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Soldiers' Shooting Training
It would appear on the basis of long-term observations that little importance is attached
world-wide to the shooting skills of infantrymen nowadays, and consequently little
emphasis is placed on their training. This would seem strange, since the rifle is the
soldier's most important item of personal equipment, the main tool of his trade, so that
one would think that skill in its use would be a matter of top priority. The idea behind
this attitude is presumably that automatic fire is overwhelmingly more effective than
precisely aimed rifle fire in traditional face-to-face combat situations.
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For reference, it may be noted that the bullet count per hit in
the Vietnam War was more than double that in the Second World War. This reflects
something of the change in style and tactics that took place between those two
wars, and perhaps also points to a decline in shooting skills. A further aspect
that arises increasingly often in discussions with those responsible for military
shooting training in many countries is a lack of skill on the part of shooting
trainers themselves. They are themselves products of an urban society and have not
practised shooting in their youth to the same extent as the recruits of earlier
times. |
It is also evident, however, that the situations in which soldiers are expected to use
their weapons are increasingly becoming dominated by small-scale skirmishes in urban
centres or on their peripheries. The mounting of a broad-scale infantry frontline
"somewhere out there" in the manner of the world wars is (fortunately) not a
very likely prospect at the present time.
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And this being the case, one would imagine that, above
all, personal skills in the use of a rifle would be at a premium. It is not simply a
matter of technical skill, of course, but also of the increased self-confidence that
mastery of this skill can bring with it and the overall improvement in combat
readiness that this entails. A soldier who is uncertain in his command of this basic
skill is unlikely to be capable of optimal performance in other aspects of warfare. |
Information gleaned from various countries suggests that a large diversity exists in the
numbers of hours spent on shooting practice during basic shooting, involving the firing
of 10 - 400 live cartridges per trainee. If a soldier has fired a total of 10 live
cartridges in the course of his training without any complementary methods being used,
one can predict the outcome without any far-reaching research into the subject.
When practising by traditional methods, the skill achieved will be closely correlated
with the number of live rounds fired, and thereby with training time. Differences may
arise, of course, e.g. depending on the skills of the trainers, but it is resources that
ultimately count. It is obvious that the level of skill achieved will be greater if
trainees are firing hundreds of practice shots than if they settle for a few dozen.
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In practice the optimum relation of quantity to quality is
determined by whether the trainee is able to achieve an acceptable score in shooting
trials. On the other hand, what is an acceptable score will usually be decided
empirically on the grounds of what it is possible to achieve with the amount of
practice provided, so that the argument is a circular one. Unfortunately it is
impossible in matters of shooting to lay down an absolute score that will guarantee
success in a real-life situation, and there is always a danger that a fixed
qualifying score can develop into a Trojan Horse or lure the soldier into a false
sense of security. |
It is possible in the context of shooter training, however, to make sure that the
practice is efficient and covers a wide variety of situations, provided that one is
profoundly aware of the boundary constraints on shooting practice and is prepared to
invest time and energy in new methods.
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As the resources available (trainers, time and money)
are in many respects a compromise, it would be unrealistic to assume any abrupt
increase in them, even if the authorities responsible were to appreciate the
importance of this matter. On the contrary, the universal trend seems to be towards
a cutback in resources. The duration of national service is being systematically
reduced, the numbers of shooting ranges are being cut down, trainers' personal
skills are declining and economies are being demanded in defence budgets. |
If we want to promote good shooting skills, or at least retain existing levels, the only
possibility lies in increasing the efficiency of current training programmes. This implies
in effect improvements in terms of training methods and equipment.
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It is necessary at the outset to define what elements
really belong to the soldier's shooting skills and their development. This question
is easy to answer when we think of the real-life situation in which he needs these
skills, i.e. war. He should be able to use his rifle efficiently in all possible
environmental situations (remembering that wars are mainly conducted out of doors!),
by day and by night, against stationary or moving targets, when either standing
still or moving himself, and with other gunfire going on around him. The natural
conclusion to be drawn from this is that such conditions and requirements should be
taken into consideration during training. |
As with any other skill, that of shooting has to be built up gradually from first
principles. Some useful advice can be extracted from research into the acquisition of
skills.
- In the first place, it should be remembered that a person must be able to concentrate
on one thing at a time when learning a complex skill.
- Secondly, care should be taken that there are enough successful repetitions to ensure
that performance becomes as automatic as possible.
- Thirdly, it should be remembered that as many repetitions are needed to eliminate
something that has been learned wrongly as it originally took to learn it.
