Video: Can You Survive Sniper Training at Fort Benning?

Epoch Video
5/7/2019
Updated:
5/21/2019

To become a sniper in the U.S. army, one has to go through extensive training to learn basic infantry skills, marksmanship, field craft skills, concealment, survival, stalking and camouflage. During their time in basic training, soldiers learn about their rifles, prep their Ghillie Suits — a type of camouflage clothing that blends in with the environment — and learn how to stalk through the forest with maximum concealment during training at the U.S. Army’s Sniper School at Fort Benning, Georgia, according to AiirSource Military.

While many believe that shooting is the number one skill a sniper should learn, there are many other subjects soldiers study to become excellent snipers. According to thebalancecareers.com, shooting only accounts for 20 percent of the course at the Army Sniper School. Soldiers have to be in top physical condition, have 20/20 corrected vision and other qualifications ot become a sniper. Most of all, it takes a special kind of discipline and patience to be a sniper.

Snipers may sit in the same spot for hours on end for a mission, crawl through dense jungle or mud or be in a tense situation.

Whether or not they have the chops, the soldiers who’ve gone through this training have an experience they won’t soon forget.