{"id":44698,"date":"2018-07-23T17:05:52","date_gmt":"2018-07-23T17:05:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/07\/23\/this-is-why-marines-are-training-afghan-snipers-in-helmand\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T20:38:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T20:38:44","slug":"this-is-why-marines-are-training-afghan-snipers-in-helmand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/07\/23\/this-is-why-marines-are-training-afghan-snipers-in-helmand\/","title":{"rendered":"This is why Marines are training Afghan snipers in Helmand"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br><\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-smg-jwplayer-video\"><atype-video-jwplayer nostick=\"true\" playlisturl=\"https:\/\/cdn.jwplayer.com\/v2\/playlists\/fCzRqMW8?tags=bb495b86-bc8b-4990-99c4-5925123016e2\" poster=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/video-poster-bb495b86-bc8b-4990-99c4-5925123016e2.png\" aspectratio=\"16 \/ 9\" mute autostart=\"false\"><\/atype-video-jwplayer><\/figure>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A little over a year ago a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marinecorpstimes.com\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2018\/04\/02\/marines-not-at-the-point-of-contact-in-afghanistan\/\" target=_blank>small task force of Marines<\/a> started a sniper training program to pump out Afghan snipers in Helmand province, Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is the first sniper school of its kind in the volatile province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since March 2017, Marine scout snipers with Task Force Southwest have helped push out roughly 100 Afghan snipers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marinecorpstimes.com\/news\/2018\/06\/22\/the-corps-is-bringing-reapers-to-helmand\/\" target=\"_blank\">onto the Helmand battlefield<\/a>, according to Lt. Kathleen Kochert, a spokeswoman for the Marine task force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe sniper course is an introduction to field craft and marksmanship for the Afghan National Army 215th Corps soldiers,\u201d Sgt. Shad Roach, a TFSW scout sniper, told Marine Corps Times. \u201cThe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The sniper school at Camp Shorabak in Helmand is not the only place Afghan snipers receive training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAfghan 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 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marinecorpstimes.com\/flashpoints\/2018\/01\/16\/marines-push-closer-to-the-fight-in-helmand\/\" target=_blank>advised by Marine Corps scout snipers<\/a> at this time,\u201d Kochert said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">How effective have the Marine trained Afghan snipers been on the battlefield? It\u2019s hard to tell, Marine officials say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Marine advisers don\u2019t directly accompany Afghan forces on missions, so it\u2019s difficult to gather firsthand knowledge of \u201cindividual effectiveness\u201d on the battlefield, Kochert explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat 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,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kochert said that the Marine task force is also hard at work on \u201ctraining the trainers\u201d to prepare Afghan instructors to take over the role of training their own forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMarines are still involved in the training events, but Afghan soldiers are now predominantly teaching fellow Afghan Soldiers,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Roughly 100 Afghan snipers have been trained since 2017.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":50223,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":10,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[10,15],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3472],"class_list":["post-44698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-flashpoints","category-news"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"SQAOQ3DOPRE4RDEPKBAD3GULNY","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2018\/07\/23\/this-is-why-marines-are-training-afghan-snipers-in-helmand\/","remove_feature_photo":true,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"remove-feature-image","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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