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  1. #1
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    Default Army evaluating new BRM qualifications - "Combat Shoot" Marksmanship

    Very interesting.......

    I can't help but feel private training facilities are also partly responsible for the Army's evaluation of realistic qualifications. There are probably quite a few soldiers that have taken a "combat rifle" class, and probably reported back on it.

    FORT JACKSON, S.C. (Army News Service, March 27, 2008) -- “One shot, one kill” may be the motto of the Army sniper, but for Soldiers qualifying in Basic Rifle Marksmanship, the traditional one shot per target on the range could soon come to an end.

    The Basic Combat Training Soldiers of 2nd Battalion, 39th Infantry Brigade, are testing a new BRM qualification, which combines elements they will experience on the battlefield -- movement, concealment, presence of civilians and using multiple rounds on an enemy.

    “This is to give Soldiers a qualification standard that is more combat focused,” said Capt. Sammie Burkes, Company C commander. “It requires them to use those marksmanship skills they will encounter in a modern-day battlefield environment.”

    L-shaped barriers have been placed in front of the berms on the firing ranges. At the start of the "Combat Shoot," Soldiers are given four 10-round magazines. As they walk down the range on a simulated patrol, targets pop up and a loudspeaker blares the sound of shots being fired at them. Soldiers are required to engage multiple targets at different distances. The targets require one to three hits before they will go down.

    “Lessons learned from Afghanistan and Iraq show that you may have to engage that target more than once before it goes down,” Burkes said. “This will teach the Soldiers that lesson, versus the regular BRM where with one hit, a target goes down.”

    After the first round of targets, Soldiers rush to the barrier and change magazines, and repeat the scenario three times from behind the barrier -- standing, kneeling and prone positions.

    Company C drill sergeant Staff Sgt. Randall Weeks said this gives Soldiers more realistic training.

    “They are actually moving, needing to find cover and reloading just like they will have to do in Iraq,” he said. “The old BRM didn’t teach them that. They are moving more. Having to run up to cover gets their heart beating. Once your heartbeat increases it actually moves your weapon and affects your aim. You have to learn how to manage it.”

    During the last three scenarios a new twist is added. A target painted white appears representing a civilian. If a Soldier shoots the civilian, he or she is automatically disqualified.

    “It’s teaching the Soldiers to have a little bit of target discrimination,” Burkes said.

    “We’ve placed the civilian 'target' in the middle of the others,” said Weeks. “The Soldiers have to look beyond it and aim in front and behind.”

    Another twist is dummy rounds loaded in the Soldier’s magazine. They can be in one, two three or all four of the magazines. The dummy rounds are designed to simulate a weapons jam, requiring Soldiers to perform SPORTS (slap, pull, observe, release, tap, shoot) to their weapon in the middle of their BRM qualification.

    Burkes said he hopes the “Combat Shoot” will eventually replace the current BRM qualification.

    “We would like to see this become the qualification standard versus the way we qualify now,” he said. “This is teaching Soldiers to have a little bit of target discrimination, to change magazines quickly, and that they may have to fire more than one round to put an enemy down. It keeps them more focused.”

    Weeks agreed with his commander’s assessment. He said that training to the “Combat Shoot” standards makes his current group of Soldiers 100-percent better at BRM than previous cycles.

    “We started teaching the techniques needed from day one of BRM. We had 100 percent of the company qualify (on the standard BRM) on the second day. In the past it would take all three days to get everybody qualified. That gives us a whole extra day of training,” he said. “When they are in Iraq, they’re not just going to be lying in a prone position or in a foxhole. They are actually going to have to learn how to get behind a car, or a wall and engage the enemy from around and over a cover.”
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  2. #2
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    Default Re: Army evaluating new BRM qualifications - "Combat Shoot" Marksmanship

    good article...thanks for posting it...
    FOAC * GOA * SAF * NRA Life * "Gunservatively" on Gab

