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What is the path that someone must take to become a FFL sniper?

Joseph Cosgrove

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Sent to me from Ossie O. It certainly looks as though the legion is moving in the right direction:

 

Surfguy

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Sent to me from Ossie O. It certainly looks as though the legion is moving in the right direction:

You can see the Kestrel calculator at 0.30 onwards , confirms my point about not being able to take accurate very long shots without using science, Kestrel.
 
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Joseph Cosgrove

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For those who are going to join and have already laid out their career, i.e. REP, Cpl's course and then GCP (or DINOPS), here is an avant-goût to what you will be handling, courtesy of Ossie O.
Translation courtesy of myself and google translate ;)

http://www.opex360.com/2018/06/17/m...cision-francais-destine-aux-forces-speciales/


Contrary to what is supposed to be the replacement of the FAMAS by the German-made HK-416F, there are still French gunsmiths who can design and manufacture rifles for the armed forces. At least this is the case of PGM Précision, a company based in Poisy, Haute-Savoie. However, the latter, recognized worldwide [8,000 weapons sold for export, ed], operates in what is called a "niche" market, ie marksmanship. Founded in 1991, PGM Precision supplies Hecate II rifles to special forces (where it replaced the McMillan M87), GIGN and RAID. This weapon also equips other foreign elite units, including the Polish Operational Response and Maneuver Group, the Army Reconnaissance Detachment 10 in Switzerland and the Special Operations Battalion of the Brazilian Navy. "In 1995, in the midst of the Bosnian conflict, the French army ordered Hecate II, reputed to be the best weapon in the world in its caliber," says PGM Précision. In early June, just before the 2018 edition of the Eurosatory land armament exhibition, PGM Précision launched the latest in its catalog: the mini Hecate II, whose development has required more than five years of work. Less heavy and more ergonomic, the mini Hecate II, caliber 338 LM, was specially designed to meet the needs of special forces. With a range of 1,400 meters, this weapon is made to "treat intermediate objectives between the 308 W and the caliber 50," says the gunsmith. "The innovative modularity of the two-point bipod and the breech-folding stick make this weapon the tactical tool for all missions," he adds.


A priori, this new sniper rifle would have already been tested by the Special Operations Command [COS]. As pointed out by François Brion, the director of PGM Précision, in an interview with the daily Les Échos in 2015, the French army is "a showcase" and "there is not a unit in France that is not equipped of one of our weapons. And to recall that "it is also with France that our activity was born. " To ensure the production of its weapons, the gunsmith is backed by the French group Teissier, specializing in mechanical and precsion machining, surface treatment of metals and assembly of mechanical parts. PGM benefits from the expertise of this high-Savoyard group with prestigious references in the field of armaments, aeronautics, robotics, medical and luxury. This French know-how comes in the high precision weapons that PGM designs and improves constantly, "says the company. More: The mini Hecate II datasheet: http://www.pgmprecision.com/en/precision-files/21-mini-hecate-2.html
 

ricktn40

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Like in any army:

1. Being good to go
2. Some luck
What are the steps to end up doing a sniper job in the Legion? Are they exclusive to the REP? Do the GCP have their own snipers or do they ‘import’ from the regiments?
In my day is was a Speciality what we yanks call an M.O.S. Tireur d'élite
It was a stage course like Transmissions ( comms) Mechanics ect... Stage Commado I have no idea nor can answer your question but like all the other bloggers make it the first year without incidents, Aquire the French Language. Snap in, Plenty of time to plan your agenda. They encourage your motivation for advancement.
 
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What are the steps to end up doing a sniper job in the Legion? Are they exclusive to the REP? Do the GCP have their own snipers or do they ‘import’ from the regiments?
First of all...go there,do your best,pass all the tests,and hope that the commision will select you..
 
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Everyone has an aim when joining the Armed Forces. Mine was to become a Commando. To do so I had to undertake a very rigorous training regime. This was followed by the very arduous commando course itself.

