I came across this PDF the other day. I was pleasantly surprised to find a great article discussing the AMU Squad Designated Marksman course.
What surprised me is the blending of army SDM instructors with civilian CMP shooters side by side to coach. It was a forward thinking approach for an establishment like the army to integrate civilian marksmen with the institutionally trained soldiers, but unfortunately this program appears to be discontinued. When I asked Chris Hernandez about his experience in the Army SDM program; he confirmed that there were no civilian coaches present. The application for the civilian “MRI” coaches that I found also noted that the civilian program is no longer active. Bummer. That would have been a cool job!
Gear, shooting tips, great pics, overall a good article to read.
“Wind speed in mph multiplied by range in yards … take that and divide by 10 or 100 to get inches of drift.
For example, wind speed is 5 miles per hour. Distance to target is 500 yards.Five times 500 is 2,500. Then divide by 100, which equals 2.5 minutes of angle. Since a minute of angle is for 100 yards, and since you have five 100-hundred yard spans, you multiply 2.5 times 5. This is 12.5 inches of error if the wind is perpendicular to your round’s flight path, or “full value.” If the wind is coming in at a diagonal, or “half value,” cut 12.5 in half”
Check it out here.
Sounds interesting, but I think your link is broken. I can’t bring up the .pdf
Thanks for the update: Link is fixed!
[…] No, I haven’t gotten to attend the Army SDM school (as cool as that would be). But the New Rifleman has a post up about it today along with a .pdf article. Check it out. […]
early on in the Iraq war, the army realized the need for the DM, and many older Highpwer shooters were brought in. Most of the highpower writing staff for precision shooting magazine were part of this. They coached reading wind, how to utilize better optics and taught ballistics to soldiers who otherwise did not care or eve know. The program was a big hit at the time. If memory serves, the NRA facilitated some of these clinics as well. Later on the Army decided they didnt need the dedicated DMR rifle for the average units, Now most of the DM schools teach using the M4 with whatever they bring and using M855. During the civilian coaching era, MK 262 was provided in some cases, but then not allowed for use during the classes. Armalite, leupold and Trijicon also gave away gear to help these schools out with training and upgrading the optics on for some of the units there.
[…] responsible for engaging single targets from a well concealed position of his choosing. The designated marksman frequently has to engage targets from wherever he happens to be when the target presents itself. […]