In this fourth section on sniping I will try to compare and contrast the doctrine and training regarding sniping of the major combatants. Due to problems with my computer I may have to get this started and then add more as edits. As before, any additional information or constructive criticism is welcome. During the interwar years only one of the five major powers endorsed sniping whole-heartedly. That country was the USSR. Not only did the Red Army embrace the sniping concept, civilian marksmanship programs gave thousands of young communists a familiarity with rifles and marksmanship. While the Soviets were enthusiastic about sniping their doctrine emphasized creating casualties over scouting and intelligence gathering. However, the sniper was supposed to be integrated into the fire plan not only during static periods but also during offensive and defensive operations. From what I could gather, most Soviet snipers worked alone. Training was good pre-war but the emergency created by Barbarossa was such that training often had to be curtailed. The nadir being at Stalingrad where sniper-trainees were given only two days of instruction before being sent out to rid the Motherland of fascists! Still it must be said that they probably gave more than they got. During the war the USSR trained more than 400,000 snipers. While Germany had maintained a nascent sniper program in the interwar years, in an army that devoted itself to offense, sniping was not emphasized. The Heer first experience the problems with enemy snipers in France and later, to a much greater degree during Barbarossa. Realizing they needed to catch up the Germans reacted quickly and comprehensively. The established sniper training schools and started bring their army up to snuff. The German doctrine emphasized the two-man shooter/observer team. However, if a sniper felt he could work better alone then he was allowed to do so. Priorities were given to intelligence, elimination of enemy snipers, officers and NCOs and also crew-served weapons. Snipers were considered battalion, regimental, or even divisional assets and were given wide latitude to do their work, while being given specific instructions by these senior officers. Snipers were exempt from all additional duties. German training was considered to be some of the best in the war. Sniper courses could be up to five months in length. The only criticism was that some of the camouflage techniques that were taught didn't really work out at the front. In Britain, sniping programs were some of the first things abandoned after the First World War. While training was started early on, it was bumped into high gear after the invasions of Sicily and Italy. There, the British and other Commonwealth troops came under concerted sniper fire for the first time. Emphasis was on the two-man sniper team and while any worthwhile target was to be engaged, the first priority was intelligence gathering, followed by the elimination of enemy snipers. While N.W. Europe got most of the snipers, British and Commonwealth snipers were used quite extensively in the Far East. An interesting and unique aspect of British training was that as a culminating exercise the trainees were taken to the Scottish Highlands where they were to stalk the wary stags of the area. One of the big impediments to the training of snipers was the fact that very few Britons were familiar with rifles or had any great regard for the capability and potential of a well-handled rifle. The USA was somewhat different than the other combatants in that it had two major ground forces: the Army and the Marines. Each had its own doctrine regarding sniping. Actually, the U.S. Army had almost no doctrine concerning sniping and snipers. While sniper rifles were manufactured, there was no overall policy concerning their use. Sniping was seen by the Army much as pre-war Germany had. The American Army's emphasis was on offensive operations put sniping way down on the list of priorities. While lip-service was given to sniping, any implementation of a program was on the initiative of regimental and divisional commanders. Some commanders started up exemplary programs, some didn't bother at all. Some soldiers who were good shots were given sniper rifles and were given the job of point man where they would find and help eliminate enemy MG nests and whatnot. From what I can gather, casualties were high in this endeavor. The Marines however were very different. They had a tradition of rifle use and here the concept of sniping found a home. In WW2 they went a long way towards developing the scout-sniper concept that is still in use today. The Japanese army may also have had a pre-war program of sniping. The problem here is that almost no information exists, that I'm aware of, on the Japanese sniper training and doctrine. We can reasonably infer from what our soldiers experienced and reported that Japanese snipers were well trained in camouflage and marksmanship. They were good shots within 400 yards or so, which was beyond most situations in jungle fighting. The one interesting thing about their snipers was that they probably weren't expected to retreat or survive. This was obviously in accordance with Japan's leader's concept of the Bushido Code.
