sniper
plugs this information into another algebraic formula along with distance and
time of bullet flight then divides that answer by a "constant" number, which is
dependent upon the target's distance. With this new data, the sniper can dial in
his scope to cancel out the effect of the wind. In the working sniper team, the
two members work together to gather and utilize all necessary data. At school
however, the sniper learns these lessons on his own. After the first long week
of classroom training, it's finally time to start getting lessons in a field
environment and learning the mechanics of proper shooting.
With the first week of classes out of the way and the students having completed
their ghillie suit construction, it's time to hit the wood line. The second,
third, and fourth weeks are comprised of practical exercises and tests covering
everything taught during week one. Almost every day brings a new stalk site.
Stalking is the term used when a sniper maneuvers into his Final Firing Position
(FFP). The sniper moves on his stomach by pulling with his fingers and pushing
with his toes while lying flat on the ground. The sniper's equipment is dragged
behind him in a bag that he constructs at the same time he builds his ghillie
suit. The sniper measures his progress in inches, not feet. In the school
environment, when a sniper is detected he receives zero points for that test,
which could very easily result in his failure of the course. On a real life
mission behind enemy lines, when a sniper is detected, it will certainly result
in his torture and death. (Given the widespread misunderstanding of snipers and
the general dislike of the profession by opponents on the battlefield, a sniper
knows that his rights as a prisoner-of-war will not be respected.)
After the fourth week, with all field-oriented tests completed, the remaining
students participate in a four day Field Training Exercise (FTX). This is run
just as a real-life mission might be conducted. The snipers form two-man teams.
They receive an operation order, which explains their first mission. The sniper
team must then plan their routes of movement and places for FFPs. As they reach
each objective and accomplish that mission, they receive another follow-on
mission via their radio. For the entire four days, the sniper team is on the
move. During the FTX, everything the sniper team learned during the course is
put to the test. Most students that make it this far have what it takes to pass
the sniper school's version of a final exam.
Graduation is not the end of the training process for the sniper. The sniper
must constantly practice and update his skills. Now that some of the training a
sniper goes through is understood, we can begin to address his true courage and
dispel the myth that "snipers are cowards."
Any consideration of the level of courage necessary for a sniper begins and ends
with Gunnery Sergeant Carlos N. Hathcock, II (U.S.M.C.). Written by Charles
Henderson, the book Marine Sniper: 93 Confirmed Kills covers the exploits and
life of Hathcock and allows the reader to relive the dangers and victories of
this famous Marine. Pertinent to this paper is Henderson's discussion about the
special kind of courage that it takes to be a sniper.
"It takes a special kind of courage to be alone; to be alone with your thoughts,
to be alone with your fears, to be alone with your doubts. This courage is not
the superficial brand stimulated by the flow of adrenaline. Neither is it the
courage that comes from the fear that others may think one a coward.
It is the courage born of honor.
Honor on the Battlefield is a sniper's ethic. He shows it by the standards and
discipline with which he lives life in combat. By the decency he shows his
comrades and by the rules he adheres to when meeting the enemy.
The sniper does not hate the enemy; he respects him or her as a quarry.
Psychologically, the only motive that will sustain the sniper is the knowledge
that he is the best person to do it. On the battlefield hate will destroy any
man - and a sniper quicker than most.
The sniper is the big-game hunter of the battlefield, and he needs all the
skills of the woodsman, marksman, and poacher. He must posses the field craft to
be able to position himself for a killing shot, and he must be able to
effectively place a single bullet into his intended target." (Henderson, 1986)
This description eloquently explains the skill and courage necessary needed to
be a true sniper. Indeed, Hathcock -- time and again -- acted with great honor
and true bravery in dispatching the enemy, as recounted in Henderson's book.
The clearest picture of the courage necessary to be a sniper is found in
Hathcock's stalk of a North Vietnamese Army General. The stalk covered 2000
meters of flat ground with nothing more for cover and concealment than grass
that was only two feet high. Carlos Hathcock crawled "inches per minute and
yards per hour" for two days and three nights to cover a distance that could be
walked, by a man at normal speed, in ten minutes. The entire time Hathcock was
moving into his FFP, enemy patrols were walking all around him. One NVA soldier
even brushed Carlos' leg as he walked past the sniper hiding in the grass. On
the morning of his fourth day, without having eaten any food and having had very
little water, Carlos finally made it into the right spot. He found himself 800
meters from the target area. At the appropriate time, Gunnery Sergeant Carlos
Hathcock fired his devastating shot, killing the NVA General. Only after having
made the shot, did Hathcock exit his FFP to escape the furious search for the
sharpshooter who had seriously damaged the command and control structure of the
NVA units operating in the area. A coward could not have accomplished this
mission; only an extremely skilled and very brave man could.