Then and then only could I specialise. The same applies to the FFL.

Chas former SF Club member...…..now an old fart with my old fart's T. Shirt.
 

mark wake

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Everyone has an aim when joining the Armed Forces. Mine was to become a Commando. To do so I had to undertake a very rigorous training regime. This was followed by the very arduous commando course itself.

Then and then only could I specialise. The same applies to the FFL.

Chas former SF Club member...…..now an old fart with my old fart's T. Shirt.
Ah! It’s good to be an old fart!
 

Pink Floyd

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Sniper?...If you cannot hit the side of a barn with a baseball bat forget it. Try and get some weapons handling, and most importantly, digest the the 4 marksmanship principles out in the elements before knocking on the big gate.
 

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Canadian snipers are excellent. They hold 3 of the top five places for distance kills. The longest confirmed kill, taking in the curvature of the earths surface was 2.475 metres or 1.5 miles.

For actual kills in Afghanistan a current serving RM sniper had 173 confirmed kills. One at extreme distance, but as yet I can't confirm how far. His kills involved all skills required for this specialisation. Stalking and withdrawals from exposed positions formed a major factor in his successes. He is well renowned for his field craft.

This individual RM success is rather more than the greatly acclaimed USN Seal Chris Kyle, who had a film made about him.

Our Royal Marine shuns all publicity and long may that remain the case.


I don't know what it is about the Navy Seals and their desire to be recognized, must be an inferiority complex. American Sniper was pure shit movie wise, horrible. No Navy Seal has to take it upon himself to leave his over watch as it is portrayed in American Sniper to show Marine Infantry how to breech buildings, pure bullshit or Hollywood hype.
 

canuckroyal

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Canadian snipers are excellent. They hold 3 of the top five places for distance kills. The longest confirmed kill, taking in the curvature of the earths surface was 2.475 metres or 1.5 miles.

For actual kills in Afghanistan a current serving RM sniper had 173 confirmed kills. One at extreme distance, but as yet I can't confirm how far. His kills involved all skills required for this specialisation. Stalking and withdrawals from exposed positions formed a major factor in his successes. He is well renowned for his field craft.

This individual RM success is rather more than the greatly acclaimed USN Seal Chris Kyle, who had a film made about him.

Our Royal Marine shuns all publicity and long may that remain the case.

There is actually a couple of reasons for this and it has nothing really to do with any specific training we do in the CAF that other Armies don't do.

Canada has a large amount of guns and gun owners and much of our Army is filled with White kids from small towns and rural areas that learned how to shoot and hunt at a young age.

These folk end up making excellent Snipers because there skills were developed at a young age, all the Army does is sharpen the blade so to speak.

The reality is shooting is a very small part of the Sniper's job. Reconnaissance is the real goal. Stalking, concealment, putting depth between you and your target. All very difficult skills to master.

I don't necessarily think I would enjoy pissing in a diaper and sitting on a position for 72 hrs though so not my cup of tea.
 

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The role of a sniper really is 1st to act as an overwatch for Infantry, gather intelligence, and last to eliminate the threat of IED placement, that is to fire and kill the threat in the act.

Snipers are a very special breed they are often inserted with their spotter and they can spend days and days getting into the observation position or into position to take the shot.

Their ability to expertly understand cover and camouflage and the art of stalking into position is their most valuable skill. Second is making that center mast shot from very long distance and exfiltration without being discovered.

Earlier in the post there was discussion about Gunnery Sergeant Carlos Hathcock, a Marine Sniper during the Vietnam era. Read his book Marine Sniper and you will have a better understanding and the proper deployment of snipers, not that Navy Seal Bullshine.
 

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I`d imagine a snipers job is more difficult than ever these days , relatively cheap hand help thermal imagers can see man at up to a mile .
 

