By 1st Lt. Chris J. Heathscott
39th Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Office
TAJI, Iraq -- The National Guard Marksmanship Training Unit's Sniper School located at Camp Joseph T. Robinson, in North Little Rock, Ark. is seemingly located anywhere but Camp Robinson anymore.
With the school's ability to provide Mobile Training Team's (MTT), the cadre watch their training grow stronger in demand, due to their ability to hand deliver the classroom to the student. The latest request for this Arkansas schoolhouse led them halfway around the world to Baghdad, coaching students from, of all placesâ?¦Arkansas.
"The request came from the 1st Cavalry Division to get some sniper training here in country," said Maj. Richard Lipe, Operations Officer for the Marksmanship Training Unit (MTU). "Fort Benning actually received the original request and weren't able to satisfy it and then suggested that they call us at the National Guard sniper school.
"Bottom line, it's the total army training system, so all of the Active Component as well as the Reserve Component can attend either school," he said.
So the request made it's way to the MTU and once again, the Sniper School delivered.
"The sniper cadre have satisfied a lot of request all over the United States," said Lipe. "Fort Lewis, Fort Carson, we also went to Mosul with the 101st here in late 2003 and did the [sniper] course there."
The Arkansas National Guard's 39th Brigade Combat Team, which is deployed with the 1st Cavalry Division, took advantage of the opportunity to send some of its Soldiers through the course despite the end of their deployment drawing near.
"The training is here," said Lipe. "They've got some people that are available to do the training. If they get another month or two that they're still operating in field and they're able to do that in a better manner, than ultimately it's going to save some lives."
"Some of this stuff I've already had before, when we came to Fort Hood," said Sgt. Greg Widner, a student in the course who is deployed with the 39th's 1st Battalion, 206th Field Artillery Regiment. "Me and another guy did a lot of the same training, but in a much more condensed [time]. Here we're getting a lot more specifics, a lot more in depth training."
A resident of Russellville, Ark., Widner added, "The facilities here are definitely not like at Camp Robinson, but [the instructors] are doing a good job."
"I tell you what, these instructors, they have had to be very fluid, because when they first got here, the ranges weren't made yet," said Staff Sgt. Mike Ellis, of North Little Rock, deployed with the 39th's 3rd Battalion, 153rd Infantry Regiment.
"They were having to push the guys stationed here to help them out, give them actually what they need. The instructors have had to go through a lot of obstacles and with what they've got they've done a great job."
"It takes a certain amount of ranges to be able to conduct the course to standard," said Lipe.
"We end up, most every time we go somewhere, having to modify ranges or get the ranges to a standard that we can satisfy the [program of instruction]."
With ranges and other facilities as an expected challenge with each MTT course, this particular course in Iraq presented the school with a challenge most wouldn't associate with the desertâ?¦rain, wind and mud.
"We don't have a problem training the guys in the rain, but the winds were gusting up to 25 to 35 mph." said Sgt. 1st Class Bret Boatright, non-commissioned officer in charge of the Sniper School.
"We have very limited amount of ammunition for these guys and what we didn't want to do is go out there and shoot with the winds that high and basically it prove to be nonproductive for the Soldiers due to the fact that they wouldn't be hitting targets."
Luckily the rain and wind only provided one extra day of classroom instruction as the weather moved through Butler Range, leaving a thick, slimy mud behind as a reminder of its passing.
With the ranges built and the weather clearing up, the cadre of the school worked together to clear yet another hurdle that the students themselves brought to the classroom.
"There are 57 students in the course," said Lipe. "The difficulty of this particular course is these guys are not in MTOE (Modified Table of Organization and Equipment) sniper slots, consequently they don't have organic MTOE equipment, namely the M24 Sniper weapon system."
The weapon of choice appeared to be the M14 rifle, but the fact is, this was the standard issue weapon for these men, who like many others, have expanded their military skill set in order to be more proficient on the battlefield.
While the men can successfully serve in the role of sniper up to 400 meters, the capability of long distance targeting is lessened in the absence of the M24.
"So the challenge of the sniper cadre is to be able to teach these guys their weapon systems, all of the intricacies of their weapon systems, in addition to the optics, and at the same time get them to quality on known distance, range estimation, moving targets and all those things within the course. That's the challenge," said Lipe.
"These guys will be able to meet the challenge though, and be able to effectively teach them what the standards are, and have them meet the standards as far as qualification, and teach them effectively how to do their craft."
"I think the guys with the M14's have a handicap," said Ellis, who serves in a sniper role with the M24. "If they have good fundamentals it's not that bad of a handicap, but anybody's just learning how to shoot they probably have a bad handicap. Once they get out to 5 or 600 meters it will be hard too hit a target."
Despite all of these challenges presented to the school, Boatright and his cadre tackled them all head on in order to best serve each individual student.
"Everybody really knows what they're doing," said Cpl. Brian Fletcher, a Fort Smith,
Ark., resident deployed with the 1st Battalion, 206th. "They're taking the time to break it down to usâ?¦break it down to us on a one on one level as best as they can, even with this many students."
"I've been on orders for 17 months now, " said Spc. Larry Thomas, a 3rd Battalion Soldier from Wynne, Ark. "This is the best training I've got so far."
The Soldiers inhaled as much of the classroom instruction and hands on at the range as possible, yet another key element to the course left some of the Troops a little out of breath.
"You've got to be in good shape," said Ellis. "They'll smoke you a little bitâ?¦running, double-timing it everywhere. Its not for the old," he added with a smile.
"The tougher you can be physically the more apt you are to survive harsh circumstances," said Widner.
"If you're not in decent shape, how are you going to be able to hump that pack and run?"
The demanding physical aspect didn't seem to sway the students" intense concentration through the overall course, which results in the Soldiers earning the additional skill identifier, B4 Sniper.
"It's very apparent that whenever a guy's in a combat zone coming through the training, his attention is definitely much more so than if he were back at home going through the resident course," said Boatright.
The professionalism of his cadre's instruction, however, remains just as strong regardless of the training location and situation.
"Our guys are dedicated and want to make a difference with the guys that are going to combat," said Boatright. "We want to know that we've trained them and given them the best information, the skills possible, so that, A, they can survive, and B, that they can more effectively eliminate enemy personnel on the battlefield...that they can actually make a bigger impact to the commanders out there conducting their mission as a sniper."
Boatright foresees future missions like this as the Active Component continues to take advantage of the school's flexibility and quality instruction, a challenge the Sniper School gladly accepts.
"It just shows what high standards he had at Camp Robinson and MTU," said Ellis. "It shows the high caliber of instructors that Arkansas has."
| Date Taken: | 02.14.2005 |
| Date Posted: | 02.14.2005 11:53 |
| Story ID: | 1152 |
| Location: | TAJI, IQ |
| Web Views: | 62 |
| Downloads: | 8 |
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