Polish-German Sniper Training Exercise

The third phase of the Polish-German joint German Detachment-16 training exercise, embedded within the Cross Detachment programme, involves the soldiers of the 7th Cavalry “Wielkopolscy” Riflemen Battalion of the Polish Army (7bSKW) of the 17th “Wielkopolska” Mechanized Brigade, as well as German units of the 411th Motorized Battalion, and is held at the Żagań-Świętoszów training range.

According to st. chor. Rafał Mniedło, the joint sniper training, during its first phase, is based on usage of the Polish and German service weapons, on a combat shooting range.

Moreover, during the live fire training, the snipers from both nations have been using a special target with seven holes of different shapes, through which they had to hit a target at a distance of several hundred meters. This is a very difficult activity, since it requires the shooter and the observer to cooperate efficiently. In this case, every factor, or even every breath, is important – as we were told by Platoon Leader, Jarosław Kolasa.

German Detachment-16 operation consists out of three stages, during which the German soldiers are involved in a joint training with the troops of the Polish “Black Division”. The first two stages of the operation have already been completed, here we mean a joint Polish German training involving the soldiers of the 10th Armoured Cavalry Brigade based in Świętoszów. The operation took place in October this year. Another training exercise, with involvement seen on thee part of the 34th Armoured Cavalry Brigade from Żagań took place in November. The last stage, organized within the Żagań-Świętoszów range between 28th November and 16th December, involves the Cavalrymen of the Polish 17th Mechanized Brigade.