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| "One Shot - One Kill" "Be the sniper or be the hunted" Carlos Norman Hathcock II (Interview) Snipers Blasting Away Canadian Forces Sniper Rob Furlong CBC Sunday Report More Information on Mercenary & Military Snipers & Links below.
Mercenary Sniper
A Mercenary Sniper is a sniper soldier who fights or engages in warfare primarily for private gain, usually with little regard for ideological, national, or political considerations, thus called Mercenary Sniper
Also a Mercenary is any person who takes part in an armed conflict who is not a national of a Party to the conflict and "is motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by the desire for private gain and, in fact, is promised, by or on behalf of a Party to the conflict, material compensation substantially in excess of that promised or paid to combatants of similar ranks and functions in the armed forces of that Party". As a result of the assumption that a mercenary is exclusively motivated by money, the term "mercenary" carries negative connotations. There is a blur in the distinction between a "mercenary" and a "foreign volunteer", when the primary motive of a soldier in a foreign army is uncertain. For instance the French Foreign Legion and the Gurkhas are not mercenaries under the laws of war, but some journalists do describe them as mercenaries.
A Mercenary Sniper is not an regular infantry soldier but one who is paid and specializes in shooting from concealment or longer ranges than regular infantry, often with a specially designed or adapted sniper rifle. It requires skill in field craft, camouflage and marksmanship.
The term Sniper is attested from 1824 in the sense of “sharpshooter.” The verb to snipe originated in the 1770s among soldiers in British India in the sense of “to shoot from a hidden place,” in allusion to snipe hunting, a game bird known for being extremely difficult to locate, approach, or shoot. Those who were skilled at the hunting of this bird were thus dubbed “snipers.”
During the
American Civil War, the common term used in the United States for much the same function was “skirmisher.” A Civil War army often protected itself when on the move by using such concealed marksmen, who were deployed individually on the extremes of the moving army. Generally, such skirmishers were selected on the basis of prior proven hunting and marksmanship skills, and they were often older men in their 40s or 50s.
The earliest sniper rifles were little more than conventional military or target rifles with long-range "peep sights" designed for use on the target range. Only from the beginning of World War I did specially adapted sniper rifles come to the fore, with one of the first scoped military sniper rifles being the SMLE Mk III* (HT).
Typical World War II-era sniper rifles were generally standard issue rifles (hand-picked for accuracy) with a 2.5x telescopic sight and cheek-rest fitted, with the bolt turned down (if necessary) to allow operation with the scope affixed. By the end of the war, forces on all sides had specially trained soldiers equipped with sniper rifles, and they have played an increasingly important role in military operations ever since.
In the last few decades, the term Sniper has been used rather loosely, especially by media in association with police precision riflemen, those responsible for assassination, any shooting from all but the shortest range in war, and any criminal equipped with a rifle in a civil context. This has rather expanded the general understanding of the meaning of the term. It has also given the term "sniper" mixed connotations. Alternative terms are usually more specific, especially for police Sniper, such as “counter-sniper,” “precision marksman,” “tactical marksman,” “sharpshooter” or “precision shooter,” some of which have also been in use for a long time but mercenary sniper is the sniper to fear. He has no remorse but only money gain.
But the Marine Snipers and the Army Snipers are the true snipers.
Adelbert F. Waldron, or Adelbert F. Waldron III, (1933-1995) was a United States Army sniper serving during the Vietnam War who is little known, but who currently holds the highest number of kills for any American soldier in US history; 109 confirmed kills. The legendary Carlos Hathcock had 93 confirmed kills, Chuck Mawhinney had 103-both were members of the US Marine Corps. However, despite both of them being fairly well known, Waldron is all but unheard of. Waldron also was one of the few two time recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross, both awarded for separate actions in 1969.
He is buried in Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside, California, Columbarium A (shelter F), Court B, Row B, Site 37. Mawhinney, the son of a World War II Marine Corps veteran, was an avid hunter in his youth. Mawhinney joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1967, spending sixteen months in Vietnam starting in 1968. Although less well known than his more famous counterpart, fellow Marine sniper and legend Carlos Hathcock, Mawhinney currently holds the record for confirmed kills for Marine snipers, with 103. (A US Army sergeant, Adelbert Waldron, holds the record for most confirmed kills by any American sniper at 109.) He had another 216 that are listed as "probables" by the U.S. Marine Corps.
Mawhinney left the Marine Corps in 1970. He slipped into obscurity, and went without notice for his number of confirmed kills for more than two decades, which was his preference. He returned home to Oregon, married, and began working for the U.S. Forest Service, where he worked until his retirement in the late 1990s.
Mawhinney never spoke of his exploits as a sniper, and found himself exposed unwittingly in a book titled Dear Mom: A Sniper's Vietnam, written by fellow Marine sniper and author Joseph T. Ward. After the book recognized him as having 101 confirmed kills, many disputed the claim. However, research revealed that Mawhinney actually had 103 confirmed kills and 216 "probable kills", which led to his replacing Carlos Hathcock, who had 93 confirmed kills, as the leading USMC sniper of all time.
Mawhinney's rifle is on display in the National Museum of the Marine Corps. After this, Mawhinney slowly came into the limelight. Following his retirement from the Forest Service, he began speaking at conventions and public events, as well as attending national sniper shooting competitions. As of 2006, Mawhinney continues to speak to classes of professional snipers in training. Mawhinney's rifle below that he used during his service in Vietnam is now on display in the Vietnam Gallery of the National Museum of the Marine Corps.
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