“Before any practice on the range is commenced, at least a month of dry-fire training is required.” That was Army policy outlined by regulation circa 1904, and not much has changed in terms of marksmanship. Fundamentals understood then remain the same today, but a host of important technologies have found their way onto the battlefield since then and they have training requirements as well.
Having a coach or a shooting buddy watch is another good feedback point.
Directing bullets is the same, but the approach to teaching it is ever changing. The U.S. Army has utilized the current version of Trainfire since the early 1980s. The concept is to teach a soldier to reliably place hits somewhere on a silhouette a few hundred meters away. Unless tasked as a small arms trainer, match-winning shooting ability at the expense of other critical skills won’t help accomplish the mission.
Much of the time wasted during short-range training is spent clearing the line and walking downrange to observe targets.
The current program is sound, but the execution is often lacking. It’s been demonstrated that decent shooters can triple the ability of soldiers qualifying at the “expert” level and few soldiers are even at that level—at least when scored impartially and by the book. Making every soldier a rifleman is an oft-repeated catchphrase that has seen little implementation across the armed forces spectrum. It’s a good idea, but how shall we do it?
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