International sniper training in terrain

      From 19th to 28th September 2022, an international sniper training exercise took place in the Hochfilzen military training area in Austria, with the Slovak flag represented by snipers from the 5th Special Forces Regiment. The remaining participating countries included Jordan, Italy, Austria and Senegal.

     The main goal of the exercise was to verify and practice the skills of snipers in an alpine environment. Žilina specialists tested their theoretical and practical knowledge in shooting at high angles and in shooting through the valleys in an environment in which weather conditions changed rapidly.

     The whole exercise was conducted under the guidance of Austrian instructors and snipers from the Jagdkomando Sniper Group, who prepared different scenarios and different conditions for shooting for each day. It was not always possible to shoot from prone position. Most shots were fired from non-standard positions using improvised means. However, before the snipers got to the fire positions, they had to literally climb up to them. At the fire positions, instructors were already waiting for them, confronting them with various shooting scenarios. It was always a matter of verifying the cooperation between the shooter and the observer. Snipers had to correctly evaluate and find the specified targets in the mountain environment and, having identified them, hit them flawlessly. Targets were located at distances greater than a kilometer. All these exercises were physically demanding and time-limited, which means that snipers also had to deal with time stress. They performed the tasks in all weathers, during the day or in reduced visibility at night.

     The result of international cooperation was an improvement in shooting at an angle, at long distances and in shooting across the valley under poor and rapidly changing climatic conditions in alpine environments. An additional benefit was the exchange of experience with other participating members of the Special Forces community. Slovak operators represented their country well, evidenced by the fact that they were approached by Italian snipers to establish ongoing cooperation. Foreign partners from Austria also want to continue to deepen cooperation. This promises more great training opportunities for our snipers, and for the entire Special Operations Forces.