RE: SG II Snipers and the spirit of the game [CLEAN STAMP]

At 12:54 PM 12/13/99 -0500, you wrote:
>Cleats Balentine wrote:
>>
>> I really must take exception with Owen's inference
>> that using a sniper to get suppressions goes against
>> the 'spirit of the game.'
>
>It really does, though. No sniper would risk giving away his position
>just to make a platoon keep their heads down for a few minutes.
>
>That would be a huge waste of his time & effort, and could possibly
>get him killed for nothing.

Well I have to disagree but with a caveat.  A lot of times people think
of
snipers as some guy that went to sniper school for two years and is as
good
a shot as Lee Harvey. But the fact is most snipers have a specialist
weapons and have received some training but are working for Companies or
even platoons. A marine and even US rifle companies (TOEs change all the
times) occasionally have snipers right in their TOE at Company HQ. Their
job of course apart from observation is combat related and they are not
at
the level where they are being sent to kill some division commander or
assasinate the president, they';re roles include rearguard tyupe stuff
as
mentioned above. Same goes for Rusain ex-Soviet TOEs where you even have
snipers at the platoon level. These are guys who shoot the best onhe
range
so they're given a sniper rifle (SVD), not strategic assetts. (That's a
whole 'nuther bred of sniper and yes you are right those guys would not
be
doing thise kind of work mentioned above.) 

There are plenty of examples of sniper's (Hey actually they're
sharpshooters) doing that kind of stay behind, slowing up teh whole
compnay
kind of  delaying work as part of the main battle. (and takingg the
heavy
losses that go with tryingto do that) WW2 Normandy, Russia Front,
Vietnam
etc etc. Even in specops it happens on occasion. In training we once
were
being chased by a platoon and our sniper peeled off and picked off 11
guys
(using MILES gear) while we hauled ass out of there. It was in Utah
desert
mountainous type environment and we could see even though we'd put a
mile
between us and them they were still pinned down thinking someone was
still
shooting at them or hunting them. Pretty funny.

In SG2 terms it's a matter of quality/expereience and mission. Perhaps
lesser quality guys being used in that capacity have a much lower
possibility of staying hidden?

Los