Army adjusts counter-sniper training to reflect urban fighting

Above: Soldiers attend to a wounded soldier hit by sniper fire in the Al Doura area on April 5.

Enemy sniper tactics in Iraq have changed, so the Army is changing the way it teaches soldiers to react to them.

The Army has for years used a react-to-sniper drill that placed a sniper at hundreds of meters away and sometimes more than a thousand...

“Right now the snipers that are in Iraq are shooting sometimes at distances of 50 meters, but because the impact of acoustics in a city degrades your ability to react, we have to change how we perform that drill in an urban environment,” Shwedo said...

The training, which soldiers begin receiving in basic training, will address initial protection of standing soldiers, identification of the sniper’s location, and treating a wounded soldier in a way that avoids sustaining more casualties in the process.

Read the rest at Army Times

Related Link:
DARPA seeks counter-sniper system

Related Link:
Perspective: 'Juba the Sniper' legend haunting troops in Iraq

Related Link:
DARPA to hold classified forum on anti-sniper technology

Related Link:
Sources: Long-range, armor-piercing precision sniper rifles, exported to Iran, now in hands of insurgents

Related Link:
Perspective: Iraqi Insurgent Snipers Gaining Skill

Related Link:
The Soldier's Stories: Sniper Attacks Adding to Peril of U.S. Troops

Related Link:
US military probes sniper threat in Baghdad