Photo By Tech. Sgt. David Sherman | U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Brandon Herber, senior enlisted leader, 122nd...... read more read more
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FORT CUSTER TRAINING CENTER, Mich. – A serene fog rests upon the rolling hills on the long-distance shooting range of the Fort Custer Training Center near Battle Creek, Michigan. Metal plates in the shape of man-sized silhouettes are placed at various unknown distances stretching away into the mist.
A group of 24 Airmen and law enforcement officers toting rifles with advanced optics crunch along a gravel road that leads up to a staging area behind the firing positions. These men and women are on the fourth day of an intensive week-long training to become designated marksmen.
“The mission of a designated marksman is to operate as a normal rifleman on a squad,” said Chief Master Sgt. Brandon Herber, the senior enlisted leader for the 122nd Security Forces Squadron in Fort Wayne, Indiana. “Their secondary mission is to engage key targets out to 600 meters with their standard issue rifle.”
At that distance, however, it is not a simple matter of lining up the crosshairs. Participants receive brief but thorough instruction in the fundamentals of marksmanship, target detection, range estimation and ballistics. Herber says that the unknown distance shoot is where it all comes together.
“They don’t know how far the target is, so they have to use what they’ve learned to range the target,” Herber said. “They have to use their ballistics training to read the environmental factors, like the wind, that are going to move the round impacting the target.” All of which, Herber says, is designed to result in a one-shot hit on the target.
The training is highly sought after and attracts attendees from U.S. military units stationed around the globe, such as Osan Air Base in Korea. This summer’s iteration brought participants from across the nation, from Hawaii to New York. Two Indiana conservation officers and a Purdue Fort Wayne police officer also attended. Despite the high demand, Herber typically limits attendance to one member per unit with the intent of helping them to become instructors in their own right.
“The intent is to distribute the knowledge,” Herber said. “I give them all the lesson plans, all the material so that way they can take it back to their unit and get their units out and train, too.”
Most units have to settle for simulating distance by using smaller targets on a 25-meter shooting range, but that does not allow for factors they would have to compensate for in a real-world situation, like elevation and wind. Most participants felt that practicing spotting and wind call were two of the most valuable parts of the course.
“It’s something I’ve never done,” said Airman 1st Class Jordan Hart, security forces, 233rd Security Forces Squadron, Greeley Air National Guard Station, Colorado. “Being able to bring that knowledge back [to my unit] has been my favorite part.”
“Seeing impacts and seeing trace, that’s by far the hardest thing we’re doing right now,” said Isaac Saxton, Indiana conservation officer assigned to Allen County. Trace is the subtle disturbance of vapor that indicates a bullet’s path through the air. “A good spotter can see that and help the shooter make adjustments.”
Conservation officers primarily help ensure hunters are following fish and game laws, which often requires them to venture alone into hundreds of acres of wilderness. Occasionally, they have to confront poachers who carry high-powered rifles or other armed criminals who may be inclined to shoot law enforcement on sight.
“If we have that guy out in the field and we’re dealing with him, he doesn’t want to go to prison, and the likelihood that we’re getting shot at is pretty high,” said Adam Bailey, an Indiana conservation officer assigned to Huntington County. “So being able to engage that active threat, if we need to, at a distance is way better than engaging it with a handgun.”
For Herber, one of the most rewarding parts of offering this training is seeing the rapid progress members make over a short period of time. That day, one of Herber’s students coached the author of this piece, someone with no long-distance shooting experience, to consistently hit targets far beyond expectations.
“[We are] taking them from where they don’t have a base of knowledge to literally this moment on the range where they’re firing first-round hits on targets out to 600 meters,” Herber said. “That just tells me that we did something right.”
In fact, Herber’s designated marksman course achieves in four days what other armed forces components usually take two to three weeks to accomplish. The course thrives on its relatively small class size and response to participants’ feedback.
“It’s changed a lot from where it was ten years ago to now,” Herber said. “It’s not uncommon for them to say it’s some of the best training they’ve ever had, and I take that to heart.”
| Date Taken: | 08.29.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 09.15.2024 13:37 |
| Story ID: | 480052 |
| Location: | FORT CUSTER, MICHIGAN, US |
| Hometown: | FORT WAYNE, INDIANA, US |
| Web Views: | 178 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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