- It should be borne in mind that provision of the most direct and immediate feedback
possible, preferably in real time, will make learning more efficient.
- Additionally, it is worthwhile making sure that extraneous interference factors are
eliminated as far as possible when developing individual aspects of the skill.
- Finally, attention should be paid to motivation for practising, as a lack of
motivation can frustrate even the most sophisticated training system.
Noptel Oy, which was the first company in the world to market optoelectronic systems for
shooting training and analysis, the ST-1000 and ST-2000 families of products, is now able
to offer a comprehensive military shooter training concept.
The system comprises training management facilities, training methods, equipment and
software. This is a progressive method that also provides further instruction for
training personnel.
The overall Noptel Training Concept for the development of military shooting skills is
presented in Figures 1 and 2. The only aspects left outside the system are the simulation
of war conditions (CTC/TES) and actual war. Even simulated war is in any case no longer
simply a matter of developing shooting skills as much as testing the level of soldiers'
skills under simulated wartime conditions.
Figure 1 Noptel 2000, Small Arms Shooting Training Concept
The steps of shooter training according to concept:
1. Basic Shooting (BS)
2. Range Shooting (RS)
3. Field Shooting (FS)
The characteristic features of these phases are (see also Table 1):
1. Basic Shooting, BS
See the video:
Broadband or
Modem
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Trainees learn the principles of handling a rifle and shooting under
in short-range conditions indoors, with or without a recoil system. By the end of this
training period the soldier should appreciate the importance of shooting position, hold,
aim and trigger control and should be capable of achieving suitably consistent results.
The phase relies on the use of optoelectronic training devices attached to the trainees'
own rifles and objective performance analysis providing immediate audio-visual feedback.
Some people have criticised the lack of real recoil, but in fact the hard recoil is merely a
distraction in basic training and even PROHIBITS some soldiers from learning to
shoot. |
2. Range Shooting, RS
See the video:
Broadband or
Modem
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In the second phase the soldiers are taken outside to
practise under normal shooting range conditions and to continue training in varying
environments, still with the same training equipment but at realistic distances.
Optoelectronic training systems with or without recoil are used at this stage. Once
their skills have developed sufficiently, they are allowed to use live ammunition
and to shoot a test round with it. Objective analysis still forms an important part
of the practice regime, and it is possible to return to the Basic Shooting stage if
necessary. By the end of the basic and range training phases the trainees should
have adequate marksmanship shooting skills. |
3. Field Shooting, FS
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This is the stage at which the skills acquired on the previous
phases are applied to conditions equivalent to those prevailing in military
action, which implies training in varying situations, with stationary or
moving targets and with the shooter either standing still or moving. This
can again be done with optoelectronis using dry fire, although it is more
common to use blanks or recoil systems. Again it is possible to return to
the previous phases if necessary. Hit and miss information is provided by
means of pop-up targets. Live ammunition is used mainly for test purposes. |
By the time he has completed field training phases, the soldier is ready for
actual military duties as far as shooting techniques are concerned.
In summary, it may be stated that the Noptel 2000 shooting training system employs
predominantly optoelectronic training equipment and blanks or compressed air recoil
systems, so that live ammunition is used mostly for testing purposes and to accustom
trainees to combat situations. The following facts are relevant as far as resources are
concerned. Broadly speaking, the training sessions are divided equally between range and
field practice, so that at least 2/3 of the shots can be fired with a training device,
and at least 1/2 of these can be electronically executed. This means that, overall, 1/3
of all the shots fired in training can be entirely optical shots (dry fire or with
pressure air recoil), 1/3 can be fired with blanks and 1/3 with live ammunition.
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Thus it would be possible to increase the total number of shots
fired by a half relative to the present situation and still halve the amount of live
ammunition used, achieving considerable savings and noticeable improvements in the
results of training. Similarly the increase in the total number of shots fired could
be accomplished within the same training timetable as applies at present, as
harmless practice situations do not call for the same degree of organisation, costs
and time-consuming delays as do exercises that involve live ammunition. The table on
the next page summarizes the content of the Noptel 2000 concept. |
The Noptel 2000 training concept concentrates on the development of soldiers' shooting
skills. This is achieved by advanced measuring techniques, which makes it possible to
analyse the skill of the trainee in detail. Unlike the many simulators offered at the
market, Noptel's products are separate training aids, which are attached to the soldier's
own rifle (or pistol). Realism of the training is achieved by executing the exercises in
real environments instead of simulating them.
Table 1. Phases and objectives in military shooter training.
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