A little over a year ago a small task force of Marines started a sniper training program to pump out Afghan snipers in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
It is the first sniper school of its kind in the volatile province.
Since March 2017, Marine scout snipers with Task Force Southwest have helped push out roughly 100 Afghan snipers onto the Helmand battlefield, according to Lt. Kathleen Kochert, a spokeswoman for the Marine task force.
“The sniper course is an introduction to field craft and marksmanship for the Afghan National Army 215th Corps soldiers,” Sgt. Shad Roach, a TFSW scout sniper, told Marine Corps Times. “The course includes an introduction to the M24 Sniper Weapon System (SWS) with the MK4 10X40mm M3 scope, fundamentals of marksmanship with the M24 SWS, introduction to camouflage, observation, range estimation and sniper employment.”
The sniper school at Camp Shorabak in Helmand is not the only place Afghan snipers receive training.
“Afghan soldiers receive basic training at facilities like the Kabul Military Training Center and U.S. forces advise other sniper courses in Afghanistan, but this is the only one in Helmand advised by Marine Corps scout snipers at this time,” Kochert said.
How effective have the Marine trained Afghan snipers been on the battlefield? It’s hard to tell, Marine officials say.
Marine advisers don’t directly accompany Afghan forces on missions, so it’s difficult to gather firsthand knowledge of “individual effectiveness” on the battlefield, Kochert explained.
“What we do know is that kandaks that have trained at the Regional Military Training Center at Camp Shorabak have been more successful in the battlespace than kandaks that have not yet attended this training,” she said.
Kochert said that the Marine task force is also hard at work on “training the trainers” to prepare Afghan instructors to take over the role of training their own forces.
“Marines are still involved in the training events, but Afghan soldiers are now predominantly teaching fellow Afghan Soldiers,” she said.
Task Force Southwest is in its second iteration and a new rotation of the nearly 300-Marine sized unit is expected in Helmand later this fall.
Shawn Snow is the senior reporter for Marine Corps Times and a Marine Corps veteran.
