Some interesting links

My daily reading provided two interesting links for the reading pleasure of my audience.

Link 1
Link 2

Both articles talk about the decline in marksmanship in the Army.

I like the way that the articles don't talk about gear as much as they do training. Right now, if you want to shoot well in the military, you'd better bring that knowledge with you, or sign up to be a Squad Designated Marksman (SDM). The basic troop doesn't get much.

That said, the USMC still teaches shooting to 500 yards, but by teaching the shooting with a sling, they are doing the Marines a disservice, as the sling is almost never used in combat. They should switch to teaching more like the Army teaches the SDM.

For those that want, anybody can buy from the CMP an instructional DVD on the training methods of a Squad Designated Marksman. When I bought my copy, it was about $7 plus shipping - the least expensive instructional video I've ever bought! While you're there at the CMP web store, pick up a couple more instructional DVD's - you can get 3 discs for about $21 plus shipping.

Most other instructional videos in other endeavors can run $50 - $200 or more for a set (usually 3-5 discs).