What Does the Army do to Turn Soldiers into Snipers? What do they Learn?

By Christopher Woody,Business Insider

At the US Army’s Sniper School at Fort Benning in Georgia, students undergo some of the most grueling training the force offers.”Sniper school is one of the hardest schools in the military, not physically, but mentally,” Staff Sgt. Brian Moran, one of the 11 instructors who oversees the training, told the Army News Service.Army snipers face demanding missions and often operate with little or no support, and the training at Fort Benning tests their ability to work in isolation and under pressure.Below, you can see some of the rigorous and, for many, overwhelming training that Army sniper candidates endure:View As: One PageSlides

Over 300 candidates start the seven-week Sniper School course at Fort Benning each year. In early August, 46 soldiers were on hand for the first day. Each had already met demanding criteria, including navigation and marksmanship evaluations, physical-fitness tests, and psychological examinations.

Students listen to their instructor at the US Army Sniper School at Fort Benning, Georgia. US Army/Don WagnerSource:US Army

“Snipers are often deployed in small two-man teams, which requires a great deal of mental fortitude to remain focused on the task at hand,” said Moran, the Sniper School instructor. “If individuals have difficulty being isolated, there is a potential for mission failure.”

During their first week of training, sniper students at the US Army School at Fort Benning, Georgia, are given demanding physical training tests. US Army/Don WagnerSource:US Army

After a battery of physical-fitness tests on the first day, candidates are taught to make a ghillie suit — a camouflage suit that uses foliage to break up the outline of the soldier’s body.

A sniper school instructor at Fort Benning, Georgia, inspects camouflage after students prepared the top of their ghillie suits. US Army/Don WagnerSource:US Army

The first test of their new concealment comes hours later, crawling hundreds of feet through tall grass and a ditch filled with water, mud, rocks, and vegetation.

Students are taught camouflage and concealment techniques at the US Army Sniper School at Fort Benning, Georgia. US Army/Don WagnerSource:US Army

Part of the exercised requires students to carry and drag one another — testing their ability to help their comrades if one is wounded or incapacitated in the field. “The object of this training is to teach students that being a sniper can be a difficult and dirty job,” Moran said. “These are the conditions that snipers will often find themselves in.”

Students learn that being a sniper can be a difficult and dirty job during training at the US Army Sniper School, Fort Benning, Georgia. U.S. Army photo by Don WagnerSource:US Army

The second week of training sends them into the field to stalk a target, putting students’ patience and camouflage to the test. The Georgia heat and a variety of critters combine with instructors using high-powered optics to suss out prospective snipers. Stalking requires close attention to detail and “a high tolerance for discomfort,” Moran said. “Most of the students who are dropped from the sniper course have failed because of their lack of discipline.”

Students at the US Army Sniper School endure a constant supply of stressors; some physical, but mostly mental stressors. Students must pay attention to the smallest details in every subject of the sniper course. US Army/Don WagnerSource:US Army