Squad Designated Marksman Training
“Does anyone here have a problem with shooting someone that really needs to die?”
asked Staff Sergeant Lew Tippie , as he was addressing the December 9 th SDM (Squad Designated Marksman) class at Ft. Hood Texas . So began my week as a civilian marksmanship instructor, training U.S. Army soldiers to become Squad Designated Marksmen.
The current Army basic marksmanship training program is based around mechanical pop-up combat targets out to a maximum range of 300 meters. The standard qualification course of fire consists of 40 target exposures at ranges between 50 and 300 meters. A soldier must have at least 23 hits to qualify as Marksman. 30 hits will result in a Sharpshooter badge while a soldier scoring 36 hits will earn an Expert badge. Keep in mind that these are man-sized targets. A soldier receives about 72 hours of basic rifle instruction during Basic Training and must re-qualify twice each year. Soldiers are not trained at ranges beyond 300 meters or on bullseye targets. This type of training resulted from the Army's experiences in fighting the Japanese in World War II and the Chinese in Korea . Both of these enemy forces learned to stay close to American positions and doing mass “Human Wave” attacks against us. Because the enemy was so close to our positions, we were unable to use our superior artillery and aerial bombardment capabilities. In close, the enemy had the advantage of superior numbers, so the Army found itself fighting at short ranges and began to train its soldiers to effectively fight at these reduced ranges. The Army's experiences in Vietnam reinforced this way of thinking since most infantry engagements were again at short ranges. In Afghanistan and Iraq , though, our soldiers could see the enemy at much longer ranges but did not have the training to effectively engage them with their rifles.
The SDM program was developed by the United States Army to fill the need for riflemen who could effectively engage targets beyond 300 meters. While snipers are trained to engage targets at 600 meters and beyond, the SDM is trained to engage targets in the “no man's land” gap between the average combat soldier and the sniper. The SDM is deployed as a member of the rifle squad, firing and maneuvering with it. He is not a squad sniper, not having the equipment or training to operate individually or in a small team to engage targets at extended ranges with precision fire. The SDM is equipped with a standard rifle and uses standard ammunition, and his rifle may or may not be equipped with an optical sight. The SDM program provides the rifle squad with a designated marksman who has been trained to engage targets from 300 to 500 meters. The SDM must possess a thorough understanding and mastery of the fundamentals of marksmanship, basic ballistics, range estimation, assessment of environmental conditions and the ability to compensate for those conditions by sight adjustment and/or windage hold-off.
Since early 2004, the Army has asked, through the CMP (Civilian Marksmanship Program), for civilian assistance in the training of SDM for a number of reasons. Primarily, there just aren't enough Non-Commissioned Officers that know how to shoot KD (Known Distance) beyond 300 meters. Also, due to the Global War on Terrorism, the Army is overwhelmed with requests for advanced marksmanship training. The USAMU (United States Army Marksmanship Unit), National Guard Marksmanship Training Unit, and the Army Reserve Small Arms Readiness Group (SARG) cannot furnish enough personnel to provide the requested training. Lieutenant Colonel David Liwanag , the Commander of the USAMU, realized that there was a ready and willing pool of highly trained marksman that could assist in the training of SDMs . Through the CMP, Lieutenant Colonel Liwanag contacted a number of state associations, asking for their help. As most shooters know, the DCM (Director of Civilian Marksmanship, which was part of the Department of the Army, became the CMP in 1995) was created by the U.S. Congress with its original purpose to provide civilians an opportunity to learn and practice marksmanship skills so they would be skilled marksmen if later called on to serve the U.S. military.
The first SDM class conducted by the 5 th Army Area SARG was held at Camp Bullis , Texas ( San Antonio ), training 1 st Cavalry soldiers who were soon to deploy to Iraq . Experienced riflemen from the Texas State Rifle Association assisted 5 th Army SARG in preparing these soldiers for deployment as SDMs . Since then, the SARG has continued to hold SDM training classes, primarily at Ft. Hood ( Killeen , Texas ) and also at Ft. Bliss ( El Paso , Texas ). All of these classes have utilized civilian marksmanship instructors.
This past fall, I received a call from Staff Sergeant Tippie, asking me if I would be willing to come to Ft. Hood to assist with SDM training for a week. My immediate response was, “Yes.” At 51, it was a unique opportunity for me to contribute to our country's war effort. After working out a number of scheduling conflicts, I arrived at Ft. Hood on the evening December 7 th , 2004 .
This SARG unit, based at Ft. Hood , TX , is commanded by Captain Carl Dishneau . The Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge (NCOIC) is Master Sergeant Darryl Wilkerson, and Staff Sergeant Lew Tippie is the training Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO). The civilian instructors were an impressive group. Most held Master or High Master classifications, and many wore a miniature Distinguished Rifleman's badge on their cap, while a few had Double Distinguished pins. There were also a few President's Hundred pins. The civilians included Kent Stonecipher , Skip Smith, Gary Stephens, Robert Langham , Stan Jarosz , Roy Plumlee , Rol Coggins , David Wilson and me. Shortly after arriving, I was given a SARG Marksmanship Instructor cap. I immediately transferred my miniature Distinguished Badge and President's Hundred pin from my Precision Shooting Magazine cap to my SARG cap. In the military, both awards are respected badges of expertise with a Service Rifle and the Army even authorizes the wearing of the President's Hundred shoulder tab.
