Snipers |
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A military sniper is a soldier who is highly skilled in fieldcraft and marksmanship and delivers long-range, precision fire at selected targets from concealed positions.
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Requirements
Minimum Requirements for Becoming a Marine Corps Sniper:
Male, volunteer, 0300-Infantry MOS, E2 - E7(No officers), expert rifleman, having a second class or higher swim qualification, a first-class score on their Physical Fitness Test (PFT), eye sight correctable to 20/20, not color blind, no office hours or Non-Judicial Punishments within 6 months, qualify for a secret security clearance, and possess a GT score of 110 or higher. Marine Corps PFT: For a perfect score: 3 mile run in 18 minutes, 20 deadhang pull-ups(No Swinging), 100 sit-ups under two minutes. Swim Qual: 500 meter swim using side or breast stroke, 50 meter swim holding a weight out of water, tread water for 30 seconds holding a weight out of water, no signs of panic. Two of the better ways of becoming a Scout/Sniper are through a Recon unit or an Infantry Battalion. First join the Marine Corps with an Infantry MOS. While in Boot Camp you will need to shoot Expert on the rifle range, become at least a second class swimmer and score a high first class PFT. Upon completion of Infantry training you will be given the opportunity to volunteer for Recon or Force Recon. If you successfully complete their indoc, you will be sent to a Recon unit where you will qualify as a Recon Marine. The other way is to be sent to an Infantry Battalion and then volunteer for the Scout/Sniper Platoon. The S/S Plt. runs indocs annually and pulls in personnel from the BN. Each Sniper unit runs its own version of the indoc, but they are all extremely difficult. Once in the unit you will go through all the training to become a sniper before ever going to S/S School. Once at the school you will be expected to have all the basic knowledge of a Scout/Sniper and the advanced knowledge of an infantry Marine. You will show up with everything that you will need to make it through the school including your ghillie suit. There are no second chances at the school and drops are a daily occurrence. Marine Snipers are generally regarded as the best snipers in the world. There is a reason for that! Out of the 24-29 students who enter the Basic Scout/Sniper Course at Quantico MC Base, approximately half will graduate. Most of these students fail to receive 70% accuracy needed to pass the land navigation portion of the training. |
Training
Since snipers are the armed forces' deadliest soldiers, they need much training. After the standard soldier training, a Marine sniper must join a recon. unit and train there. They will gain all knowledge they will need to be a sniper here, and then must be chosen and sent to the Scout/Sniper School. They go through 8 weeks of blood, sweat, and devotion during the School. When and if they graduate, they return to the same unit and join the recon unit's Recon/Sniper platoon. These platoons consist of 16 recon personnel and 16 snipers. From here they are in-service USMC Snipers. |
Types of Missions
Snipers are trained for a variety of missions, all of which are very important. The sniper's main mission is to eliminate selected targets. His secondary mission is to gather information for military intelligence purposes (scouting). This includes locations of enemy troops and statistical data needed in order to plan further assaults on the enemy. Snipers also have "targets of opportunity", which are targets that are not directly pursued by the sniper but are eliminated if located. |
