Soldiers assigned to the 25th Infantry Division are training on the Army’s newest service rifle as part of the ongoing fielding of the M7, with instructors from the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit providing hands-on support focused on marksmanship fundamentals.
USAMU instructors are working alongside Soldiers to reinforce proven shooting techniques that apply across weapon systems while assisting with net fielding efforts alongside program partners.
“We are working with instructors from PEO and TACOM to assist in the net fielding efforts and provide marksmanship instruction and guidance to both the students and instructors as they field the next generation squad weapon,” said Sgt. 1st Class Alexander Deal, team chief for the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit Service Rifle Team.
Deal said the fundamentals remain critical when Soldiers transition to a new platform.
“It’s hard to say what fundamentals matter the most. They’re all equally important, but establishing a consistent and stable position, consistent head placement, proper sight alignment, and trigger control are going to make shooting a new weapon system a lot easier,” Deal said.
According to Deal, competition-style training exposes shooters to stress and unfamiliar scenarios that highlight strengths and weaknesses.
“Competition-style shooting can help soldiers’ combat effectiveness by putting them into new scenarios they may not have been in before and putting them under the stress of time, speed, or accuracy to assess their level of training and where there may be room for improvement,” Deal said.
Deal emphasized that consistency must come before speed, especially for developing shooters.
“Consistency in building good habits is more important. It allows you to push speed sooner,” Deal said. “It’s hard to start fast and figure out what you’re doing wrong versus slowing things down, assessing fundamentals, and building up speed and distance.”
The training is designed as a train-the-trainer course focused on noncommissioned officers who will return to their units and carry the instruction forward.
“The NCOs are getting familiarized with the weapon systems and optics so they can go back and train other NCOs, officers, and their soldiers, and begin proper marksmanship training,” Deal said.
Deal said the long-term goal is sustained improvement across units.
“They’re going to transfer that knowledge to their soldiers and peers and hopefully make improvements to their marksmanship programs that carry over into better practices and increased lethality,” Deal said.