Sky Soldiers Teach Marksmanship Skills

Defend America News ^ | Nov 22, 2005 | Staff Sgt. Jacob Caldwell

[SandRat]

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Nicholas Gaytangarner, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 508th Infantry Regiment (Airborne), shows a group of Afghan National Army soldiers a paper target that was fired at with an AK-47 set on automatic Nov. 18, 2005 at Kandahar Airfield. Only one round made it to the paper, none were on the target. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jacob Caldwell
Sky Soldiers Teach Marksmanship Skills
U.S. Army soldiers, along with Romanian and other coalition soldiers took the lead in teaching Afghan soldiers basic rifle marksmanship.
By Staff Sgt. Jacob Caldwell TF Bayonet Public Affairs KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Nov. 22, 2005 — Soldiers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade helped sharpen the marksmanship skills of Afghan National Army soldiers during Operation Atal Wali Nov. 12-19 at Kandahar Airfield. "Now they understand that they control their ammo, they control their posture, and when they fire they know they will hit the target," Staff Sgt. Edward King, marksmanship instructor. Soldiers from Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 508th Infantry Regiment (Airborne), along with Romanian and other Coalition soldiers took the lead in teaching Afghan soldiers from the 1st Kandak, 2nd Brigade, 205th Corps basic rifle marksmanship. “We split it up into three phases,” said U.S. Army 1st Lt. Eric Nelson, 2nd Platoon Leader and Officer-In-Charge of the range. “The first phase was pre-marksmanship instruction. We taught them much the same as what our privates get taught in basic training. We taught them the four fundamentals of marksmanship using some of the same techniques like the dime and washer drills, the shadow box, and blocks of instruction.” “Then we went on to the second phase which was zeroing,” said Nelson, “which was something new for them. We had a lot of help from our international allies, especially the Romanian Black Wolf battalion that is here (at Kandahar Airfield).” “Then we went into the third phase which was our close-quarters marksmanship classes,” said Nelson. On Nov. 18 the Sky Soldiers ended the day’s exercises with an eye-opening demonstration for the ANA soldiers, showing the effectiveness of firing two-round controlled pairs versus firing a spray of bullets in full automatic mode. “Now they understand that they control their ammo, they control their posture, and when they fire they know they will hit the target,” said Staff Sgt. Edward King, marksmanship instructor. “Everyone knows that in full auto you kind of spray and slay in every direction and you really can’t tell where the bullets are going.” “This gives them an idea of what it’s like to shoot controlled pairs versus full auto and understand that they are more likely to hit the enemy or the Taliban,” King added. King believes the message hit home when the ANA soldiers saw the paper target silhouettes after the demonstration. Twenty rounds were fired by one ANA soldier at a silhouette in controlled pairs, while 30 rounds were fired at	U.S. Army Sgt. Matthew Delacruz, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 508th Infantry Regiment (Airborne), acts as a range safety and gives instruction to an Afghan National Army Soldier Nov. 18 at Kandahar Airfield. Soldiers from the 508th taught basic rifle marksmanship and close-quarters combat classes during operation Atal Wali. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jacob Caldwell a second silhouette by an AK-47 set on automatic. All 20 rounds fired in controlled pairs were on target, while one only round fired on automatic made it to the paper. “It does help them to see that visually,” said King. The Afghan soldiers motivation and receptiveness to the training exceeded all expectations, according to Nelson. “We only asked for one company a day in the final three days, but they brought their whole battalion anyway because they all wanted to train. So we made it happen and I think we improved their marksmanship skills,” said Nelson. “Our higher purpose was to get their chain-of-command and junior leaders to be able to start similar training exercises on their own,” said Nelson. “I hope we have that effect. I think we have, because towards the end of the exercise, we have seen some of their own leaders teaching them some of the things we were teaching them on the first day.”

[SandRat]

SKY SOLDIERS PING

[Farmer Dean]

Every shot that misses the target is useless fireworks.

[Fido969]

That's why I don't like these articles, let Amad just keep doing what he is doing. From what I've hear most of these enemy "militia" guys just spray and if the GIs can catch their breath and have a second to aim, send Mohammad right to AWR with a couple of carefully and quickly squeezed pops.

[E.G.C.]

BTTT