Canadian Army snipers gain from Afghanistan experience.

• Author: Tiron, Roxana

Drawing from their combat experience in Afghanistan, Canadian Army snipers are taking steps to improve their organization and equipment. Canada has approximately 2,000 soldiers in Afghanistan, as part of the North Atlantic Treaty, Organization stabilization force. In support of the U.S.-led ground war, Canada deployed a 750-member infantry battalion from January to July 2002.

Canadian snipers unofficially were credited with killing 20 Al-Qaeda members during Operation Anaconda in the Shahi Kot Valley. Two sniper teams also were recommended for the U.S. Bronze Star.

The Canadian Army has a total of 317 qualified snipers, but not all of them are employed as such, Warrant Officer George Williams told National Defense. There are nine battalions in the Army, and each has eight snipers, he said. That number is poised to grow in the future, according to Williams.

The missions of the snipers depend on what the battalion does, explained Williams. "If our battalion is exercising a defensive role, then we employ our snipers in a defensive role, whether with an actual unit, forward or behind," he said. "We may send them forward to secure a place in advance, [or] put them behind friendly troops to protect them."

Before becoming snipers, Canadian soldiers have to score well on their annual weapons test, and also have to be physically fit, Williams said.

The biggest prerequisite, however, "is that you have to be a basic reconnaissance patrolman," he said. It's practically a guarantee that the candidates will be highly qualified, became reconnaissance troops already have received specialized training, he said. "The skills that they learn on the course also help them in the sniper course."

In the past, however, the fact that snipers already were trained as reconnaissance patrolmen made sustaining their sniper skills problematic, because their battalion would employ them as scouts instead of sharpshooters.

In Afghanistan, "our snipers proved how they can influence the battlefield," said Williams. For that reason, commanders now "look at it differently and allow the snipers to do their own thing."

The basic sniper course lasts nine weeks, compared to the five-week U.S. Army course, said Williams.

"We cover conventional shooting. We cover field firing shooting, which is [based on] unknown distance, and the sniper has to judge the distance to the target," said Williams. Students have to judge distance to a target within 5 percent--from 100 meters to 1,000...