Email   Print   Share By Sgt. Lance Pounds, 3rd Cav. Regt. Public Affairs

Facebook Digg Delicious July 19, 2012 | News

Troopers enrolled in the 3rd Cav. Regt. sniper certification course make their way to a wooded area on Fort Hood where they will begin the stalking portion of their training. During this training, troopers will be tested on their ability to identify their target without being detected. Sgt. Lance Pounds, 3rd Cav. Regt. Public Affairs

Pfc. Dewain Meszaros, an infantryman for 2nd Squadron “Sabre”, 3rd Cav. Regt. prepares his ghillie suit for the stalking portion of a sniper certification course on Fort Hood, June 12. Meszaros adds natural foliage from his surrounding environment to help conceal his position as he negotiates through thick vegetation until he is within range of his target. Sgt. Lance Pounds, 3rd Cav. Regt. Public Affairs

When the 3rd Cavalry Regiment transitioned to a Stryker-based unit, it created the need for some specialized training to meet new mission structure and requirements. Among the new requirements, the regiment needed to find approximately 36 outstanding troopers to train for a specialized, elite combat mission – the regiment needed snipers.

The regiment invested nearly two years in the planning process, to include gaining approval from FORSCOM to meet that training requirement while allowing the troopers to remain here with their Families, said Sgt. First Class William Bailey, the regimental schools noncommissioned officer-in-charge.

Potential snipers, selected by their respective commands, normally attend a five-week long course at Fort Benning, Ga. In this case, the regiment brought in a mobile training team of instructors from Fort Benning to train and certify troopers selected for the course.

The 3rd Cav. Regt. held a graduation ceremony July 3 for 33 troopers who successfully completed the sniper certification course at Fort Hood.

The average graduation rate for a mobile training team is approximately 50-60 percent, which is lower than the rate for courses held at Fort Benning, largely because of training factors. Snipers attending the school at Fort Benning receive all of their training in an environment with established facilities and standards; with the MTT, the preparation for the course relies on the host unit, said an official from the U.S. Army Sniper School.

“Such a high graduation rate is a direct representation of the regiment’s level of concern for the professional development of our Soldiers,” Bailey said.

“I think this training is better for the Soldiers because this is their home ground,” said Sgt. 1st Class Devin Dove, a sniper instructor and member of the mobile training team from Fort Benning.

Dove and his team trained the students in rifle marksmanship and range estimation using the M110 Semi-Automatic Sniper System, stalking and concealment movements using a ghillie suit, and blocks of the instruction in the form of written exams.

“Stalking was the most difficult because I had to set up and maintain a position for a long period of time, as well as make a clean exit,” Sgt. Brice Myers, an infantryman from 1st Squadron, 3rd Cav. Regt., said. A time limit of three hours made the task that much more challenging.

In the stalking exercise, students were taken to wooded area where they painted their faces, prepared their ghillie suits and mapped out a route they could take to reach their target without being detected.

Their target: two senior sniper instructors in the back of a light medium transport vehicle, armed with high-powered binoculars, constantly scanning for the slightest telltale sign of an approaching student.

To minimize the chance of being detected, each student carefully prepared his ghillie suit using weaves of natural vegetation to help break up his outline; the ability to stay invisible can be the difference between mission success and mission failure.

If either spotter saw movement, he immediately radioed a pointer, who investigated the area in question. If the pointer verified that a student was the source of the movement, the student would be notified of his deficiencies and disqualified from the exercise.

Myers, who was named honor grad of the course, was one of the few students to pass the stalking exercise on his first attempt.

“I asked questions until I had a good understanding of every aspect of becoming a sniper,” Meyers said. He attributed his success in the course to his desire to effectively lead Soldiers as a sniper team leader within his unit.

Sgt. Joseph Asawa, a sniper team leader also from 1st Sqdrn., earned the title of Top Shot for achieving the highest and most accurate number of confirmed hits. He gave the credit for his success to his team.

“Trust in my spotter and in my team is paramount,” Asawa said.

A spotter is responsible for factoring elevation, distance, temperature and wind speed before advising the shooter on where to aim.

Asawa’s spotter, Pfc. Cody Hibbard, a team leader for 1st platoon, 1st Sqdrn, said it means a lot to have people like Asawa and his supervisors trust in his abilities.

“That is why we are a select group – the quiet professionals,” Asawa said as he described what it means to him now being certified as a sniper in the Army.

Following the ceremony, the students were congratulated by their Families, friends and leaders for a job well done. Now they will take their places in the developing internal framework of the 3rd Cav. Regt., ready to employ the skills they have earned.