Sniper Recon Team
From 7th Cavalry Regiment Wiki
Sniper Recon Team (SRT) is a specialized team or element within the 7th Cavalry tasked with shooting targets from concealed positions or distances exceeding the capabilities of regular personnel. Also known as snipers, they are also trained in camouflage, field craft, infiltration, reconnaissance and observation.
Contents |
History
American Civil War
During the American Civil War, the common term used in the United States was "skirmisher". Throughout history armies have used skirmishers to break up enemy formations and to thwart the enemy from flanking the main body of their attack force. They were deployed individually on the extremes of the moving army primarily to scout for the possibility of an enemy ambush. Consequently, a "skirmish" denotes a clash of small scope between these forces. In general, a skirmish was a limited combat, involving troops other than those of the main body. The term "sniper" was not in widespread use in the United States until after the American Civil War.
Second Boer War
The first British sniper unit began life as Lovat Scouts, a Scottish Highland regiment that earned high praise during the Second Boer War (1899–1902). The unit was formed by Lord Lovat and reported to an American, Major Frederick Russell Burnham, the British Army Chief of Scouts under Lord Roberts. Burnham fittingly described these scouts as "half wolf and half jackrabbit." Just like their Boer opponents, they were well practiced in the arts of marksmanship, field craft, and military tactics. They were also the first known military unit to wear a ghillie suit. They were skilled woodsmen but also practitioners of discretion: "He who shoots and runs away, lives to shoot another day." After the war, this regiment went on to formally become the British Army's first sniper unit, then better known as sharpshooters.
World War 1
During World War I, snipers appeared as deadly sharpshooters in the trenches. At the start of the war, only Imperial Germany had troops that were issued scoped sniper rifles. Although sharpshooters existed on all sides, the Germans specially equipped some of their soldiers with scoped rifles that could pick off enemy soldiers showing their heads out of their trench.[8] At first the French and British believed such hits to be coincidental hits, until the German scoped rifles were discovered.[8] During World War I, the Germans received a reputation for the deadliness and efficiency of their snipers, partly because of the high-quality lenses the Germans could manufacture. Soon the British army began to train their own snipers in specialized sniper schools.
Major Hesketh Hesketh-Prichard was given formal permission to begin sniper training in 1915, and founded the First Army School of Sniping, Observation, and Scouting at Linghem in France in 1916. Hesketh-Prichard developed many techniques in sniping, including the use of spotting scopes and working in pairs, and using Kim's Game to train observational skills. Both British and German sniper teams operated in pairs, with one sniper and one spotter. On the Eastern Front, Imperial Russia never introduced specialized sharpshooters or snipers, allowing the German snipers to pick off their targets without danger from counter-snipers.
World War 2
During World War II, snipers reappeared as important factors on the battlefield. During the interbellum, most nations dropped their specialized sniper units, notably the Germans who had such a reputation during World War I. However, during the Spanish Civil War, the effectiveness and dangers of snipers once again came to the fore. The only nation that had specially trained sniper units during the 1930s was the Soviet Union. Soviet snipers were trained in their skills as marksmen, in using the terrain to hide themselves from the enemy and the ability to work alongside regular forces. This made the Soviet sniper training focus more on "normal" combat situations than those of other nations.
One of the best known battles involving snipers, and also the battle that made the Germans reinstate their specialized sniper training, was the Battle of Stalingrad. Their defensive position inside a city filled with rubble meant that Soviet snipers were able to inflict significant casualties on the German Wehrmacht. Because of the urban nature of fighting, snipers were very hard to spot and seriously dented the morale of the German attackers. The best known of these snipers was probably Vasily Zaytsev, immortalized in the novel War of the Rats, and the subsequent film Enemy At The Gates.
Within the 7th Cavalry
Sniper School
Sniper School trains soldiers in marksmanship, sniper equipment and tactics, collection of battlefield intelligence, stalking, counter sniper, and other skills essential for completing the sniper’s mission. The primary mission of the sniper is to deliver discriminatory highly accurate rifle fire against enemy targets, which cannot be engaged successfully by the rifleman because of range, size, location, fleeting nature or visibility. Their secondary mission is the collection and reporting of battlefield information. Sniping requires the development of basic infantry skills to a high degree of perfection. A sniper’s training incorporates a wide variety of subjects designed to increase his value as a force multiplier and to ensure his survival on the battlefield.
Admission Requirements
- Minimum rank Private First Class
- Platoon sergeant Recommendation
- Platoon leader Recommendation.
- Company commander Recommendation.
- Battalion commander Approval.
- No Negative Counseling Statements in the last sixty (60) days.
- No Article 15 or been charged with any offense under the 7th Cavalry UCMJ in the last six (6) months.
- Minimum age of 18 or older to apply.
- Must be Expert qualified
- Professionalism is a must to completing this course.
See Also
References
http://www.7thcavalry.us/2nd_battalion/S3/7CAV-TM-002.pdf
http://www.7thcavalry.us/topic/25700-application/
