An Cosantóir

RIGHT ON TRAINING AN C O S AN T Ó I R Jul y - Augus t 2 0 0 8 13 The marksmanship section involved a variety of shoots on both gallery ranges and field ranges. Again our team performed very well again, coming third overall. They had to engage targets at a variety of dis- tances up to 1,000m. Though they were at a slight dis- advantage, as our shooter used the AI92 Accuracy International .308 calibre rifle, while most of the other competitors used the larger .338 calibre. The larger calibre gives a flatter trajectory and longer range. However our shooter was well able to compete with the higher-powered weapons. On the final day, the Irish were leading the field, but with four shoots and a stalk to complete, a total of 200 points was still up for grabs. In the stalk, each team had to get into a shooting position (usually by crawling) close enough to an OP, fire on a target and record a message printed on a board. This had to be done within ninety minutes over 1,000m of ground. The Irish scored 95% in the stalk. In the four final shoots, each team had to engage targets, again up to 1,000m. Commonly termed as 'unknown distance' shoots, both the shooter and spot- ter had to work together using a spotting scope or their rifle's telescopic sight to accurately judge the correct distance to the target in order to hit it. With their stalk score and by achieving the highest combined mark over the four final shoots, the Irish reined supreme. We had little time to celebrate our success as transport left the base for Stockholm Airport in the early hours of the following morning. However, with a bag full of crystal, the journey didn't seem that long. Aside from winning the competition and enhanc- ing our sniping profile on the international stage, the competition was of huge benefit with regard to infor- mation sharing and knowledge gathered, which will be of a huge benefit to the Defence Forces in the future. Friendships were forged and contacts made that will pay dividends when it comes to future sniper competitions and overseas deployments.■ T he 3rd International Sniper Competition took place from June 9th-13th at the Land Warfare Centre, Kvarn, Sweden. The Defence Forces received an invitation to participate in the compe- tition primarily due to the very strong showing over the past three years in the Canadian International Sniper Competition. Our four-man team included: Coy Sgt Mark McEnaney (IWW and Team Coach), two members of the ARW (one shooter and one spotter) and myself as Team Captain. In this year's competition, there were 11 teams: Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, France, Spain, Poland, Ireland, Belgium and three teams form Sweden. The competition was held on the training area adjoining the Swedish military base in Kvarn. This is a huge area over 100km 2 consisting of gallery and field firing ranges set in general training area. In essence, a massive Glen of Imaal! The competition itself was divided into two sections - sniper skills and marksmanship skills. The sniper skills involved testing the competing teams in observa- tion (identifying selected targets over different terrain), judging distance (correctly gauging the range to a tar- get), map reading and aerial photography and stalking (using the terrain and camouflage to gain a good shoot- ing position on a target). These are basic sniping skills and the Irish team were the overall winners. In June, the Defence Forces took part for the first time in an International Sniper Competition and won. Here Captain Conor O'Shea (3 Inf Bn and Team Captain) brief us on how the Irish team beat some of the best sharpshooters in the world… The team use a spotting scope and their rifle sight to judge the distance to the target. Note both are wearing a modified combat jacket for snipers with extra pockets and straps for carrying essential equipment. 00- An Cos - j ul y - aug- 08 ( p12- 18) 14/ 08/ 2008 16: 58 Page 13 FROM THE ARCHIVES AN COSANTÓIR VOLUME 68 NUMBER 07, JUL/AUG 2008

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