5. Mission.
The mission of the Scout-Sniper Platoon is to support the Infantry/Reconnaissance Battalions by providing a specially trained and equipped unit capable of rendering sniper support in combat operations by providing personnel trained to kill individual enemy soldiers with single rifle shots from positions of concealment.
6. Organization.
Reference (b) promulgated detailed instructions concerning the organization of the Scout-Sniper Platoon within the Infantry Division.
a. Infantry Regiment organization consists of 3 squads of 5 two-man teams and a squad leader each, a noncommissioned officer in charge (NCOIC), a Rifle Team Equipment (RTE) armorer, and an Officer-in-Charge with a total strength of 1 officer and 35 enlisted.
b. The Reconnaissance Battalion organization consists of 4 squads of 3 two-man teams and a squad leader each, an NCOIC, and RTE armorer, and an Officer-in-Charge with a total strength of 1 officer and 30 enlisted.
7. Consideration for Employment.
a. Conventional Offensive. The capability of snipers to support infantry offensive action by precision destructive/neutralizing fires is invaluable. Snipers with telescopes have the distinct advantage of being able to see as much as nine times better (with 9X scope) than the infantry personnel being supported. Neutralization of enemy automatic weapons and defensive positions is facilitated by the utilization of optics. As advancing infantry elements continue in the advance, snipers must displace to forward echelon to effectively support the offense by fire. Depending upon the size of the objective, snipers may be massed to render proportionately more support. Upon seizure of the objective, pursuit by fire phase is enhanced by the presence of snipers.
b. Conventional Defensive. The effective range and optical advantage of sniper rifles used in defensive situations causes premature deployment of enemy elements and unquestionably creates a tremendous psychological demoralizing impact upon the enemy. Officers, NCOs, and crew-served weapons are likely targets. Variable telescopes with magnification at low power possess the capability of acquiring targets over rice paddies at ranges up to 600 meters when a full moon is evident. While the ability to penetrate heavy foliage and tree lines is limited, distinct objects such as monuments, pagodas, etc. may be identified. Conventional iron sights do not have this capability. With telescopic sights, an additional hour of effective shooting time, with accuracy, is possible. This capability denies the enemy movement during first light and at dusk.
c. Attachment to Patrols. Experience has shown that the VC/NVA invariably take patrols under small arms fire from concealment. Firing is sporadic, of short duration, and because of the dense foliage it is extremely difficult to detect the source. Snipers, attached to patrols, with telescopic sights have the capability of acquiring targets more readily than other patrol members without benefit of optics. Additionally, their long-range accuracy denies the enemy the ability to close and therefore minimizes the accuracy of their weapons. In built-up areas, targets frequently cannot be taken under fire by area-type weapons (mortars, artillery, and air strikes) because of the proximity of innocent civilians. The capability of the sniper in delivering precision, long-range fire is a tremendous asset to the patrol.
d. Daylight Ambush—Extended. This type employment is used in selected areas where there is likelihood of encountering VC/NVA. The concept of employment provides for the sniper team, with infantry protection, moving to a preselected ambush site under cover of darkness and being in position by first light. Surveillance is maintained throughout the day. Withdrawal is made after darkness. Snipers, with the dual capability of adjusting artillery fire, take identifiable targets under fire with artillery or sniper fire depending on the size of the target. Survivors of observed artillery fire are taken under fire by the sniper.
e. Daylight Ambush—Close. Close ambushes are those sniper team ambushes within approximately 300 meters of friendly positions. To avoid possible capture or destruction the sniper team is covered by friendly fires. The 300 meters, coupled with the 1,000-meter range of the weapon, theoretically denies the enemy movement within 1,300 meters of friendly positions and accordingly minimizes the effect of enemy sniper fire and surveillance. This type of employment also involves assumption of the preselected ambush site prior to daybreak and withdrawal after darkness has followed.
f. Countersniper. In situations wherein friendly positions receive small arms fire on successive days from the same general location, snipers are employed to decrease the enemy’s effectiveness by delivering accurate counter-sniper fire. The distinct advantage lies in the sniper weapon’s precision fire capability when firing into built-up areas, which normally preclude the utilization of automatic weapons or supporting arms.
g. Blocking Positions. Sniper teams attached to infantry elements in blocking positions have been used extensively and effectively in conjunction with search-and-destroy operations. The enemy is taken under fire when driven into the blocking positions or while attempting to evade capture. The sniper rifle’s accuracy, range, and telescopic sights permit long-range fires at targets which normally are too far distant to allow positive identification. This capability, in effect, precludes indiscriminate firing at innocent indigenous who have inadvertently wandered into the area of operations.
8. Employment of Attached Snipers.
a. Employment of snipers in both an offensive and defensive role is generally limited only by the imagination. Types of employment for which snipers are suitably equipped and trained are as follows:
(1) Execution of long-range (500–1,000 meters) daylight ambushes.
(a) To kill and harass the enemy by precision fire.
(b) Striking fear in the enemy by the psychological aspects derived from long-range, accurate small arms fire.
(2) Daylight patrols—Providing the terrain is suited for long-range, accurate fire in support of patrol activities.
(3) Blocking forces—Cover likely avenues of approach.
(4) Offense
(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.
9. 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
*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.
APPENDIX E
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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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 examp
les 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.
7. 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.
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