Sniping today has evolved to a level nobody saw it coming 200 years ago, when sniping was first introduced into the military world.
Snipers today do not serve only as the team that eliminates a human threat. They also serve as the logistical background to air strikes, guiding them through the field. And when it comes to snipers, the United States of America have some of the best of them.
The key to survival on the field and success for snipers today is flexibility. US Army trains their snipers to be able to be effective on the streets of Baghdad, but also in the mountains as well. And it is all result of the Army Sniper School, a special school instituted in 1987 with a specific goal to train snipers in marksmanship, tactics, battlefield intelligence, sniper equipment, sniper tactics and stalking and other sniper-related skills.
Some of the exercises that snipers at the school participate is taking a shot at driver or passenger in a vehicle driving 800 meters far, identify a letter held by the instructor they fired upon, and much more.
The sniper teams are trained on new, and technologically improved sniper rifle. And in order to success, the instructors and performers study not only the new sniper rifle, but also history of snipping and how to improve on past mistakes.
But when the time comes, it all depends on one crucial skill that instructors cannot teach. That skill is “will you pull the trigger”?
