In response to my comment:


Originally Posted by JMA
In the book Dead Men Risen (about the Welsh Guards on tour in 2009) the one sniper team got 75 confirmed kills in 40 days. Easy as pie.
Fuchs responded such:

Quote Originally Posted by Fuchs View Post
It should be noted that this is not comparable to most WW2 sniper kill counts.

During WW2 snipers of most nationalities did not count in-battle kills nor did they confirm them. The only kills counted were kills during calm phases.

Now if a sniper team killed many people in AFG during calm phases then I'd advise a criminal investigation.
With respect to your last sentence.

I assume that you are suggesting that maybe the 'kills' claimed by the snipers out of contact are in fact not Taliban?

It appears that the efforts of these three snipers (4 Rifles) pushed the Taliban back from the specific bases to beyond 1,500m where before they skulked around at ranges as close as 30m. Wonderful deterrent.

If you read the book what is repeated over and over again is that warning shots are fired, that even though the sniper team had an RPG, a RPK and an AK visual they still had to get clearance to engage, and this "sometimes they decided not to take a shot even though an insurgent was carrying a weapon judging that he did not pose an immanent threat." ... McChrystal has a lot to account for.

One sniper after getting nine kills in one day stated that he wondered whether it was all worth it as they just get replaced. WTF. There are plenty of snipers/marksmen out there who would just keep on 'working' and take them out ten-a-day, 20-a-day or as many as show their heads. (There must be 1,000s of 'hunter' types who would gladly pay good money to sit in a sangar in Helmand with a can of Coke in one hand and pick off Taliban out to 1,500m - no uncomfortable stalking required.)

So I don't have a real concern that given the number of legitimate targets on offer that the snipers would be keeping their eye in by taking out the odd farmer.

My concern rather is that the snipers are becoming blasé to the extent that they let legitimate targets pass by as they wait for a more challenging shot (thereby letting a Taliban live to maybe kill a soldier another day). I seem to remember Dereliction of Duty to be an immediate Court Martial offence.

Interesting that the three snipers accounted for 131 kills in the six months (which was 70% of the total of 187 4 Rifles kills). Not sure what the stats of the other battalion snipers were (or indeed the yanks) but should be interesting as an indicator.