Royal Army College

Lesson Overview

A soldier carries a weapon to be able to use it, and using it well means hitting what is aimed at, deliberately and accountably. The weapon-safety lesson taught the recruit to handle a weapon safely, as the disciplined bearer of arms; this lesson teaches the next thing, the basics of shooting: marksmanship, the skill of firing accurately. It matters because a soldier who can carry a weapon safely but cannot shoot accurately is only half-trained, and because accurate, deliberate shooting is itself part of the discipline and the law a soldier is bound by, since a soldier fires aimed, controlled shots at a lawful target and is accountable for every round. For the Royal Kaharagian Army, a small, lightly armed force whose recruits meet shooting first in training and in the airsoft final exercise, the basics of marksmanship are a recruit foundation built on the safety that comes first. This lesson teaches those basics: why marksmanship matters and how it rests on safety, the marksmanship principles by which accurate shooting is achieved, and the discipline of shooting as a soldier. As a recruit lesson, this is the first taste, the principles and the understanding; the skill of shooting itself is built on the range, under a qualified instructor, by doing, and developed in the weapon-handling and skill-at-arms training of the Phase Two courses. Throughout, safety governs everything, exactly as the weapon-safety lesson required.

The lesson takes marksmanship in three parts. First, why marksmanship matters and rests on safety: that a soldier must be able to hit what they aim at, that this builds on the safe handling already taught and never sets it aside, and that accurate shooting is part of a soldier's discipline and accountability. Second, the marksmanship principles: the few simple things that make shooting accurate, a steady position and hold, the aim, control of breathing, and a controlled trigger release, by which a soldier fires an accurate shot. Third, shooting as a soldier: firing aimed, controlled shots at a lawful target, accounting for every round, and the discipline that distinguishes a soldier's shooting from mere firing. Throughout, the lesson holds that marksmanship is the skill of hitting what is aimed at, built on safety and governed by it, achieved by the marksmanship principles, and conducted with the discipline and accountability a soldier owes for every round.

By the end you will be able to explain why marksmanship matters and how it builds on, and never sets aside, weapon safety; describe the marksmanship principles by which accurate shooting is achieved; explain the discipline of shooting as a soldier, firing aimed, controlled shots at a lawful target and accounting for every round; and explain why this is a recruit's first taste, with the skill built on the range under a qualified instructor.

Key Terms

Marksmanship: the skill of shooting accurately, of hitting what is aimed at deliberately, built on safe weapon handling and achieved by the marksmanship principles.
Skill at arms: the broader skill of using the weapon, of which marksmanship (accurate shooting) is the central part, distinct from the weapon safety that comes first.
The marksmanship principles: the few simple things that make shooting accurate, a steady position and hold, an aligned and held aim, controlled breathing, and a controlled trigger release.
Position and hold: the steady, supported holding of the weapon that gives a stable platform for the shot, so the weapon does not waver as the shot is fired.
The aim: the alignment of the sights on the target, held steadily, by which the weapon is pointed accurately at what is to be hit.
Breathing control: the steadying of the breath at the moment of the shot, so that breathing does not move the weapon as the shot is fired.
Trigger control: the smooth, controlled release of the trigger that fires the shot without disturbing the aim, the principle recruits most often get wrong.
The aimed shot: a shot fired deliberately at an identified target with the sights aligned, as opposed to firing wildly or without aim, the only kind of shot a soldier fires.
Accountability for every round: the soldier's responsibility for each round fired, where it goes and what it hits, which makes deliberate, accurate, aimed shooting a matter of discipline and law.
Safety governs everything: the rule, carried from the weapon-safety lesson, that the cardinal safety discipline is never set aside for marksmanship; accurate shooting is safe shooting.

Why marksmanship matters, and rests on safety

The lesson begins by joining marksmanship to the safety the recruit has already learned. The weapon-safety lesson taught the recruit to handle a weapon safely, to be the disciplined bearer of arms who never endangers anyone by careless handling. That safety is the foundation and comes first, always. But a soldier carries a weapon to be able to use it, and using it means being able to hit what is aimed at, which is marksmanship, the skill of accurate shooting. A soldier who can handle a weapon safely but cannot shoot accurately is only half-trained: safe but ineffective. So marksmanship is the next step beyond safety, the skill that makes the safely-carried weapon useful, and a recruit learns its basics once the safety is sound.