The class was comprised of 73 soldiers from the 1st Infantry Division ( Ft. Riley , Kansas ) and from the Scout Section of the 4th Infantry Division ( Ft. Hood , Texas ). Most of these soldiers had already been in combat in Iraq with many wearing a Combat Infantryman Badge.
At about 8:30 AM the troops arrived. I was rather surprised by the wide variety of weaponry. They had just about everything imaginable, including M16A2s, M16A4s (full length 20” barrel with a flattop upper receiver) M4 carbines (14.5" barrel, flattop upper receiver, collapsible stock), M24 sniper rifles, and M107s (Barrett 50 BMG semi-automatic rifle). Some M16 rifles had standard handguards , others had Piccatinny quad rails and some had vertical handles. Quite a few rifles were equipped with M203 grenade launchers and some had laser sights that transmit a beam that is not in the visible spectrum, where the target dot is only visible when viewed with night vision equipment. The optical sights were interesting as well. They included Trijicon ACOGs (Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight ), M145 Elcans , M68 Aimpoints (the military version of the Aimpoint Comp M2), Leatherwood ARTs (Adjustable Ranging Telescope), and Leupolds . The M16A2s had standard iron sights. While the M68 is the top choice for close quarters work, such as Close Quarters Battle (CQB), but it is not suitable for longer ranges. Solders with M68s were told to remove their optics and install a carry handle. You don't see this much variety at a gun show.
The first day was in the classroom and focused on “The Integrated Act of Firing.” To a civilian shooter, this was simply the basics of rifle marksmanship. Staff Sergeant Tippie discussed, in detail, the importance of finding a steady position, breath control, smooth trigger control, sight alignment and sight picture. To a combat infantryman, a steady position might be resting one's rifle on a rock, a pile of rubble or your rucksack. While a few rifles were equipped with M1907 slings, most were set up with standard issue nylon carry slings. It was explained how to use the latter as a hasty sling to tighten up one's position. Using a very tight sling, such as used in Highpower competition, is not practical with the M16 variants because it will cause a zero shift due to the lack of a float tube.
Civilian instructors covered other essential subjects, including wind reading and proper weapon cleaning techniques. A common problem was over-lubricating weapons. As one might expect, this causes major functioning problems in the dusty environment of Iraq . The instructors welcomed questions from the soldiers, answering each in detail.
A lot of time was spent presenting the concept of MOA (Minute of Angle) and sight adjustment, both iron and optical, at different ranges. MOA is rather abstract and a lot of soldiers initially struggled with it. Competitive Highpower shooters are used to constantly adjusting sights at various ranges. Soldiers typically adjust their sights for a 300 meter zero and hardly ever adjust them again. Each soldier was given a wind correction chart and taught how to use it.
After everyone understood MOA, the instructor addressed sights and scopes. Consider the following: M16A2s, M16A4s and M4 Carbines have 1 MOA elevation clicks and 1/2 MOA windage clicks. The Elcan scopes have 1 MOA elevation and 1 MOA windage adjustments. The Leupold scopes, like the iron sights, have 1 MOA elevation and 1/2 MOA windage. The ACOGs can have 1/4 MOA, 1/3 MOA or 1/2 MOA. Unfortunately, there is no way to tell how an individual ACOG is configured and you have to figure it out on the range. No one was sure how the Leatherwood scopes were set up. It was a bit confusing for everyone.
The following days were spent on the rifle range. Ft. Hood Range 44 Delta is just like most rifle ranges, if you ignore the thumping of 155mm howitzers in the distance, automatic weapons fire on adjacent ranges and the occasional flyover by Huey, Blackhawk or Chinook helicopters. 44 Delta also has the inconvenience of having a road go across it just in front of the 400 yard line. When shooting from the 400 or 500 yard line, the Army must position vehicles and personnel on either side of the road to stop traffic. Also, it's a bit confusing in that the range is measured in yards but the Army uses the metric system for most distances. It's also my understanding that the ranges are actually a bit shorter than they are supposed to be; i.e , the 400 yard line is really less than 400 yards, or something like that.
On Wednesday, we had the soldiers fire from the 100 yard line to obtain initial zeros. We had enough civilian SARG Marksmanship Instructors to have one instructor for every three soldiers. All firing is on the Army E target, a humanoid silhouette target that is roughly 19" wide and 39" tall. As mentioned previously, some soldiers had rifles with iron sights while others had scopes. With the wide variety of sighting equipment and click graduations, it was a bit of a challenge to get everybody zeroed. The Leatherwood scopes were confusing, especially since the only person that knew how to use them, Staff Sergeant Tippie, was not at the range that day. Basically, they have an adjustable cam that must be properly set up. In use, the shooter brackets an object of known size (such as someone who really needs to die) by adjusting the zoom ring, which yields the distance to the target. Then, the shooter uses the appropriate stadia line on reticle and fires. None of the soldiers had any experience with the scope and nobody knew how to set the thing up. Late in the day (very late) someone discovered that one soldier did have a manual!