There are many snipers, military and police, past and present, who have shown
their bravery in real-life situations. What coward would risk his life behind
enemy lines with nothing more than his skill and a five-shot rifle for
protection? What coward would take the time to painstakingly construct a firing
hide from within a building, to be able to later make the perfect shot on a
perpetrator holding innocent people hostage, before the criminal suspect begins
taking the lives of his hostages? Cowards don't risk themselves to protect the
lives of others, nor do they act with decisiveness after deliberation of their
intended actions and consideration of the consequences of those actions. Snipers
must -- and do.
In Vietnam, the average number of rounds used by a soldier was 2,200 bullets per
kill. The average of rounds used by a sniper was only 1.3 rounds per kill. A
sniper is a force multiplier whose abilities should be praised, not condemned.
It takes a special kind of person to be able place his own life on the line for
the good of his country. We have discussed how some definitions are
interchangeable, but the terms "sniper" and "coward" aren't. In condemning the
quacks and murderers who have used rifles to hurt others we have besmirched the
reputations and honor of courageous men. This is dishonest, sloppy and
ultimately harmful to society. Let's not condemn the sniping profession because
of a few bad people with guns who were nothing more than good (or just lucky)
shooters with criminal -- sometimes demented -- minds. The term "sniper" is
reserved for the courageous rifleman who, time and again, risks his life in
defense of his country to take that one shot -- that, if successful, will make
the difference between victory and defeat.
SGT Blahnik, a qualified Sniper Employment Officer
By SGT Thomas Blahnik,
B CO, 1-15 IN, 3D BDE, 3D ID (M), U.S. Army - SEO
It is a common myth throughout the world that "snipers are cowards." I have
heard that phrase uttered hundreds of times, yet I continue to shake my head at
these misinformed people. Far from cowardly, snipers are very brave individuals.
Nevertheless, this misconception about snipers persists and hurts our
profession. I will, therefore, seek to dispel this myth of snipers being cowards
with facts, experience, and my own opinion by covering what a sniper is and what
a sniper does to establish that snipers act out of bravery, not cowardice.
Before we consider the sniper's courage, we must address some misused terms,
including "sniper," and "assassination." What is the origin of the term "sniper"
and what does it mean? The term was first used during the 1800's in British
India. The British hunters often hunted a long-billed wading bird of the genus
Capella commonly known as a snipe. This bird's quickness and small size made it
a hard target to shoot. As a result, the best of these snipe hunters became
known as snipers. Later, the German Army appropriated the term for military use.
A review of dictionaries and official government documents provides some
understanding of the modern definition of the term "sniper." "Sniper," as
defined in Webster's University Dictionary, is "a skilled military rifleman
detailed to spot and pick off enemy troops from a concealed place." In 1992,
COL. W. Hays Parks (U.S.M.C), Special Assistant for Law of War Matters,
published his "Memorandum of Law on the Legality of Snipers." (Department of the
Army Pamphlet 27-50-241.) Parks summarized the various definitions and
descriptions of the term "sniper". Parks concluded, "[a] sniper is a lawful
weapon system. Sniper use by the armed services of the United States is entirely
consistent with the law of war obligations of the United States." His work makes
clear that snipers engage lawful military targets, just as do regular soldiers,
but do so at greater ranges.
What then, of the terms "assassination" and "assassin." In 1989, Parks addressed
these terms in his "Memorandum of Law: Executive Order 12333 and Assassination."
(Department of the Army Pamphlet 27-50-204.) Parks opined that "assassination,"
in peace time, "would seem to encompass the murder of a private individual or
public figure for political purposes, and in some cases also require that the
act constitute a covert activity, particularly when the individual is a private
citizen." Colonel Parks then went on to define the legal use of military snipers
in a wartime mission against "civilians who work within a military objective,
the substitution of a civilian in a position or billet that would normally would
be occupied by a member of the military" counterinsurgency or Guerrillas, and
any other person connected with the military or it purpose." Parks distinguished
the lawful targeting of military officials and civilians for military objectives
from assassination as a purely political tool. Further, the Random House
Dictionary, 2nd Edition 1987, defines assassination as "to kill suddenly or
secretly, especially a politically prominent person."
A comparison of sniping and assassination shows that while they may have some
overlap or interchangeability from a layman's perspective, they are legally
distinguishable and are not completely synonymous. Moreover, the comparison of
these definitions does not address the ultimate goal of this paper, the question
of a sniper's courage. It is necessary then to take a closer look into the
primary mission of a military sniper and his training.
The Army sniper's primary mission is to deliver long-range, precision fire on
key targets and targets of opportunity. His secondary mission is to collect
battlefield information and report it to the command and control structures.
