Page 60 - MERCIAN Eagle 2018

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Snipers Platoon
2018 has been a very diverse year for the Sniper Pl, having had a very successful deployment to the Falkland Islands last year, we continued the training and development we started there as we set about beginning our second unit run Sniper Operator Cadre.
The cadre trained 20 potential Snipers across 2 MERCIAN, 1 R IRISH, and
1 LANCS who came together for the
10 weeks of high intensity shooting and fieldcraft lessons. Compared to the previous course, the weather was nowhere near
as favourable! Heavy rains had turned the 1,000m gallery range at Altcar into a swamp from which the snipers had to adopt various firing positions; their clothes and ghillie suits soaking it all in. The high winds proved to be very testing for students, even some
of the more experienced Snipers found calling the wind challenging, all except the division’s top sniper that is!
After being soaked and battered by the weather we travelled to sunny Sennybridge
for the remainder of
the course. Students
focused on more
challenging shoots on
the field firing areas
using the steel targets
and began the more
challenging aspect of
the course: the fieldcraft lessons. It was soon identified that navigation was the
key area that the students were struggling with. We tailored the training programme so students would conduct navigation exercises every other night, which over
the remainder of the course saw big improvements. Students had to practice calling in fire missions and conduct ground briefings, give exact enemy positions and pre-recorded defensive fire positions.
This was all to be done while remaining undetected from the sniper instructors; watching like hawks from up to 1km away. Students like Pte Burden, who had only recently joined 2 MERCIAN that previous year and deployed late to the Falklands, were quick to impress many of the mixed cap badge instructors for his utter commitment and willingness to learn and improve. Despite his relatively little experience in the army he found the
course to be testing and challenging, which even to more experienced soldiers is a daunting prospect.
The cadre ended with a good performance from 2 MERCIAN, with
only 1 failure and 2 pass deferrals. Newly badged Snipers Cpl Shaw, LCpl Holroyd, Pte Moss-Turner and Pte Iceton were presented with their Sniper Badge and Black Cap Badge by OC DRAGON Coy. The black cap badge is in recognition of the arduous training and commitment required of a 2 MERCIAN sniper. The success of
the course was also down to 1 R Irish who provided some of the most experienced instructors I know to assist and share their wealth of knowledge on sniping.
On completion of the cadre, Snipers returned to Chester in preparation for the Battalion’s move to Cyprus. Reforming as a company, we had to put our specialist skills to one side and focus on public order training in preparation for readiness as the Regional Standby Battalion.
It wasn’t long before DRAGON Company was called upon to deploy. After 1 week
at very high readiness, the Company was preparing to return to the UK to conduct mission-specific training for OP TORAL. Snipers and Recce were grouped together to provide Advisor Force Protection delivering Guardian Angels to mentors within Kabul’s Green Zone. The 3-month deployment saw the AFP conducting on average 20 missions each day. This clearly kept the troops busy, which made the deployment pass quickly.
Once we returned to Cyprus, we had plenty of leave to enjoy the island over
the winter months. In the new year, the platoon will again be at readiness as well as preparing for the 2019 Sniper Cadre.
Photos from the Sniper Cadre conducted earlier this year: Pte Moss-Turner conducting camouflage and concealment. This is one of the Sniper skills in which he has to positively identify the Target, give the correct range and pass a 10 meter walk by without being detected
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The cadre ended with a good performance from 2 MERCIAN
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