I know your angle...I just didn't want to get side tracked. The Army has fine snipers...almost as good as Marine snipers.
My point red is that there was no reason to bring a SEAL team in. Marine snipers were already in the area and could have been in position within a couple of hours. I guess the SEALs needed an easy mission to build their confidence...after all, it is rare that they are so successful...which is why I referred to it as a training exercise.
Well, there is the annual International Sniper Competition held at Ft. Benning every year. Army, Marine, Navy, and foriegn military teams take part. The US Army Markmanship Unit won the last two competitions. LINK The longest confirmed sniper kill in combat was from the Canadians who have been a local legend in Afghanistan. One and a half miles! LINK
Enough said. Home cooking. Also, there is a lot more to being a good sniper than just being able to make the shot. Any monkey can take a shot...the hardest part is sometimes getting the shot.
A couple of things really grabbed my attention in that story. 1. Do the Canadians really have the world's best snipers? 2. The sniper weapon of choice is a 50-calibre? Jeez, that will practically do a man no matter where you hit him! 3. The Canadians were doing well the moment they hit the ground, but they didn't start hitting the really far out targets until they began using American ammo.:usaflagwa
And the range! I got to fire an M2 once complete with tracers and for all practical purposes, you can shoot as far as you can see.
And then some.....I don't know about you, but I don't think I could see a person at 2.4 km. Furlong even mentioned in the story that all he could see through the scope were shapes, no faces.