These are very specific missions with very real dangers. To be able to carry out
these missions, a sniper performs most of his work behind enemy lines. At best,
a sniper may have with him a lightly-armed security contingent -- but more
likely, the only person accompanying a sniper is his "spotter." Without
minimizing the importance of the spotter, his main function is to observe a
target area and provide data to the shooter. This job is not nearly as easy as
it may seem. The spotter must also be fully qualified and trained as a sniper to
carry out the mission.
The two team members usually will train as a team during normal peacetime
operations, which is critical to the cohesiveness of this unit in carrying out a
mission. The U.S. Army Sniper School is five weeks long in duration, nearly 400
hours of intensely-packed training. The classes are usually small and have a
high failure rate. Before a student can even be considered for attendance to
sniper school, he must meet stringent qualifications and pass a mental
examination. Once enrolled in the school, the "express train" (called training)
starts moving at top speed. The first week consists of physical training every
morning followed by a long day of classroom instruction. These first few weeks'
worth of nights are spent pouring sweat and hard work into the construction of a
ghillie suit. The ghillie suit is a special hand-made form of camouflage. It was
originally designed during the 1800's by Scottish game wardens to help aid them
in catching poachers. The sniper students spend an average of 30-50 hours of
labor and love in this construction process. The allotted time for construction
does not begin until around 1800 hours, at the end of class.
The classes themselves cover a wide range of topics. Some of the most important
to the actual shooting process are range estimation, wind classification, and
ballistics. Ballistics, the external and internal functioning of the rifle and
bullet, is the first important lesson. A sniper must know the why and how of
ballistics intimately. Without this basic stepping stone, the concepts that are
taught later will be lost. The next big lesson is range estimation. The sniper's
rifle is set up to achieve MOA (minute of angle) accuracy. In more common terms,
this means that the bullet should impact within a one-inch circle for every one
hundred meters. This works out to 2" at 200 meters, 5" at 500 meters, and 10" at
1000 meters. The military sniper's rifle is equipped with a special mil dot
reticle to help him determine range to a target. The mil dot reticle is a laser-etched pattern made up of eight horizontal and eight vertical dots placed on a normal-looking crosshair reticle. The sniper learns a formula that is applied to the
information gathered with the special scope. The algebraic formula is "size of
target height (or width) in inches x 25.4 then divided by the size of the target
in mils as determined with the mil dot scope." This means that the sniper must
very closely know the size of his target and accurately determine its relational
size using the rifle's specialized scope. Once the sniper determines the
target's range, he can adjust the scope for elevation. When shooting at a 700
meter target, the rifle already shoots (+/-) seven-inch groups. A normal human
head only represents a 10-inch target. This only leaves 3" for error. Improper
range estimation, being as little as 20 meters off, can result in a missed
opportunity and a failed mission. As important as range estimation is, it is not
the greatest cause of missed targets -- wind is.
The sniper must learn to take into effect both the wind's speed and its exact
direction. At the longer ranges, there can actually be several different winds.
There may be one wind from left to right at 8 mph and then farther out a second
or third wind in a different direction and speed. All these winds must be
calculated. The sniper must learn to properly gauge the wind speed using natural
indicators like grass, smoke drift, and trees. Of the many types of wind
indicators the most accurate is reading mirage. Reading mirage is the act of
watching and interpreting the heat waves moving above the ground. The sniper
plugs this information into another algebraic formula along with distance and
time of bullet flight then divides that answer by a "constant" number, which is
dependent upon the target's distance. With this new data, the sniper can dial in
his scope to cancel out the effect of the wind. In the working sniper team, the
two members work together to gather and utilize all necessary data. At school
however, the sniper learns these lessons on his own. After the first long week
of classroom training, it's finally time to start getting lessons in a field
environment and learning the mechanics of proper shooting.
With the first week of classes out of the way and the students having completed
their ghillie suit construction, it's time to hit the wood line. The second,
third, and fourth weeks are comprised of practical exercises and tests covering
everything taught during week one. Almost every day brings a new stalk site.
Stalking is the term used when a sniper maneuvers into his Final Firing Position
(FFP). The sniper moves on his stomach by pulling with his fingers and pushing
with his toes while lying flat on the ground. The sniper's equipment is dragged
behind him in a bag that he constructs at the same time he builds his ghillie
suit. The sniper measures his progress in inches, not feet. In the school
environment, when a sniper is detected he receives zero points for that test,
which could very easily result in his failure of the course. On a real life
mission behind enemy lines, when a sniper is detected, it will certainly result
in his torture and death. (Given the widespread misunderstanding of snipers and
the general dislike of the profession by opponents on the battlefield, a sniper
knows that his rights as a prisoner-of-war will not be respected.)
After the fourth week, with all field-oriented tests completed, the remaining
students participate in a four day Field Training Exercise (FTX). This is run
just as a real-life mission might be conducted. The snipers form two-man teams.
