Infantry recon squads conduct ‘ghillie wash’ training at Fort Indiantown Gap

U.S. Army soldiers with the recon section of the Multi-Purpose Company, 1st Battalion, 112th Infantry Regiment, 56th Mobile Brigade Combat Team, 28th Infantry Division, conducted a ghillie wash training event on June 25.

A ghillie suit is a camouflage garment often worn by snipers that is designed to resemble heavy foliage, grass, or terrain, Staff Sgt. Jonathan Campbell explained in a release.

Using Fort Indiantown Gap’s mire pit training site as the location, soldiers were put through a period of intense physical training in their ghillie suits, Campbell said, crawling through water, sand, mud, rocks, and grass.

“This physically intensive event builds camaraderie and promotes teamwork, but also has a very practical purpose,” Sgt. 1st Class Kyle Benich said in the release. “It weathers their ghillie suits from being shiny and new, testing the durability of the suit and the mental fortitude of the Soldier in the suit.”

Benich said a ghillie wash also is used as an initiation process for would-be sniper candidates.

Spc. Collin Hoch, who has been in recon for about three years and tested his newly constructed ghillie suit during this event, explained in the release that the ghillie wash highlighted the need to be very physically fit to handle the physical requirements of the job.

“That event was a smoker,” Hoch said. “You need to put a lot of thought and preparation into the suit you make so you can trust it – my pants ripped during the event. The preparation and planning are really important.”

As the battalion shifts from a Stryker brigade combat team to a mobile brigade combat team, the unit is ensuring that knowledge is passed onto younger, newer soldiers.

Sgt. Dakota Williamson, who has more than a decade’s experience in the sniper section and has placed in the Pennsylvania State Sniper Competition, said the training “was intended to build a base of knowledge within the Recon section. It was also designed to make all members of the Recon section proficient in sniper operations to give them the best chance possible at passing Sniper School when they attend.”

A variety of sniper weapon systems were used during training, including the MK22 Advanced Sniper Rifle, the M2010 Enhanced Sniper Rifle, and the M110A1 Squad Designated Marksman Rifle. Recon members attended classes on different types of range estimation unassisted and all optics assigned to them, as well as classes on ballistics, environmental factors, and spotter responsibilities for effectively engaging targets out to 1,000 meters from various shooting positions.

They also practiced and were tested on unknown distance engagements, the ability to give a shooter corrections to their data to make an accurate second round engagement, and marksmanship fundamentals including a “grouping” exercise which highlights any deficiencies in fundamentals and is a requirement to attend sniper school, the release said.

“What we went over highlighted a lot of the little things to think about, like spin drift and the Coriolis effect and how those things affect firing at stationary and moving targets,” Hoch said. “These classes helped me really dial in. … I definitely feel more prepared for when I get a slot for Sniper School.”