SEAL Snipers Succeed

The perfectly executed SEAL sniper rescue of Captain Richard Phillips on 12 April 2009 should come as no surprise to anyone who has observed these superb marksmen shooting. While instructing at GunsiteTraining Center, I twice had groups of SEAL snipers attend courses and found them to be extremely well trained (before they got there!) and constantly looking for new shooting techniques and challenges. Their standard rifle -- a .300 Winchester Magnum, custom-built Remington 700 bolt action -- was extremely accurate. They fired the so-called, "Navy load," a 190-grain match bullet. Firing one student's rifle, I managed to shoot a one-hole group at 100 yards that was well under 1/2 minute (actuallly, it measured only slightly more than the bullet diameter)

  Some Sunday morning quarterbacks may minimize what it took to make those 3 shots at "only" 25 meters -- but the real challenge was firing simultaneously, from a rocking ship's deck -- and without hitting the hostage. This was as much a challenge of mental focus and confidence as shooting skill. Only people who have had to take a shot in genuinely trying circumstances will fully appreciate how easily something could have gone wrong -- but it didn't because these shooters were mentally and physically ready. I can only salute them as fine shooters who could do it when it really mattered.

MAJOR JOHN PLASTER, U.S. Army Special Forces (ret)