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| Iraq |
| Sniper School comes to Iraq |
| 2003-11-21 |
| EFL For the first time since 1968, a sniper school is being held on foreign soil during combat. The National Guard Marksmanship Training Center sent the cadre of its sniper course to northern Iraq to train the soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) in skills that have proved to be useful during combat operations. Soldiers from the divisionâs three infantry brigades discussed the need for sniper training. The request for the course went up the division chain of command until it was put to the soldiers who work at the training center. âAll this stuff starts off as a great idea by a private first class or a specialist, then makes its way up the ranks,â said Command Sgt. Maj. Marvin L. Hill, division command sergeant major. âThe 101st ran jump school in England, so why not the Air Assault school in Iraq? Why not the sniper school?â According to Malloy, the 101st soldiers appreciate being taught the techniques and skills that can be applied to their current situation in Iraq. |
| Posted by:Chuck Simmins |
| #7 This is still bugging me. I can't BELIEVE we don't have snipers in the LRS detachments, at least at corp level. Nothing would make the mutts more leery of taking RPG shots than watching a few fellow 'martyrs' get their ugly heads blown off in the process. There should be sniper-spotters in apartments all over Baghdad, dug in around Tikrit, Mosul, Basra, all f*cking over! It took 8 months for some dipsh*t General to realize "Hey, snipers are a good idea"?! I guess they're too busy court-martialing good officers and getting their staffs air conditioning. GRRRRR!! |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-11-21 11:35:03 PM |
| #6 Time to break the Canuck's record from Afghanistan. |
| Posted by: Anonymous2U 2003-11-21 11:17:34 PM |
| #5 They use to run "in-country" schools in 'Nam all the time. I think my ole' man actually did LRRP over there. I love the idea. Rotate the lads to get more training, shit-hot bro's. OP - if you're out there, you could chime in on this one. I'm baffled that the 101 doesn't have organic snipers in their T/O. That can't be right? Do they have them and just want the school to cross train more? That would make more sense to me. You would at least figure each Battalion or company has scout/sniper teams attached like we do. Shit, that's sop. |
| Posted by: Jarhead 2003-11-21 10:44:11 PM |
| #4 I like the idea of mobile training teams being deployed to improve the a variety of skills among units that are stationed outside of the Sunni Triangle. We ought to be pretty liberal about swapping squads of soldiers to work with coalition units from other countries. I expect that flunent soldiers that have experience working closely with other coalition untis will be at a premium as the WOT progresses. I would like to see us get everything we can out of the billions we are spending. With proper vetting, I would also like to see healthy numbers of literate Afghans and Iraqis hired by the US government to work in the US as translators with provisional citizenship contingent on their not introducing honor killings in the DC area - there is enough violence there already. No need to add a new flavor. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2003-11-21 7:34:03 PM |
| #3 Shutgart and Gorden. The Army's urban warfare training center is namned for these 2 heros. |
| Posted by: Raptor 2003-11-21 6:18:14 PM |
| #2 And it took this long? Just why doesn't the 101st have its own organic snipers and spotters? Or do they and they over extended? The fight in Mogodishu should of driven the point home in spades. The two SF snipers who volunteered to go in and were killed (it saddens me that for the life of me I can not recall their names right now) saved the lives of how many men? A team of two spotters and one sniper in overwatch for the teams doing house to house searches shouild of been SOP from day one. |
| Posted by: Cheddarhead 2003-11-21 4:41:01 PM |
| #1 It's about time. I can't believe the 101st doesn't have sniper/recon teams organic to the infantry units. That's inexcusable. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-11-21 4:37:21 PM |