Thread: Sharpshooters course

anyone have any info on the sharpshooters course,

How long is the course ?
Is it run from Pirbright or Brecon ?
anyone know when the next couple of course start dates are ?

many thanks in advance

Are you talking about the Sniper Part 1 course as the there is (as far as I am aware) no standalone Sharpshooter course. Sniper Part 1 is run out of both Pirbright and Brecon. It is 4 weeks long, the next one is over subscribed, the one after that is January 2011.

cheers joker, its for the new sharpshooter rifle, it might be classed as " sniper part 1" i'm not sure

many thanks anyway

TAG(G) or TAG(UK) run the conversion course for it Skymacuk. As I am led to believe it is a T3 package to enable the relevant training to take place at unit level. Sniper Part 1 (marksmanship) does what it says on the tin, it is the first phase of Sniper training before they return to unit prior to going through Sniper Part 2 (fieldcraft) as part of the distributed training.

Different weapon systems, different roles. I would suggest get in touch with TAG(UK) to get the full picture.

cheers Joker

Skymacuk, there is no official 'Sharpshooter' course, however, I completed mine, which was run by the Battalion Sniper Platoon and was 6 weeks in duration...however, as there is no actual guidance as to what it should entail, we ended up basically doing the Sniper Part 2 course, we were using L96 also. (We did the conversion to the new weapon while on Sniper part 2) The top 5 guys were then put forward for Sniper part 1, then Part 2 back in Battalion, earning the Sniper qual and badge. So in short, speak to your training wing, Sniper platoon if you have one! Good luck.

ditto what skin_full has wriitne. Sharpshooters course are done "ad hoc" i am sorting my guys out now mainly concertrating on the shooting aspect with some fieldcraft thrown in. No real qual, but handy to have when your CO wants them on the ground. the stan is more sharpshooting than pure sniping anyway. But is always a good stepping stone and a good tool for talent spotting for the proper course.

cheers lads i spoke to coy 2IC today and he seems to think there is a course run from pirbright but he will be able to confirm if for me tomorrow so will just have to wait and see

Skymacuk, HDPRCC might run something, I am guessing by your avatar that you are part of the maroon machine. I can tell you for definite that Sniper Wing Brecon doesn't run anything for it. Once you get the info, post on here because it is a question I have asked and been asked several times with no decent response.

I always thought you got the sharpshooter badge by getting the neccessary score on an apwt which was 75 if memory serves though things may have changed since 2002

joey_deacons_lad, you're reffering to the 'Marksman' qualification. Crossed rifles worn on service dress. Achieved if you score 51 or more on your annual ACMT. Guys that attain this level of marksmanship should be considered for 'Sharpshooter' course or conversion to the new weapon. In all fairness, most guys in an Infantry Regiment should be capable of attaining that level...not always the case though!! I've been down in Pirbright and the HDPRCC facility down there recently and have seen/heard nothing of any Sharpshooter courses, like I said the ones I'm aware of are 'in house'.

i have been in touch with brecon also, and no response. it seems something they dont or unwiiling to discuss. As a "purist" i was scpetical about "sharpshooters" but it does help when on ops when you only have a one or two badged blokes around and you have six rifles and only two know ow to use them. I think there should be one or at least the Sniper part one quals you up with the option to do the part two if deemed suitable. Thats how i am running it and it is prety easy to set up a range and get guys firring up to 1 k as it is all in a AOSP and thats all that brecon use.

I suspect that you have not had a response from Brecon because they have been on exercise for the past week. They are in the office now though.

I hear your points Sniper9, but have you considered that Sharpshooters are a refined pool from which to recruit guys into your platoon from? After all, they have show the acumen to be able to achieve good shooting, therefore it would seem a solid progression for them to be your next Snipers.

Be careful how you manage it though; otherwise you will have CO's question why they need Snipers in the Current Environment when they have skilled shooters within the company.

Good point, but we dint not have any sharpshooter/sniper capapbilty till istarted doing it. This came down from the man himself that he wants a sharpshooter/sniper platoon set up for next herrick. Being FR i am up against it any way but it gives the boys another string to thier bow and as you have said it already weeds out the dross so i can send blokes on courses and get a highter pass rate ( i hope). But i do think brecon should consider it and allow us to run the part one and they concentrate on part two. They have sennybridge on thier back door and easier to set up

The FR Regiments get an allocation on the Part 1 courses as part of the RAC overall allocation. DRAC should be able to support you in this. The reason why Brecon run the Part 1 is due to the limited number of ranges set up to conduct the AOSP specified shoots. Hence, if there is one provider of this course, then there is less demand on the actual ranges. (I think there are only three in the UK and one in Germany). It therefore provides a greater return back to the field army.

In terms of running the Part 2, it has been an aspiration from Brecon to run this immediately after Part 1, however for the time being Sniper Part 2 remains distributed being that it places less of a burden on resources than the Part 1.