Sniper

The traditional definition of a sniper is an infantry soldier especially skilled in field craft and marksmanship who kills selected enemies from concealment with a rifle at large distances. Typically and ideally, a proficient sniper approaches an unaware enemy presence, uses a single bullet per target, and withdraws without being seen. The word originates from the snipe, a game bird difficult for hunters to sneak up on.

Attitude to snipers

Generally snipers are isolated even from soldiers of their own army by the dislike of the ordinary infantry for this type of combat. During World War II, captured snipers were often shot out-of-hand by their captors.

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A commonly held view is that snipers must have a psychopathic or sociopathic personality in order to function efficiently. This view is not shared by military experts as dysfunctional personalities are likely to be unreliable in high-stress combat situations. Most people will also agree that training a mentally ill person into a very highly trained covert killer is a bad idea both in peacetime and wartime (the sniper will be out on missions only a small percentage of their time in the theater of operations).

Related Topics:
Psychopath - Sociopath

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Snipers do, however, require a different type of psyche to the average soldier – they must be comfortable being alone for long periods, be very self-reliant, and be capable of carrying out 'cold-blooded' kills – attributes that not every soldier will share.

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In recent years, as the "mystique" of the sniper has filtered into the perceptions of the general public, snipers have found a new respect in the eyes of both civilians and their fellow soldiers. While the stigma of snipers being cold-blooded killers remains, the inclusion of snipers in books, television, film, and video games has done much to put the sniper in a positive light.

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