They receive an operation order, which explains their first mission. The sniper
team must then plan their routes of movement and places for FFPs. As they reach
each objective and accomplish that mission, they receive another follow-on
mission via their radio. For the entire four days, the sniper team is on the
move. During the FTX, everything the sniper team learned during the course is
put to the test. Most students that make it this far have what it takes to pass
the sniper school's version of a final exam.
Graduation is not the end of the training process for the sniper. The sniper
must constantly practice and update his skills. Now that some of the training a
sniper goes through is understood, we can begin to address his true courage and
dispel the myth that "snipers are cowards."
Any consideration of the level of courage necessary for a sniper begins and ends
with Gunnery Sergeant Carlos N. Hathcock, II (U.S.M.C.). Written by Charles
Henderson, the book Marine Sniper: 93 Confirmed Kills covers the exploits and
life of Hathcock and allows the reader to relive the dangers and victories of
this famous Marine. Pertinent to this paper is Henderson's discussion about the
special kind of courage that it takes to be a sniper.
"It takes a special kind of courage to be alone; to be alone with your thoughts,
to be alone with your fears, to be alone with your doubts. This courage is not
the superficial brand stimulated by the flow of adrenaline. Neither is it the
courage that comes from the fear that others may think one a coward.
It is the courage born of honor.
Honor on the Battlefield is a sniper's ethic. He shows it by the standards and
discipline with which he lives life in combat. By the decency he shows his
comrades and by the rules he adheres to when meeting the enemy.
The sniper does not hate the enemy; he respects him or her as a quarry.
Psychologically, the only motive that will sustain the sniper is the knowledge
that he is the best person to do it. On the battlefield hate will destroy any
man - and a sniper quicker than most.
The sniper is the big-game hunter of the battlefield, and he needs all the
skills of the woodsman, marksman, and poacher. He must posses the field craft to
be able to position himself for a killing shot, and he must be able to
effectively place a single bullet into his intended target." (Henderson, 1986)
This description eloquently explains the skill and courage necessary needed to
be a true sniper. Indeed, Hathcock -- time and again -- acted with great honor
and true bravery in dispatching the enemy, as recounted in Henderson's book.
The clearest picture of the courage necessary to be a sniper is found in
Hathcock's stalk of a North Vietnamese Army General. The stalk covered 2000
meters of flat ground with nothing more for cover and concealment than grass
that was only two feet high. Carlos Hathcock crawled "inches per minute and
yards per hour" for two days and three nights to cover a distance that could be
walked, by a man at normal speed, in ten minutes. The entire time Hathcock was
moving into his FFP, enemy patrols were walking all around him. One NVA soldier
even brushed Carlos' leg as he walked past the sniper hiding in the grass. On
the morning of his fourth day, without having eaten any food and having had very
little water, Carlos finally made it into the right spot. He found himself 800
meters from the target area. At the appropriate time, Gunnery Sergeant Carlos
Hathcock fired his devastating shot, killing the NVA General. Only after having
made the shot, did Hathcock exit his FFP to escape the furious search for the
sharpshooter who had seriously damaged the command and control structure of the
NVA units operating in the area. A coward could not have accomplished this
mission; only an extremely skilled and very brave man could.
There are many snipers, military and police, past and present, who have shown
their bravery in real-life situations. What coward would risk his life behind
enemy lines with nothing more than his skill and a five-shot rifle for
protection? What coward would take the time to painstakingly construct a firing
hide from within a building, to be able to later make the perfect shot on a
perpetrator holding innocent people hostage, before the criminal suspect begins
taking the lives of his hostages? Cowards don't risk themselves to protect the
lives of others, nor do they act with decisiveness after deliberation of their
intended actions and consideration of the consequences of those actions. Snipers
must -- and do.
In Vietnam, the average number of rounds used by a soldier was 2,200 bullets per
kill. The average of rounds used by a sniper was only 1.3 rounds per kill. A
sniper is a force multiplier whose abilities should be praised, not condemned.
It takes a special kind of person to be able place his own life on the line for
the good of his country. We have discussed how some definitions are
interchangeable, but the terms "sniper" and "coward" aren't. In condemning the
quacks and murderers who have used rifles to hurt others we have besmirched the
reputations and honor of courageous men. This is dishonest, sloppy and
ultimately harmful to society. Let's not condemn the sniping profession because
of a few bad people with guns who were nothing more than good (or just lucky)
shooters with criminal -- sometimes demented -- minds. The term "sniper" is
reserved for the courageous rifleman who, time and again, risks his life in
defense of his country to take that one shot -- that, if successful, will make
the difference between victory and defeat.
SGT Blahnik, a qualified Sniper Employment Officer