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Improving Army marksmanship: regaining the initiative in the infantryman's hale kilometer
Infantry Magazine, July-August, 2006 by David Liwanag
Distinctive badges and awards already exist to recognize competitive marksmanship expertise and achievement. Bronze and silver EIC marksmanship badges are of higher precedence than standard marksman, sharpshooter, and expert badges, with gold Distinguished Rifleman and Distinguished Pistol Shot highest in precedence. Badges and points are awarded for finishing in the top 10 percent of all competitors in announced EIC matches. No sighter or zero shots are fired in EIC matches.
The President's Hundred tab is awarded to the top 100 shooters in the President's Rifle and President's Pistol Matches at the annual National Matches held at Camp Perry, Ohio. The respective champions receive a commendation letter signed by the President of the United States.
Regulations governing the permanent wear of Excellence-in-Competition badges and the President's Hundred Tab are outlined in AR 670-1.
The USAMU resumed hosting the Army Small Arms Championships at Fort Benning in March 2004. The All-Army Championships help the USAMU, Army Reserve, and National Guard (combined Army and Air Guard) Rifle and Pistol Teams identify talented Soldiers who may be asked to shoot the summer-season TDY. Soldiers represent their components at Interservice and National Championships.
The National Guard Marksmanship Training Unit (NGMTU) at Camp Robinson sponsors the Winston P. Wilson matches, international Armed Forces Skill-at-Arms Meeting, and international Interservice Small Arms Championships. These competitions include combat rifle and pistol matches, machine gun matches, sniper matches, and rifle and EIC matches. They are excellent opportunities to develop advanced combat marksmanship skills.
The USAMU and NGMTC can provide assistance to establish and run brigade-level and above marksmanship competition programs. USAMU recently helped establish an EIC match program for Special Operations Forces and MACOM combat rifle and pistol matches for the Joint Special Operations Command.
Squad Designated Marksman
Army marksmanship doctrine and the new Stryker concept both identify Squad Designated Marksmen (DMs) as Soldiers armed with the standard rifle or carbine, with or without an optical sight, who engage and kill targets to 500 meters (training is specified in FM 3-22.9). A DM equipped with a modified M16 and optical sight may be exceptionally effective at covering ground from 200 to 500 meters. The Soviets historically filled similar requirements with squad and platoon marksmen armed with the 7.62 x 54mm SVD semiautomatic rifle, and the U.S. Marine Corps is studying using accurized M14s and M16s as DM and Squad Advanced Marksman (SAM) rifles. The 82nd and 101 st Airborne Divisions (equipped exclusively with M4 carbines), the 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), and the 1st Cavalry Division recently pulled 7.62mm M14 rifles from Army stocks to serve as DM weapons.
The M16 can be modified to provide exceptional accuracy with combat reliability. Since 1993, most Interservice and National records set with either the M 1 or M 14 have been broken by shooters using the M16. One of the most successful individual weapons to emerge since 9/11 is the modernized M16A1 rifle (designated Mark 12 SOF Precision Rifle, or SPR by the United States Special Operations Command). The Army G3 approved a Designated Marksman-modified M 16A4 for the 3rd Infantry Division for use in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2005.
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