The M145 Elcan was also a challenge. Most are equipped with reticles calibrated out to 1,200 or 1,300 meters and configured for use with the M240B machine gun (7.62mm) or the M249 (5.56mm Squad Automatic Weapon). Since SDM's are trained to operate from 300 to 500 meters, the reticle is unnecessarily cluttered. An Elcan scope with a M4 reticle, calibrated for 5.56mm, is available but none of the rifles were equipped with it. The ACOG, which is probably the best of the M16 optical sights, has its challenges since they seem to have three different click graduations (1/4 MOA, 1/3 MOA and 1/2 MOA) and there is no way to tell which one is which. I found it best to assume the scope had 1/4 MOA clicks, give the soldier a correction and see what happens.
Most of the M14s and M24s were equipped with Leupold Vari -X III Long Range scopes with mil-dot reticles , with 1 MOA elevation and 1/2 MOA windage adjustments. Zeroing them was much easier. With iron sights, you set the rear sight at the bottom (with 8/3 or 6/3 setting positioned on the left side of the receiver) and adjust the front sight for a 300 meter zero. The shooter then clicks up for longer ranges. The Elcans and AGOGs are also zeroed at 300 meters. Both scopes have stadia lines for longer ranges, providing accurate and consistent holdovers.
The 5.56mm weapons were firing M855 ammo with 62 gr. FMJ bullets, which is the standard round used throughout the Army. The 7.62mm rifles were firing M118LR with 175 gr. Sierra MatchKings . Initially, we would have the soldiers shoot single shots and then have the targets pulled and marked. After we got everyone on paper and centered up, we fired five shot groups and refined their zeros. By the end of the day, everyone was doing rather well with decent 100 yard zeros.
On Thursday, we had the soldiers start at the 300 yard line, establishing solid zeros. With the iron-sighted M16A2s, M16A4s and M4 carbines, the 300 meter zero is used for any target out to 300 meters. All elevation changes were made by adjusting the front sight, leaving the rear at its bottom 8/3 or 6/3 setting. When we moved beyond 300 yards, elevation adjustments were made on the rear sight. Even though the rear sight drums are calibrated for various ranges, we found the numbers to be a bit off. We had the soldiers center their groups and count and record clicks.
Friday was spent establishing 400 and 500 yard zeros. It was quite windy which gave us a good opportunity to coach the soldiers in wind velocity estimation and the use of wind charts.
On Saturday, the soldiers shot at 100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 yards, the ranges used during qualification. It was another windy day and the soldiers learned a lot about shooting in difficult conditions. By the end of the day, they were ready for qualification.
Sunday was an off day for everyone. A few of the SARG civilian instructors went to a Highpower match in Temple , TX., and a number of soldiers went along to observe.
Monday and Tuesday were devoted to qualification. The course of fire was as follows:
Table 1
4 rounds at 100 yards (unsupported)
4 rounds at 200 yards (unsupported)
4 rounds at 300 yards (2 unsupported, 2 supported)
4 rounds at 400 yards (supported)
4 rounds at 500 yards (supported)
Table 2
4 rounds at 500 yards (supported)
4 rounds at 400 yards (supported)
4 rounds at 300 yards (2 unsupported, 2 supported)
4 rounds at 200 yards (unsupported)
4 rounds at 100 yards (unsupported)
*When firing unsupported, the soldier may use a hasty sling which is simply wrapping the carry sling around his arm. When firing from the supported position, the soldier supports his rifle on a rucksack.
Each table has a possible score of 20 hits and the shooter must have at least 14 (70%) hits on each table to qualify. 12 hits on one table and 16 hits on the other table doesn't make it. If a soldier does not qualify on the first time through the course of fire, he is given two more opportunities to qualify. Typically, approximately 70% of the class will qualify as Squad Designated Marksmen.
Of the 73 soldiers, 62 qualified on their first attempt. Of the 11 soldiers that didn't qualify, 10 qualified during their second run though the course. Only one soldier did not qualify, and he was sick. 98.6% of the soldiers qualified, making this Squad Designated Marksman training class the best to date.
An interesting side note: A few months ago, a soldier declared himself a C onscientious Objector during the class. He was told that he was still going to Iraq , the question was only if he'd be carrying a rifle. Shortly after this happened, the soldier was deployed to Iraq …with a rifle.
A number of times, soldiers thanked me for the training they were receiving. Just a little more than a week before, most of these soldiers thought it impossible to successfully hit targets beyond 300 meters. They left the class knowing that they were capable of reading the wind, adjusting their sights or holding off accordingly and making hits out to 500 meters. My week at Ft. Hood was a remarkable experience.
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