How stalk missions prepare Army snipers for combat

Students at the US Army Sniper Course at Fort Benning participate in stalk mission exercises to prepare for real-world missions. They must stealthily navigate through wooded terrain without being spotted by instructors walking around them and scanning with binoculars from afar. After covering their ghillie suits with natural vegetation to blend in with their environment, students have two hours to reach their objective, but they can be penalized by instructors if they’re caught moving improperly or if they’re not adequately camouflaged. Students at the Sniper Course participate in four practical stalk exercises before moving on to graded events, of which they’ll have three opportunities to pass, or they'll be dropped from the course. In October, Insider followed a class participating in their first practical stalk exercise.