Sniper students make the grade
Stalk exercise tests Soldiers’ skills, training

Story and photos by Pfc. David Foley/The Bayonet

FORT BENNING, Ga. (TRADOC News Service, July 31, 2003) -- Seventeen Soldiers armed with M24 assault rifles crawled their way through 900 meters of thick underbrush fraught with thorns, vines and various forms of wildlife, knowing that the slightest mistake or subtlest movement could be their last.

The attack was the first of five graded stalk exercises for the students at Fort Benning’s Sniper School.

“Stalks are a snipers’ movements,” said Staff Sgt. Eric Bloom, an instructor at the Sniper School. “They are what a sniper’s life is based on.

“Everything is in jeopardy if they don’t do that right,” he said.

The Soldiers had to negotiate their way through the woods until they were within range of the target, set up a firing position and shoot one round of ammunition without being detected to prove their stalking ability.

The only catch is that the target consists of two experienced snipers who are armed with high-powered binoculars and know exactly where the students will be traveling.

If the spotters saw any movement, they would radio a pointer who would walk to the area and notify the student of his mistakes, then disqualify him from the stalk.

“We sort of stack the deck against them here, but it will give them the advantage on the battlefield," said Capt. Jason Kostal, Sniper School commander.

Camouflage is the key to success, said Sgt. Joseph S. Wertz, a Sniper School instructor.

The secret to a sniper’s camouflage is a special uniform called a ghillie suit, which has canvas sewn to the front and shredded burlap attached to the back. Ghillie suits are named after Scottish game wardens called ghillies who would cover themselves with a tarp to help them hide from would-be poachers.

The military ghillie suit is a little more advanced than those of the Scottish game wardens in that they can attach vegetation to the burlap on the back, and it allows them to move over various types of terrain undetected.

The sniper course covers a lot more than stalking. It includes range estimation, marksmanship, camouflage techniques and target detection, and Bloom said no part is more important then the others. However, Wertz describes the stalk as “the ultimate hunt” and a “complex art” that no one can master.

“A sniper can get within 50 meters of a person, pull a shot and no one would know he was there,” Wertz said.

The first student to reach his objective and finish the stalk successfully was Spc. Tyrel Tierney. He finished the stalk in one hour and 26 minutes and said, “It felt like forever.”

Tierney said the hardest part of the stalk was getting in a good position to fire the shot without being seen. He said he stayed on the lower side of the hill because he likes to shoot upwards, and it worked out well.

He also said he was glad there weren’t too many ant hills in his lane because they can really be a nuisance.

“When you run into ants, you have two options,” he said. “You can either suck it up, or jump up and start doing the Chewbacca dance, but I’ve found that where there are ants is usually where the good positions are.”

Some of the students will have an opportunity to show their stuff at a sniper competition on Fort Benning soon after they graduate. Fort Benning will host the Third Annual International Sniper Competition Nov. 8-15 on 13 ranges across post. About 40 teams from Canada, Germany, Australia, Great Britain and America will participate in the competition, which will be open to the general public.