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    Default Re: Army evaluating new BRM qualifications - "Combat Shoot" Marksmanship

    I think it is a more realistic approach to the current type of combat senarios. But I also think not ALL MOSs in the Army need that type of training. So I think both old and new would be an excellent idea.
    ~De-Animating the undead since '08~

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    Default Re: Army evaluating new BRM qualifications - "Combat Shoot" Marksmanship

    Quote Originally Posted by spabula View Post
    I think it is a more realistic approach to the current type of combat senarios. But I also think not ALL MOSs in the Army need that type of training. So I think both old and new would be an excellent idea.
    Remember, every soldier is an infantry man first. If you are a soldier, you can be in combat, no matter what your MOS is. This type of training is exactly what is needed. I also think they need to keep the traditional BRM evaluation, because you need to be able to shoot static before you can learn to shoot on the move and under pressure. The combination of both will produce much better prepared soldiers.

    "I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty
    than to those attending too small a degree of it."~Thomas Jefferson, 1791
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    Default Re: Army evaluating new BRM qualifications - "Combat Shoot" Marksmanship

    you are correct everyman is an infantryman first.... but I think of that fairly loosely. I think it should be more, every soldier can see combat. I doubt the Army is going to form a company of infantry out of mechanics and cooks and make them go sweep buildings. I do agree with you though, it would be good training for all. Although, adding the dummy rounds is a great idea (very practical) it is also very subjective on who gets what it. I wouldn't want to be a drill at the range with a new class of maggots though!!!!
    ~De-Animating the undead since '08~

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    Default Re: Army evaluating new BRM qualifications - "Combat Shoot" Marksmanship

    LOL. Yeah, I'm sure the," Fricken sorry privates", are flying around just a bit more now. Keep in mind that although you are absolutely correct that the army is not likely to form combat teams from those MOS', the reason for the training change is the environment encountered in Iraq. That AO has proven time and again that inside and outside the wire, you can be involved in a firefight at anytime, no matter what your job is. The Jessica Lynch incident is a perfect example. Even though the media got the specifics wrong, the actual engagement may have had a different outcome if those soldiers had had this training and been made to understand better the enemy doesn't care that you are a clerk or a mechanic, it cares that you wear the uniform.

    "I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty
    than to those attending too small a degree of it."~Thomas Jefferson, 1791
    Hobson fundraiser Remember SFN Read before you Open Carry

  7. #7
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    Default Re: Army evaluating new BRM qualifications - "Combat Shoot" Marksmanship

    It sounds good, but I don't think comparing it to BRM is valid. I went to OSUT, but we didn't just stand in fake foxholes and shoot at pop-up targets. There was also ARM and live-fires with maneuvers. And, once they get to their units, more livefires.

    I agree it sounds better than some of the training I got. But they don't just send you out with BRM.

    Remember the reason for BRM and pop-up training - condition people to shoot when supposed to, ala lessons learned from WWII. It's not combat training.

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    Default Re: Army evaluating new BRM qualifications - "Combat Shoot" Marksmanship

    If they are ADDING this, then, good. If they think they will add or sub this on the two weeks TOTAL including all the dry fire exercises (bring your own dime) oh boy......

  9. #9
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    Default Re: Army evaluating new BRM qualifications - "Combat Shoot" Marksmanship

    Hey, now that I think about it, I once had to shoot a target more than once in BRM to make it go down. Maybe they were 'sperimentin on me

    Edit: Man, that was a horrible sentence. I hope you can make it out.

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    Default Re: Army evaluating new BRM qualifications - "Combat Shoot" Marksmanship

    Quote Originally Posted by Dave in PA View Post
    If they are ADDING this, then, good. If they think they will add or sub this on the two weeks TOTAL including all the dry fire exercises (bring your own dime) oh boy......

    Oh damn.... I almost pissed myself laughing, I forgot all about that....
    ~De-Animating the undead since '08~

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