Law Enforcement, Military Officers Hone Skills at Southeast Texas Sniper School By Mark Passwaters
HUNTSVILLE, Texas -- For the fifth consecutive year, some of the best marksmen from across the state of Texas and the armed services converged on Walker County to hone their skills.
The Advanced Observer/Sniper School, run by the FBI, set up shop on the Prehoda ranch west of Huntsville recently.
``I got talking to the guys at the FBI’s basic sniper school in Conroe a few years ago and offered it up to them,’' Precinct 2 Constable Reed Prehoda said. ``They always need a place, and this kind of fit what they needed.’'
The 14 students at the weeklong school were invited to join the session after attending the FBI’s basic sniper classes at the Conroe Firearms Training Facility.
``After we went through there, they said they’d call and offer this to people who had passed and done well at basic,’' said officer Charlie Eipper of the Wichita Falls Police Department.
``We’ve got people from all over the state here,’' Prehoda said. ``There’s someone from Abilene, Muleshoe, Harris County and Pearland. We’ve also got a guy from the U.S. Air Force here.’'
Not all of what the FBI taught at the session had to do with shooting.
``A lot of what they’re doing out there has to do with stalking techniques. Sometimes, people are just out there to observe,’' Prehoda said. ``When they have to take someone out, well, they can do that too.’'
``We’ve done a lot of observation training, learning how to look,’' Eipper said. ``We’ve done a lot of known-distance and unknown-distance training. We’ve also worked on concealment planning and night operations.’'
``We’ve done some running and some getting lost,’' said officer Jimmy Jones of the Texas Department of Public Safety. ``And we’ve done some shooting.’'
A lot of shooting.
``We’ve done a lot of shooting out here,’' said deputy Jason Sullivan of the Walker County Sheriff’s Department. ``I think the farthest shot we’ve taken was from 400 yards. There’s not too many places where you can take a shot from that distance.’'
The shooters took part in exercises which included attempting to conceal themselves from instructors by wearing their ``gilley suits’’ _ outfits which allow wearers to attach twigs and other pieces of terrain in an attempt to camouflage themselves _ and ``shoot’’ their targets before being identified.
Another exercise required them to run several hundred yards, stop, identify their target and fire while being judged for time and accuracy.
``It’s pretty much what it was like in the military,’' said Sullivan, who was a sniper in the Marines for four years before joining the sheriff’s department last year. ``This kind of hones your skills. It makes you better, I guess, because you’re familiar with things.’'
On a recent Wednesday, the students were faced with their last and largest test. Starting in the middle of the afternoon, snipers were sent out into the field to search for and shoot targets given to them by FBI instructors back in the main communications van. The exercise is not short; the snipers will be in the field until the middle of this morning.
Each shooter was given a starting point and was told to move a certain distance in a certain direction _ for instance, move 88 yards at 247 degrees. At that point, the shooters found a stake, called the ``gab stake.’' From there, they were directed to another position, where they found the ``firing stake.’' At this position, the shooter had to identify his target precisely, estimate the distance from himself to his target, line up his shot and fire.
``They’re probably going to drop us off, have us go somewhere, ID something and take the shot,’' Sullivan said. ``They have to identify their targets and distinguish it from other possible targets,’' Prehoda said.
That afternoon, a sniper identified as ``Sierra Two’’ moved into firing position and attempted to identify his targets, three ceramic heads on sticks 240 yards from his position.
``I see three subjects. All of them are white females,’' he reported, describing one as having ``blue hair.’'
``Are you sure she doesn’t have green hair with a necklace?’' the command post radioed back.
Another sniper, ``Sierra One,’' had a little bit better luck. After properly identifying his possible targets, he was assigned a specific one to fire on.
``You may engage,’' the command post told him. ``Your target is the white female with blond hair and a green necklace.’'
``Sierra One’’ took one shot, striking his target.
Prehoda said great care was taken to ensure that no people _ or cattle _ were injured during the training.
``We’ve got lots of safety precautions out here,’' he said. ``We’ve got steel plates behind every target.’'
People taking part in the training seemed to think it will be of great benefit when they get back to their respective departments or services.
``The distance training may not be as helpful, because we’re in more of an urban environment,’' Eipper said. ``But training on looking for good places for concealment, stalking techniques and planning will really help. It’s fatiguing and physically tiresome, but that happens.’'
``This is a really good school,’' Sullivan said