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I`d imagine a snipers job is more difficult than ever these days , relatively cheap hand help thermal imagers can see man at up to a mile .

It is. Again, they are often alone with their spotter, the spotter has in put with distance and wind speed to adjust elevation and windage.

In 2004 Faluajah, when 1st MEF (Marine Expeditionary Force) , General Mattis was the Commanding General, we took over from the Army, 82nd Airborne, commanded General Ordinero, what a Duo, General Mattis is the US Sec. of Defense and General Ordinero became the Chief of Staff for the US Army, the same as the Marine Corps Commandant!

Well when we took over the Army would just blow threw an ambush and continue on if possible. The USMC and General Mattis had a much different approach, we would stop, engage, and decimated the enemy.

A tactic was to fake a convoy break down, and under cover a sniper team or more was dropped off in Faluajah and they would make their way into position ALONE.

Team would observe, kill IED placement individuals, or act as overwatch, that is cover Infantry maneuvers and kill threats, the premise for the movie about Chris Kyle. They were called Guardian Angels.
 

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Killing Spree of Lady Death

lyudmila-pavlichenko.jpg
Soviet sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko
by Ray Setterfield

Event Date: July 12, 1930
Location: Kiev, Ukraine, Soviet Union
Many called her Lady Death. To Adolf Hitler's men, she was "the Russian bitch from hell." Lyudmila Pavlichenko, who was born on this day, is the most successful female sniper in history, having killed 309 German soldiers during the Second World War.

Born near Kiev in the Ukraine, Pavlichenko worked as a metal grinder in a munitions factory. While doing that, she joined a paramilitary youth sport group that taught weapons skills and etiquette. After a neighbour’s son boasted of his shooting ability Pavlichenko “set out to show a girl could do as well. So I practised a lot.”

Later, she studied history at Kiev University, where she competed as a sprinter and pole vaulter and trained at a sniper’s school.

When Hitler sent German troops and Romanian allies into the Soviet Union in June, 1941 Pavlichenko volunteered for the Red Army and was intent on becoming a sniper.

They wanted her to become a nurse instead, but relented when she passed an impromptu "audition". At a hill near Odessa that the Russians were defending, Pavlichenko was handed a rifle with a telescopic sight and told to shoot at two distant Romanians who were collaborating with the Germans.

“When I picked off the two, I was accepted,” she said.

Pavlichenko was briefly paralysed by fear on her first day on the battlefield, unable to raise her weapon until a young Russian soldier beside her was shot dead. “He was such a nice, happy boy,” she recalled. “And he was killed just next to me. After that, nothing could stop me.”

Pavlichenko operated for about two and a half months near Odessa where she recorded 187 kills. Her unit was then sent to Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula where she fought for more than eight months.

One of 2,000 female snipers in the Red Army, Pavlichenko's total of confirmed kills was 309, including 36 enemy snipers.

At one stage, the Germans, who had labelled her as "the Russian bitch from hell," were so desperate to stop her that they blared radio messages: “Lyudmila Pavlichenko, come over to us. We will give you plenty of chocolate and make you a German officer.”

In June 1942, Pavlichenko was wounded and because of her growing status, withdrawn from combat. She was sent to America to enlist support for a “second front” in Europe, to divide German forces and relieve pressure on Soviet troops.

Visiting President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Pavlichenko was the first Soviet citizen welcomed at the White House. She was then invited to go on a tour of 43 cities to tell Americans of her experiences as a woman in combat.

In Chicago she told a large crowd: "I am 25 years old and I have killed 309 fascists. Gentlemen, don't you think that you have been hiding behind my back for too long?"

Asked how she felt about killing, Pavlichenko said: “Every German who remains alive will kill women, children and old folks. Dead Germans are harmless. Therefore, if I kill a German, I am saving lives.”

After the war she completed her education as a historian at Kiev University and became a research assistant for the Soviet navy. She died in 1974, aged 58.
Published: June 13, 2018
 
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