Inside the Crosshairs (37 page)
Read Inside the Crosshairs Online
Authors: Col. Michael Lee Lanning
(a) Provide accurate covering fire for advancing maneuver elements.
(b) Attack prime targets such as: crew-served weapons, bunker apertures, and personnel in trench lines or fighting holes.
(c) Pursue enemy by long-range fire.
(5) Defense
(a) Take enemy under fire at distances up to 1,000 meters with accuracy.
(b) Deny the enemy freedom of movement in approach to friendly positions.
(c) Countersniper fire—decrease enemy effectiveness through accurate counterfire.
b. Supported Unit Requirements. Units employing sniper teams must insure that the following principles are adhered to in employing snipers:
(1) Always employ in teams (pairs) to increase their capability.
(2) Always cover by a security element (one fire team and a radio operator).
(3) Do not employ as a security element to front, rear, or flanks in column movements.
(4) Do not employ in ambushes, patrols, or listening posts during hours of darkness.
(5) Always insure snipers are informed of any friendly forces within their operating area.
(6) Always insure that units/teams departing on missions have good operable radio and compass, have maps oriented with local terrain, and know correct forward observer procedures.
c. Control of Teams
(1) Units desiring sniper unit augmentation submit request to this headquarters. Request to include number of units/teams desired and estimated duration of utilization.
(2) Sniper platoon personnel when deployed will be under the operational control of the supported unit and administrative control of Headquarters Company, Regiment. The supported unit will provide logistical support to sniper personnel under their operational command.
Reports.
a. Units participating in normal operations include the following information in 1800 hours Situation Report (SITREPS) to cover the period 0001–2400 hours that day.
b. Units submitting 24-hour SITREPS include the following information for consolidation into Division Daily SITREP.
c. Format and Example
Unit No. of Teams No. Deployed Method of Results Employment
d. A Sniper Incident Report will be forwarded to this headquarters for each scout-sniper incident. These may be submitted as tactical operations permit.
e. A Monthly Sniper Platoon Report will be completed by individual infantry regiments and submitted to this headquarters by the 5th of the month following the month reported on.
(signed)
W. H. Cuenin
Chief of Staff
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For the ease of readers, the format of the order is slightly changed and certain abbreviations have been spelled out. No changes have been made in content.
†
Division Order 3590.3A, dated July 5, 1967, provided earlier, less detailed sniper platoon instructions.
Sniper Training and Employment in the 9th Infantry Division*
1.
Introduction.
This section describes the sniper-training program and methods of sniper employment developed by the 9th Infantry Division. Interested unit commanders may write the 9th Infantry Division for copies of the program of instruction for the division’s eighteen-day sniper-training course. The division’s APO is 96370.
Training.
a. Sniper trainees are selected from a list of volunteers. Those selected must have 20/20 vision, have qualified as an expert rifleman, and be well motivated. Experience in competitive marksmanship is preferred but not mandatory.
b. Trainees are trained in:
(1) Basic firing positions and the integrated acts of shooting.
(2) Methods of zeroing their weapons equipped with the adjustable ranging telescopic sight, Starlight scope, and the fixed-power M84 telescopic sight.
(3) Night firing: Each trainee learns to engage targets with his Starlight scope at ranges of 150, 300, and 600 meters.
(4) Adjustment of artillery fire.
(5) Day and night land navigation.
c. Qualification firing is conducted during the last two days of the course. Sixteen silhouette targets are engaged at 150, 300, 600, and 900 meters. Ten points are awarded for a first-round hit and 5 points for a second-round hit. The maximum score is 160 points, and the minimum for qualifying is 130. About 50 percent of the aspirants qualify.
Equipment.
The snipers of the 9th Division are equipped with 138 national-match-grade M14 rifles; 54 were accurized by the Army Marksmanship Training Unit (AMTU) at Fort Benning, Georgia. These rifles are glass bedded with impregnated stocks which are impervious to water. The remaining 74 rifles were prepared by the Army Weapons Command and are somewhat less accurate than the AMTU weapons.
a. The 54 AMTU accurized weapons are equipped with a 3X-9X variable-power adjustable ranging telescope sight. The telescope is mounted in conjunction with a ballistic cam. The sight reticle includes a pair of stadia lines. When the power of the telescope is varied to define a 30-inch area on the target with the stadia lines, the ballistic cam raises the sight to the proper elevation for that distance. Errors due to range estimation are almost eliminated.
b. The 74 weapons prepared by the Army Weapons Command are equipped with the M84 telescope. These sights are a fixed 2.2 power telescope with a post reticle. Using the M84, the sniper must accurately estimate the gun target range and either hold over the target or adjust the elevating mechanism on the sight to the estimated range.
c. The AN/PVS-2 Starlight scope has proven more effective
for sniper use than the AN/PVS-1 because of better focusing and more reliable windage/elevation controls. Also the sight reticle in the AN/PVS-2 is better when engaging long-range targets. Trainees bring a Starlight scope and mount to the sniper school when they report for training and that scope/rifle combination is retained for subsequent operations.
d. Ammunition used in sniper training and combat is 7.62-mm national match grade.
Organization.
Six snipers are assigned to each battalion headquarters and headquarters company and four to each brigade headquarters. It is essential that sniper employment be planned at battalion level to insure command interest and optimum utilization. Sniper teams are normally composed of two snipers.
