PAKTIA PROVINCE, Afghanistan -- Spartan Soldiers of 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (LI), had an opportunity to earn a Polish army marksmanship badge at a small-arms range held Thursday at Forward Operating Base Thunder, Afghanistan.
Sgt. 1st Class Nigel Taylor, noncommissioned officer in charge of Security Force Advise and Assist Team 1, with the help of the Polish Land Force, or "Wojska L?dowe," worked to set up the range. Taylor took a break from his normal role advising the Afghan National Security Forces to give the Spartan Soldiers a rare opportunity.
"I wanted to do something for the Soldiers who are on my team -- our guardian angels," Taylor said. "We are able to advise effectively because they protect us. So I wanted them to experience something different and to give them a chance to earn something many Soldiers don't have."
Knowing the Polish army also has a weapons qualification program, he decided to see if he could get his Soldiers a chance to earn a Wojska L?dowe marksmanship badge. He spoke with his supervisor, Lt. Col. Robert Owen, commander of SFAAT 1, who in turn spoke with Lt. Col. Piotr Sieminski, a Polish Land Forces officer who also was advising the ANSF.
Taylor finalized the plan and coordinated the range through Sgt. Maj. Todd Crawford, operations sergeant major for 3rd BCT, who made a change to allow all Spartan Soldiers to participate.
The Wojska L?dowe target consists of a human-like silhouette on paper, approximately 24 inches tall and 18 inches wide, a size that seems generous until viewed from the firing line 100 meters away. Soldiers were given an opportunity to fire several rounds for familiarization after which they attempted their qualification.
"You start by shooting three rounds using either a Polish weapon or your weapon," Taylor said. "You then walk up with the range safety to the silhouette target to see where they hit to see where you need to adjust your shots. You next have 10 minutes to shoot 10 rounds at the silhouette target."
The score is calculated by adding the numbers on the printed concentric rings where the bullets punctured the target.
A bull's eye earns 10 points, and each ring going outward loses one point. The outermost ring is worth six points.
Spartan Soldiers threw in one more challenge. They had to score 85 points due to the sighting optics mounted on most of their weapons, which were counted as an advantage. They were given the option to turn them off and use their mechanical sights if they wanted to try for the normal qualifying score of 75.
"Even with the Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight, which you could normally see where you're hitting on our 25-meter, alternate C paper target range, at the distance we were shooting, you could barely see where you're hitting," said Sgt. Andrew Miller, a cavalry scout with B Troop, 3rd Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment, 3rd BCT. Miller qualified using his weapon's optic sight after earning a score of 91.
Pvt. Zacharie LaFluer, also a cavalry scout with B Troop, had to apply everything he was taught about marksmanship, but his training it didn't make qualifying any easier.
"It tests all of your fundamentals ... breathing, sight picture and all of that, but you had to keep hitting that same target," said LaFluer, who qualified with a score of 96.
As difficult as it may have been for everyone to qualify, everyone left the range with a bit more than just a badge and bragging rights that come with it.
"I would rate this range as seven and a half out of 10 as far as difficulty because of the distance, but I definitely had fun," said Spc. Andrew Mckenney, a Spartan infantryman with B Troop.
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