Vanguard soldiers earn coveted German shooter’s badge

Photo By Spc. Jazz Burney | Soldiers with 2nd Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, 170th Infantry Brigade Combat Team fill out weapons score sheets during a German Army weapons qualification called Schutzenschnur at Forward Operating Base Kunduz, Afghanistan. More than 100 Vanguard participated in the event.  

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KUNDUZ, AFGHANISTAN

05.15.2011

Story by Sgt. Jazz Burney 

170th Infantry Brigade Combat Team

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KUNDUZ, Afghanistan – Gunshots echoed and the metallic sound of rounds being locked and reloaded into weapons could be heard as more than 100 Vanguard soldiers participated in a German weapons qualification held here to earn a marksmanship badge called Schutzenschnur.

Soldiers with 2nd Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, 170th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, based out of Baumholder, Germany, conduct joint patrols with their German counterparts throughout Kunduz province. In a small gesture of gratitude for the partnership, German soldiers expressed a desire to hold a range for U.S. Army soldiers to earn their country’s weapons badge during May.

“By having this event it is a great way of saying thank you for the great support of 2-18 Infantry and their soldiers,” said 1st Lt. Thomas Gohritz, a German liaison officer from 263rd Airborne Infantry Battalion.

Inside a compound surrounded by walls of sediment filled barriers lined with multiple layers of razor wire, soldiers fired rounds under the careful observation of German soldiers.

The Schutzenschnur, or translated shooter’s rope, is a silver colored rope with a metal badge attached to it. In the center of the badge, an eagle is surrounded by a wreath of oak leaves. The badge is one of three German medals U.S. Army soldiers are authorized to wear on their dress uniforms.

The coveted foreign badge is awarded in three classes: bronze, silver and gold. Soldier must fire three German weapons: the HK 9 mm pistol, the G36 HK assault rifle and the MG3 machine gun which fires 1200 rounds per minute.

What makes earning the badge “so tricky,” said Gohritz, is if a soldier scores gold in two events and bronze in their final they walk away with only a bronze badge and not gold.

So how does a soldier know if they qualify for gold?

“To receive our gold badge, Soldiers must successfully fire and hit all required targets using our light weapons and our heavy weapon the MG3 machine gun,” said Gohritz.

Not only infantrymen were given the opportunity to use the weapon systems. Engineers, combat medics and intelligence soldiers also grabbed ammunition and fired at targets.

“This is an awesome opportunity seeing that not many soldiers in my career field are presented the chance to fire other coalition forces weapons,” said Spc. Ledarren Worthy, a Sanford, N.C., native, now an intelligence specialist with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 170th Infantry Brigade.

As the initial pistol event began, soldiers lined up alongside their German instructors on wooden platforms and received five rounds to fire at plastic, human silhouette targets from 20 meters away. Soldiers shot eight rounds standing and two in the prone position, firing a total of 10 rounds into their first targets.

Soldiers fired three, 15-round belts behind the German machine gun. Many Soldiers experienced difficulties controlling and firing the German machine gun as the weapon “kicked like a mule,” said Spc. Andrew Hamlin, a Stayton, Ore., native, now a military truck driver with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2-18th Infantry Battalion. Soldiers twisted and jerked, trying to keep the weapon in the sockets of their shoulders.

Laser optics, conveniently built on the G36 assault rifle, provided the precision needed to fire one, 20-round magazine into a 50-meter target to conclude Vanguard Soldiers’ final event.

After three days of shooting, Soldiers with 2-18th Infantry Battalion walked away with 30 gold, 21 silver and 70 bronze Schutzenschnur recipients.

“The soldiers loved this event. It was something new for our soldiers to experience and brag about to their friends that they have a German proficiency badge that one can’t get unless they come to Germany,” said Sgt. 1st Class Jorge Fernandez, a Daily City, Calif., native, now a platoon sergeant with HHC, 2-18th Infantry Battalion.

• Date Taken: 05.15.2011
• Date Posted: 06.02.2011 08:27
• Story ID: 71468
• Location: FORWARD OPERATING BASE KUNDUZ, AF