Snipers stalk their leaders

by SFC Brandon Aird

Two Soldiers were scanning the terrain with binoculars. They were looking for any signs of movement in the tall brush that spanned over 700 meters in front of them. They were perfectly positioned on top of a hill that overlooked the valley.

Somewhere in the valley before them were six snipers. The snipers were crawling on their hands and knees through tall grass inching their way forward. What is known in the sniper community as stalking. The snipers goal was to get within range to take a shot at the Soldiers on the hill.

It was a cold December day and luckily for the two Soldiers on the hill the snipers were only armed with blanks.

The Soldiers on the hill and the snipers in the grass are both from the Sniper Section at, 1st Battalion, 72nd Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division. The Soldiers were conducting their first winter stalk training at Montana Range, South Korea, Dec. 20.

“The whole goal of today is to sneak up on our platoon leader and sniper section sergeant without being seen and take two shots undetected,” said Spc. Justin Owens, from Denver. “After we take the first shot the platoon leader holds up a sign and we identify the letters on the sign, which confirms we have eyes on target.

The sniper section tries to come out to Montana Range every other month for training, according to Sgt. Daniel Schroeter, sniper section sergeant.

The sniper section has recently been revamped and many of the snipers are new.

“Four out of the six snipers are participating in their first stalk today,” said Pfc. Carlos Apodaca, who was on his eighth stalk.

The new snipers have worked for weeks on their ghillie suits.

“It takes two to four weeks to make a ghillie suit,” said Apodaca, who is from La Junta, Colo. “The suits are made out of anything and everything. The Army doesn’t have a pre-made ghillie suit for snipers. Snipers help each other and find most of the material from other Army equipment.”

The new snipers did exceptionally well on their suits and today’s stalk, he said.

“I and the L.T. [platoon leader] weren’t able to locate any of them during the stalk,” Schroeter added.

The snipers spent two days at Montana Range practicing stalking and shooting.

“At times it’s nice to get out with the boys and do some training,” said Pfc. Cameron Tucker, from Central Point, Ore. “I had a lot of fun and look forward to coming out here again.”

• From the Indianhead

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