Hi,
has there been a change in regulations for the L98 WHT so you need a squadron MARKSMAN in either the .22 rifle or the air rifle. I have a WHT in the .22 but I am being told that you need a squadron marksman (the badge on the brassard) to do the WHT in the L98. Is this a new permanent requirement to do a WHT in the L98?
There has been a change as to who is eligible to complete L98A2 Shooting.
The previous requirement was to have shot the Air Rifle/No.8.
Personally I check that all of the criteria are met prior to training a cadet on the weapon, there are other criteria I not detailed.
Are you already trained on the L98?
RIP Shooting
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No different to the old requirement to be a 1st Class shot, just with actual structure.
I stand by my statement.
Or is it “RIP wasting a day converting rounds to used brass” and hello to a process of actually teaching cadets progressively how to shoot?
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Perhaps what we ought to be doing is giving as many teenagers as we can the opportunity to do something interesting and exciting and live-fire a full-bore rifle in a safe environment. Turning them into crack marksmen is a secondary, niche activity that massively increases the staff workload and limits the activity to the more competent shots.
Converting rounds to used brass generates interest in shooting.
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Yes, but to what end?
The converse may well be true also… Spending a long day continually missing the target and not receiving any help to improve might well squash any potential interest the individual had at the start.
I see nothing wrong with expecting a base level of competence with an easier weapon before moving onto full bore.
Especially when I consider the number of cadets I’ve seen over the years who can barely handle the weapon at all.
“Something fun to do” is all well and good… But “something fun with achievement” is best.
Fun
Nor do I, though that would extend purely to being able to hit the target consistently (therefore, being safe) and not to achieving a particular level of badge-worthy competence.
I would also expect people to be able to forego that requirement if the opportunity to fire a lesser weapon was not readily available and the individual appeared capable. That would be quite handy in our current climate!
The progressive shooting syllabus would be fine is we were a shooting club with easy access to rifles and ranges on a very regular basis. Corps-wise that is not even close to being the case and the result is limiting shooting opportunities for large numbers of cadets.
That shouldn’t be happening, though. The SA(SR)07 assessment requires candidates to demonstrate a practical ability and theoretical knowledge of coaching techniques. The rules regarding minimum qualifications of range staff mean that new firers should have enough qualified people around to allow them to reach a basic standard.
Our wing shoots have turned into a “sausage factory” during recent years, with the focus on maximum number of firers. The new live firing practices have certainly slowed down the details, but the overall feedback from the cadets seems to be positive.
For example, under the old system, coaches would make adjustments to the sights for the cadets, and time constraints meant that there was little time to explain what was going on. Now, they have to be able to adjust their own sights. Most of the cadets on the shoot had learned how to do it on their initial training, but never got a chance to have a go themselves. I was chatting to some cadets at the end of the day, and they all said they’d enjoyed that aspect of the day.
Which you won’t be using whilst using the qualification properly as your job is to stand back somewhat and ensure the smooth and safe running of the entire range.
If you have a glut of qualified RCOs you can use them as supervisors and coaches, though since it is even more difficult to become an RCO now than it has been in the past I find that scenario unlikely.
The outcome is that any coaching skills an RCO has are most likely superfluous and you need to rely on other people to fill that role.
You can achieve a lot if you have “floating” coaches, moving between firers and giving them all a bit of input when required, but otherwise leaving them alone to shoot. I consider the line between “useful tips” and “pest” to be one that is frequently crossed by coaches.
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I don’t disagree with you on your points, but the rules on safety supervision now make it more likely that a range will have enough qualified staff to allow some decent coaching to take place. Given that I’ve only ever seen 1 ARD course advertised, the safety supervisers are extremely likely to be RCOs.
The change in policy made it much harder to run full bore ranges at a squadron level, but in theory, a wing level shoot should have enough staff to draw on to make it worthwhile for the cadets.
Don’t get me wrong, I think the new syllabus will reduce the number of cadets our wing can process in a day, which means that we’ll either have look at creating a new booking system, or introduce more range days to ensure everyone gets a fair crack at the whip. Both of which add extra demands on staff members.
I’m planning a shoot in October that will have 4 ranges running throughout the day - this will be for both the L144 (Subject to issue & Training) and the L98.
If you want more details, drop me a PM if its local enough for you your welcome to come along and see how it works 
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Thank you, that is very kind of you!