Michael Lanning - Inside the Crosshairs

BY definition a sniper is someone who uses a special weapon system to shoot at an individual from a protected area far from the target. Logically, then, the history of snipers and sniping parallels the development of weaponry. In turn, the development of weaponry follows the history of warfare, which is as old as mankind itself and varies little from the struggles of other creatures. The needs for food, propagation, and territory inevitably lead to conflict among and between all species, mankind’s intelligence and culture notwithstanding.

What sets man apart is not his desire to eat, mate, or survive—or even his desire to dominate his environment. Rather, the distinguishing factor is his ability to develop weapons and master skills using them to overcome opposition. Likewise, what has set the sniper apart from other warriors is the ability to maximize accuracy and stealth to neutralize the enemy from a distance.

For hundreds of thousands of years warfare more resembled “the hunt” than modern combat. Humans were few, space and resources were vast, and little need or reason existed for men to engage in warfare with each other. Yet archaeology reveals the steady evolution in armament, from early man’s throwing of stones to his constructing instruments of battle that included rocks tied to wooden clubs. Refinements led to tapered points attached to sticks, which became spears and javelins, and sharpened broad heads on wooden handles, which became axes. While brute strength and excellent reflexes remained the most important characteristics of a warrior, accuracy was a close second.

Recent discoveries suggest evidence of human, or at least humanlike, activity on Earth more than one million years ago. While clubs and rudimentary axes were the mainstay of early man’s arsenal, the evolution of weaponry during most of this period focused on further shaping and refining flint spear points. At some point, man adapted eighteen-inch to two-foot wooden handles with convex ends to hold stones. These throwing sticks basically lengthened the hunter’s arm, allowing him to throw projectiles with more force and for longer distances.

As early as 30,000 B.C., humans used leather slings to propel stones and short spears. About this same time the bow appeared, enabling early man to shoot arrows to kill his food and to engage his human enemies—especially from afar. The most important aspect of these early weapons is that they shared a characteristic with all arms that followed: they were only as effective as the skills of the individuals who used them.

By 10,000 B.C., man had developed agriculture, domesticated animals, mastered pottery, and established stable communities. As polished projectiles replaced crudely chipped arrow and spear points, man experimented with stronger bow materials and better strings to increase the distance and penetration power of his arrows.

The evolution of weaponry took a quantum leap when man discovered the properties of copper about 3500 B.C. and learned to mix the metal with tin to form bronze, allowing him to refine his arsenal as well as enhance his jewelry and household utensils. In about 1000 B.C., development of the technique of smelting iron into a harder, more rigid metal added to man’s ability to further improve his weapons for hunting and fighting. Metallurgy technology, however, advanced slowly, and widespread use of iron did not take place until the fourteenth century B.C. in Asia Minor and the eleventh century B.C. in Europe. [5] All of these dates are, of course, approximate and dependent on subsequent archaeological discoveries. Also, the use of weapons and metals in one part of the world does not indicate that they were universal. For instance, the use of iron did not reach Africa until centuries after iron became common in Europe, and iron did not penetrate the New World until introduced to it by European explorers in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

Any description of exactly how the ancients employed their evolving weapons must be supposition because the development of written languages did not occur until long after man had spent hundreds of centuries hunting and warring. One fairly early written record of a battle describes a confrontation between the young Egyptian pharaoh Thutmosis III and revolting tribes of Palestine and Syria. In 1469 B.C., Thutmosis defeated the rebels at Megiddo Pass, north of Mount Carmel, Palestine, using a crescent formation of soldiers armed with swords and spears and supported by bowmen.

That battle epitomizes the centuries-old tactic of using massed formations, in which overall strength is more important than individual accuracy. The only weapons capable of reaching a range farther than arm’s length—arrows, thrown spears, rocks from slings, and rudimentary catapults—were usually employed in mass volleys rather than single aimed shots.

There were exceptions. An early example of a single soldier’s overwhelming a larger, stronger opponent appears in the Bible’s Old Testament. According to Samuel, chapter 17, when the Philistine and Israelite armies met (about the eleventh century B.C.), Goliath, a Philistine giant standing more than nine feet tall and protected by a brass helmet, chain mail, and an iron shield, challenged the Israelites to produce a champion to meet him on the plain between the two armies in individual combat.

According to verse 11, the Israelites “were dismayed, and greatly afraid.” Only a shepherd boy with no battle experience volunteered. Refusing armor and sword, David selected five smooth stones from a nearby brook for his sling before he advanced against Goliath. Verse 49 notes, “And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.”

David ran to the stunned Goliath and decapitated the giant with his own sword. The inspired Israeli army proceeded to attack and destroy the enemy army. A single, well-aimed stone had turned the battle and won the day.

From the earliest records to modern accounts, however, historical documents generally focus on the accomplishments of field commanders and their armies. Cyrus the Great is one early military commander about whom substantial records of conquest have survived. From 546 B.C. until his death about seventeen years later, Cyrus established the Persian Empire by conquest.

The key to Cyrus’s strength was his concentration of great numbers into tight, mutually supporting formations. His soldiers fought shoulder to shoulder against the enemy, doing their damage with the spear and sword. At that time armies often numbered as large as 50,000, with soldiers massed twenty men deep into lines only 2,500 meters long.

Slings, spears, and arrows still played a role, but protective armor and chain mail decreased their effectiveness. A single, well-aimed projectile remained important, however, and, on occasion, alone could sway the outcome of a battle. In 401 B.C., Cyrus the Younger, supported by 13,000 Greek mercenaries, attempted to take the Persian throne from his brother, Artaxerxes II. Cyrus and his army were on the verge of victory at the Battle of Cunaxa when an unidentified Persian soldier hurled a spear at Cyrus, striking him just below the eye and killing him. Cyrus’s army immediately retreated homeward.

While swords and spears dominated the battlefield for thousands of years, the use of the bow and arrow inevitably influenced combat. When communities went to war against their neighbors, bowmen, who had skillfully hunted for food and successfully competed in holiday and festival shooting contests, joined the ranks of the army in archery sections. Once in battle, bowmen fired in volley at a high angle (to send their arrows over the defenders’ shields) or directly at unprotected troops. Archers also aimed their missiles at cavalrymen and horse-drawn chariots that began appearing with armies as early as 1000 B.C. The very best men with the bow, however, often operated semi-independently to deliver single, well-aimed arrows at enemy leaders.