So Ive been thinking alot about enlisting and being some sort of sniper. Any guys with any experience on this board? What branch were you in? Army? Marines? What was training like? Was it what you thought it would be?
Thanks
Thanks
Any guys took sniper training?
- Thread starter jliddle
- Start date
Yea I read online that its more less a competition to even get a seat in the Marine scout sniper school.
How was the army sniper training? How long did it take you before you were "good enough" to be enrolled? Not to sound stupid or nothing... But whats the difference b/w Army sniper and Marine sniper?
Don't forget about the U.S. Navy and their S.E.A.L. snipers.....
For sniper you need an 11 MOS in the Army, such as infantry, Cav Scout etc, now most units have a DSM that goes through a sniper crash course, but not technically a qualified sniper. I hear though that its very difficult but not totally brutal like SFAS or Sapper school, i had a 1Sgt that was prior SF and he went through Sniper training in the 80's, although he never said how he got in the course. My guess is to drop a 4187 and request the school.
LOL! If you had any idea how often I hear 18 year old kids say they are thinking about joining the Army or Marines and want to be a sniper! Its so cliche! LOL! Its not like the movies or Call of Duty, Modern Warfare 2.
Like stated its a difficult school to get. The majority of the time you have an 11 series MOS. Not only do you have to be a good shot before you go, but you need to be very fit and probably most important really really really ****ing patient. I've never been to sniper school and I dont want to because I don't have the patience to stay in one place for days on end waiting for a target. Or spend all day moving in the low crawl so slow to only cover 100 meters undetected. **** that!
No shit. The S.E.A.L. sniper that took out those Somali pirates was a badass. To shoot accurately that far away from a moving platform while your target is also on a moving platform is insane!:rockon:
97desertCobra pretty much hit it on the head. That school is hard to get into and also very hard to pass. I did the SDM (squad designated marksman) course before I got deployed and it taught me alot. The actual sniper school is insane from what I was told though. If you want all the high-speed low-drag hooah-ness just go 11-series and if you do good then they will send you where ever you want: airborne, sniper, ranger schools etc. Here is the set up I had for a while when I was deployed
Last edited:
97desertCobra pretty much hit it on the head. That school is hard to get into and also very hard to pass. I did the SDM (squad designated marksman) course before I got deployed and it taught me alot. The actual sniper school is insane from what I was told though. If you want all the high-speed low-drag hooah-ness just go 11-series and if you do good then they will send you where ever you want: airborne, sniper, ranger schools etc. Here is the set up I had for a while when I was deployed
Speicher? Or Tal Afar?
Balad
it was a while back but I had the chance to go to the scout sniper indoc. i didnt go at the time since i was die hard infantry. now i have to wait another year. i wish i would have gone.
but from what i have seen in the Marines: i went through SOI, then once i was stationed here at camp horno, 2 Sergeants came around when we were checking in. they asked if we shot expert and what our pt score was. then asked all of us new boots (who qualified) if we wanted to go to the scout sniper indoctrination. the indoc is a week long to see if you can hack the actual course. it by no means is the real thing.
have fun.
-gabe
but from what i have seen in the Marines: i went through SOI, then once i was stationed here at camp horno, 2 Sergeants came around when we were checking in. they asked if we shot expert and what our pt score was. then asked all of us new boots (who qualified) if we wanted to go to the scout sniper indoctrination. the indoc is a week long to see if you can hack the actual course. it by no means is the real thing.
have fun.
-gabe
Last edited:
I tend to think of myself being more mature and serious about the matter than most my age.
So i've read some more online and it seems you qualify by moving up in MOS. How is that done? Duty served? Accomplishments? Scores on testing?
I'm not sure what you are talking about in terms of moving up in your MOS. From grades E-1 to E-4 your MOS will have 10 on the end. Once you make E-5 it changes to 20, E-6 changes to 30. That is "moving up in your MOS" as each designated number represents the soldier skill level required in that grade. Also its very uncommon to send E-5 and up to sniper school as E-5(sergeant) is either a team leader or squad leader.
If you really want sniper school you will have to prove your worth and your ability to complete the course. Your company commander does not want to send people to schools to fail. So you will have to have a great PT score, 12 mile ruck march time, obstacle course time, and rifle qualification score. Plus you will have to posses and demonstrate the menal ability to pass the course. Patience is a virtue, being able to understand and implement math in a very stressfull field environment(are you good at trigonometry?), being able to think on your feet and learn quickly and act calm in dire circumstances, and not to mention a very keen sense of situational awareness. You will need all that and more. And your leadership will need to see it before they have confidence to send you.
One way to "prove" all of this is by completing other schools such as Ranger School and Sapper Leader Course. But your unit will likely have an OML(order of merit) list that they use to determine who to send to schools. Lots of times your unit will hold field training excersises to determine and build OML lists. For example my unit had a company wide competition in which we ran a 4 day FTX based on Sapper Leader Course. Every one got a chance to be in a leadership position to be graded, we all were timed on our 12 mile ruck march, obstacle course time, knowledge of knots, combat life saver skills etc, knowledge of demo systems and their implementation etc. At the end of the 4 days they tallied up all the points and built this years OML list.
Couple of guys at the ground combat school I work at here have been through CPEC. Air Force Version.
being a officer, Im a crack shot with a rubber band
Lol
I graduated from sniper school at Benning in 1996. To give you reference, I was an E-5, ranger, pathfinder, jumpmaster, ETC. sniper squad team leader. With the previous mentioned qualification's, it still took me 6 months to get a slot for sniper school. You have a long hard road ahead of you. I wish you the best of luck! P.S., you can forget about S.O.T.I.C. school without a long tab.
Last edited:
Quals to be the next DC sniper!! LOL JJ
That would actually be a very scary scenario, considering I have an M.S. in C.J. and a B.S. in sociology and social psychology! It's ironic you said that though! One factor that held the packet up was the Kreutzer shooting at bragg in 1995. Had to go see a shrink and take a Psych test to ensure I was "stable"
Last edited:
Users who are viewing this thread