Methods of Employment.
a. Ambush Patrols
(1) When employed with a platoon ambush, the sniper team remains close to the platoon command post. When enemy activity is sighted, the sniper team is alerted. Snipers engage at night with Starlight scope or the telescopic sight in daylight. Individual targets are taken under fire by a sniper to avoid compromising the ambush position and location of automatic weapons. When a group of VC approach, the snipers engage leaders and radio operators while the platoon fires into the general kill zone. Snipers may fire tracers to mark the flanks of VC approaching other than the specified kill zone. Snipers also engage VC probing the ambush site.
(2) A sniper team and a five-to-eight-man security element may be placed in a sniper/ambush position just before dark. The location is selected to provide maximum range of fire and is located near a friendly unit. The security element is equipped with
M16 rifles, an M79 grenade launcher, and an AN/PRC-25 radio. Eye fatigue is minimized by having the snipers alternate using the Starlight scope through the night. The M79 is useful when VC are observed in a tree line or vegetated area where low light levels impede aimed fire. The directing of M79 fire into the area can force the VC to move and expose themselves to sniper fire.
b. Stay Behinds: A sniper team with a five-to-eight-man security element is selected to provide long-range observations of the route over which the unit has traveled. Snipers with telescopic sights are able to engage the enemy at ranges up to 900 meters. At extreme ranges the enemy is not cautious about cover and concealment.
c. Offset: The Starlight scope is sensitive to a portion of the infrared band that is pink and near the visible light portion of the spectrum. An area can be illuminated with invisible light that registers in the Starlight scopes by using a pink filter on a xenon searchlight.
(1) Successful ambushes have been conducted by placing a filtered searchlight on a one-quarter-ton vehicle 1,200 to 1,500 meters from a road intersection. Snipers with Starlight scopes were placed 300 meters from the intersection. By maintaining radio contact with the searchlight operator, the snipers controlled the covert illumination of the intersection and the surrounding areas. By offsetting the sniper teams from the searchlight and placing the searchlight and vehicle in a position remote from the ambush site, the enemy in the kill zone were not alerted by vehicle engine noise.
(2) In base camp security operations, the searchlight responds to radio-equipped sniper teams either on the berm or in ambush positions outside the berm. Background noise of the fixed base camp conceals the noise of the engine and activity of the searchlight crew. In forward base camps the searchlight
remains in the center of the camp. By swinging its beam through 360 degrees, it covertly illuminates avenues of approach into the position.
d. Countersniper: Sniper teams, equipped with telescopic sights and M49 spotting scopes, search the areas of suspected VC sniper activity. The optical equipment permits a detailed search of distant areas.
e. Night Hunter Operations: A sniper team in the lead helicopter observes the ground with Starlight scope-mounted rifles. When the enemy is sighted the snipers mark the targets with tracers. Gunships following at a high altitude then engage the targets.
Problem Areas.
a. Sniper teams employed for prolonged periods with units other than units of assignment may be overlooked when promotions, R&R, and other personnel matters are considered.
b. Battalion and company commanders should participate in selecting sniper candidates. Selection and training of only well-motivated men with a reasonable amount of in-country time remaining is essential.
c. When the commander imaginatively employs his snipers the results have been better than in units where the commanders were less interested. There are examples of snipers positioned in dense vegetation with limited fields of fire while riflemen in the same unit were located with wide fields of fire.
d. Unknown to the commander, a sniper who has been well motivated may suddenly lose interest in sniping after witnessing a kill with his optical equipment. This can be detected by careful, regular debriefing of both members of the sniper team.
Statistical Data.
The snipers were assigned to maneuver battalions on 7 November 1968 and obtained their first kill on 10 November
1968. During the period from November 1968 to April 1969 seventy snipers were employed in the division. They had 286 contacts and accumulated a total of 475 confirmed enemy kills, or 1.67 kills per contact.
*
Two versions of this document exist. The first, written by Major Robert G. Hilchey, Assistant Division Operations Officer, appeared in a division document dated July 15, 1969. A second, more organized version for distribution to other U.S. Army units, as well as USMC and the South Vietnamese army, was issued a few weeks later. The second version, reproduced here in its entirety, has been modified for this printing by spelling out abbreviations for ease of understanding. Paragraphs 4, 5, and 6 were originally classified as confidential; other paragraphs were not classified.
MACV Order of Battle Study ST 67-029 (January 6, 1967), VC/NVA Employment of Snipers
*
I.
Introduction.
This is a study of VC/NVA employment of snipers in South Vietnam. It encompasses the training, unit organization, tactical employment, and mission of snipers.
Discussion.
A. Training.
1. Known sniper training has been restricted to North Vietnam. Snipers are trained in the unit with which they will deploy. The training is three months long and includes instruction in the care, cleaning, assembly, and disassembly of the K44 rifle and mounted scope. Live firing is practiced with silhouettes at ranges up to 1,000 meters. Additional training is given in camouflage, movement, and selection of sniper positions.
2. Captured documents indicate that snipers use explosive devices such as mines and booby traps in their operations. However, interrogations of captives
disclose that they received no training in the use of explosives. This could mean that further training is given the individual after he has reached his final destination in South Vietnam.
3. Returnee Nguyen Van Sinh states that local guerrillas in South Vietnam are being instructed by NVA snipers in the use of the K44 sniper rifle. It is possible that training courses for snipers are being conducted in South Vietnam. Recently found caches of undistributed K44 sniper rifles and friendly encounters with accurate sniper fire in areas where VC units are located indicate the presence of trained snipers. The K44 rifle with scope is the 7.62-mm Mosin Nagant Model 1891/30 with scope. Its characteristics are: