After I posted comments to the firearms regulation list on army marksmanship I have been receiving a number of inspiring e-mails from civilian marksmanship instructors that are assisting the US Army. Please see one of the e-mails below. A txt version of the article on Army marksmanship can be found at the following link:
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0IAV/is_4_95/ai_n16884008 More on the author Lieutentant Colonel David Liwanag can be found here: http://www.militarymarksmanship.org/usamucdr.htm Thanks, Rich Dr. Griffiths: Someone forwarded me a copy of your email regarding the current state of marksmanship training in the US Army. I am well acquainted with this issue and for that reason volunteered my services to help train Army marksmen in the new Designated Squad Marksman program (DSM), that the US Army and the CMP are currently undertaking. The Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU), requested my services because of my experience as a high power rifle coach and master-class high-power competitor for many 15 years. In all, there are currently about 40 of us civilian military rifle instructors providing our services on a voluntary basis to support the military's urgent need to train marksmen to hit targets consistently and effectively beyond 300 meters. We are training Army marksmen how to shoot from 300 meters to over 700 meters using a new M16-A4 semi-automatic weapon that is based on the same match AR-15 that we use in competition. The rifle is equipped with a match 1-7 twist barrel to stabilize the heavier 77 gr. Sierra match bullet. The barrel is floated inside a Daniel Defense System rail and is equipped with a 2-stage competition trigger and Trijicon Acog combat scope, as well. Due to the fact that the Army does not have sufficiently experienced long range shooting coaches, they tapped the resources of the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP), to work closely with the AMU to round up experienced long range competitors to provide the quality of training that is required. In a little over a year since the program was initiated, the results are proving to be overwhelmingly successful, the civilian military rifle instructors have handled the task with rave reviews. I built a clone of the M16-A4 weapon to practice with, and can easily place a 5-shot group inside a handprint at 500 yards; and consistently place shots in the center of a 19-in silhouette target at 700 yards. So, there is no problem with Army marksmen not having confidence in this weapon hitting targets at longer ranges than they have ever been able to shoot at. The overall problem is that the military has never trained their troops how to shoot with accuracy past 200 yards. I know this for a fact because I was in the Army for several years and fired a weapon that was not designed to be shot at longer ranges. Based on the experiences learned in the DSM training program, I am sure that the military will have to expand this program to be able to train greater numbers of marksmen and to build a larger quantity of M16-A4's in less time. The M16-A4 is currently being assembled from components by the AMU at Ft. Benning, GA., and the need far surpasses the ability of the AMU to keep up with the demand. By the way, I am leaving on the 28 of January to train another class of 100 Army marksmen at Ft. Benning prior to their deployment to Afghanistan and Iraq. There are 4 of us assigned to this particular class. Anyway, if you would, please send me the PDF copy of the article in "Infantry" magazine. I would be most interested in reading this article and sharing the information with my fellow DSM trainers. ________________________________________________________________________ Check out the new AOL. Most comprehensive set of free safety and security tools, free access to millions of high-quality videos from across the web, free AOL Mail and more.
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