An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir September 2017 www.dfmagazine.ie 14 | By COMDT KENNy O'ROuRKE, ChIEF INSTRuCTOR, INF WPNS WING, INF SCh, DFTC PhOTOS By ARMN ADAM MuRPhy & CPl lEE COylE O n June 26th, 17 pairs of highly trained soldiers arrived to the Glen of Imaal for one reason; to establish the best sniper-spotter team. Twelve teams from across the Army, including one from the ARW, came to compete in the national event and five teams came to compete in the 2nd Inter- national Marksmanship Skills Competition conducted by the Infantry Weapons Wing (IWW). The international event comprised a second ARW team, two uS special operations teams, a team from the uK's Royal Irish Regiment, and one from the German Navy's Force Protection Battalion. Both competitions were run concurrently, with all teams completing the same events over four days of intense activity. For the 12 teams in the national com- petition, there was the chance to have their names engraved on the perpetual All-Army Sniper Trophy. The national competition specifies that teams must wear general service protective equip- ment (body armour, helmet, etc.) and must use the AI92 .308 calibre sniper weapon and the FN 7.62mm spotter weapon currently on issue. International teams generally used .300 or .338 cali- bre sniper rifles with spotters typically using a 7.62mm magazine-fed rifle. By the end of the opening briefs, it would have been obvious to the inter- nationals that if they wanted to win the open class event, then the ARW's international team were the team to beat. The national class had many expe- rienced shooters, some new to com- petitive shooting, but the prizes were anyone's for the taking. Even though the rules of the competition are extensive, the competition format is quite simple. Prior to the competition, teams are given guidance from the IWW on the skills that will be assessed, but no specific details. This year, teams were informed that they would fire their pri- mary weapons and second- ary weapons across a variety of events or 'stands', by day and night, over four days. Taking the first afternoon as an example; teams were told they would have to complete a battle run, with all combat kit and equipment, before completing three shooting stands in quick succession. The shooting tasks included a cold-bore shoot, a distance shoot and a 'know your limits' shoot. Sniper events are not like civilian marksmanship competitions and all shoots involve additional stressors to simulate combat situations. Calculat- ing adjustments and hitting a target at 600m can be difficult enough, but doing so after you have run to the stand, flipped truck tires and then find yourself under a strict time constraint is another thing; but nobody said it would be easy! The final stressor was provided courtesy of the training environment in the Glen of Imaal. The US special operations team captain said the Glen was one of the most challenging range areas that they have trained in, providing difficult terrain and mixed weather conditions. Heavy wind and rain created difficulties for teams for night shoot events and the teams that did well used team work and clear communication to quickly identify and engage targets. Days two, three and four continued in this format and teams completed a total of ten scored events. The close-quarter shooting was technical, with multiple pistol targets, including the spinning 'Texas wheel' and the 'duelling tree'. To complicate things further the prescribed ammunition quantity was distributed unevenly across magazines over an unknown distance course. The final scored stands were a stalk- ing stand and a shoot from a sub-surface observation post. Teams also participated in unscored long-range and close-quarter battle shoots dedicated to broaden- ing the skills of the competitors. The competition culminated in a dynamic stress shoot, which consisted of a number of stands run over a set route across the field firing area. Com- petitors were directed into combat 2017 dF sniper Competition and the 2nd international Marksmanship skills Competition

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