Feb 27, 2011

Seoul to Train 30,000 Reserve Snipers


The Defense Ministry will train about 30,000 snipers in the reserve force to counter the threat of North Korea's numerous special forces beginning this year. A ministry spokesman on Thursday said the snipers will be trained for urban warfare and to deal with North Korea's special forces. "We will assign two snipers to each unit of the Reserve Forces and have them practice shooting for four hours during their mandatory training period every year," he added.

They will practice with M16A1 rifles with telescopic sights.
New conscripts train at a boot camp in Nonsan, South Chungcheong Province in January.
Mobilized reservists in their fifth or sixth year after discharge from their active military service have so far trained in reserve divisions by commuting from their homes for three days a year. But from this year, they will stay at barracks in five active Army divisions for two days during their training, the spokesman said.

"Some mobilized reservists will be deployed to front-line units, where they will train to make up for lost combat capabilities of active-duty servicemen there in preparation for an emergency," he added. "Any reservists who have skipped mobilization training will be sent to Army barracks for re-training."