Marksmanship rests on safety and never sets it aside, and this must be clear from the outset. Everything in this lesson is done within the cardinal safety discipline the weapon-safety lesson taught: the weapon treated with the rules of safe handling, never pointed at anything not meant to be shot, the safety rules observed on the range and everywhere. Marksmanship is not a relaxation of safety for the sake of effect; it is accurate shooting done safely, and the cardinal rules govern throughout. A soldier learns to shoot accurately and safely together, never one at the expense of the other, and safety remains the overriding discipline even as the soldier learns to hit the target. Beyond making the weapon useful, marksmanship matters because accurate shooting is itself part of a soldier's discipline and accountability. A soldier is responsible for every round they fire, where it goes and what it hits, as the law and the rules for the use of force, met in the conduct lesson, require: a soldier fires aimed, controlled shots at a lawful target, minds what is beyond that target, and answers for each round. Wild, inaccurate, or undisciplined firing is therefore not only ineffective but a failure of the discipline and the law a soldier is bound by, because a round that misses its target may hit something it should not. So marksmanship, accurate and deliberate shooting, is bound up with the soldier's accountability for every round, which makes it a matter of discipline and law as well as effectiveness. The recruit learns the basics of shooting, then, as the skill that makes the safely-carried weapon useful, built on safety, governed by it, and tied to the accountability a soldier owes for every shot.

   WHY MARKSMANSHIP MATTERS + RESTS ON SAFETY

   SAFETY comes first (the weapon-safety lesson) -- always.
   but a soldier carries a weapon to USE it -> must hit what is aimed at
   = MARKSMANSHIP (accurate shooting). safe but can't shoot = half-trained.

   marksmanship RESTS ON safety + NEVER sets it aside:
     done within the cardinal safety discipline throughout
     NOT a relaxation of safety for effect -> accurate shooting IS safe shooting
     learn to shoot accurately + safely TOGETHER; safety overrides

   it also matters because accurate shooting = DISCIPLINE + ACCOUNTABILITY:
     a soldier answers for EVERY round (where it goes, what it hits)
     fires AIMED, controlled shots at a LAWFUL target; minds what's beyond
     wild/inaccurate firing = ineffective AND a failure of discipline + law
        (a missed round may hit what it should not)

The marksmanship principles

Accurate shooting is achieved not by talent or luck but by a few simple things done right, the marksmanship principles, and a recruit learns these as the foundation of the skill. The principles are few and plain, and together they make the difference between a shot that hits and one that misses. The first is a steady position and hold. The weapon must be held on a stable platform, the soldier's position firm and supported so the weapon does not waver, because a weapon that moves will not shoot where it is aimed. A soldier learns a steady firing position and a firm, consistent hold of the weapon, so that the weapon is as still as it can be made when the shot is fired. The steadier the platform, the more accurate the shot.

The second principle is the aim: the alignment of the sights on the target. The soldier aligns the weapon's sights correctly and holds them steadily on the point to be hit, so the weapon is pointed accurately at the target. Correct, consistent sight alignment, held on the aiming point, is what directs the shot to where it should go, and a soldier learns to aim properly and to hold the aim steady through the firing of the shot. The third principle is breathing control: the steadying of the breath at the moment of the shot. Because breathing moves the body and so the weapon, a soldier controls their breathing as they fire, releasing the shot in the natural pause of the breath so that breathing does not disturb the aim. The fourth principle, and the one recruits most often get wrong, is trigger control: the smooth, controlled release of the trigger that fires the shot without disturbing the aim. A trigger snatched or jerked pulls the weapon off aim at the instant of firing and the shot misses, however good the position and aim; a trigger squeezed smoothly and controlled releases the shot with the aim undisturbed. Learning to control the trigger, to release it smoothly rather than snatch it, is often the key to a recruit's first accurate shooting. These principles, a steady position and hold, an aligned and held aim, controlled breathing, and a controlled trigger release, work together: each is necessary, and an accurate shot is the result of all of them done right. A recruit learns them as the understanding behind shooting, the knowledge of what makes a shot accurate, while the skill of actually doing them is built on the range under an instructor, by firing, observing the result, and correcting. But the principles are constant, and the soldier who understands and applies them shoots accurately, while the one who neglects them, snatching the trigger, holding unsteadily, or failing to aim properly, misses. Marksmanship is the application of these few simple principles, made reliable by practice.

   THE MARKSMANSHIP PRINCIPLES (the few things that make a shot hit)

   POSITION + HOLD ... a steady, supported platform; the weapon firm +
        still when the shot fires (a moving weapon won't shoot where aimed)
   THE AIM ........... correct, consistent SIGHT ALIGNMENT held steadily on
        the aiming point -> directs the shot to where it should go
   BREATHING ......... steady the breath at the shot (release in the natural
        pause) so breathing doesn't move the weapon
   TRIGGER CONTROL ... SMOOTH, controlled release -> fires WITHOUT disturbing
        the aim (the one recruits most get wrong; a SNATCHED trigger misses,
        however good the position + aim)

   all four work TOGETHER; an accurate shot = all of them done right.
   the recruit learns the PRINCIPLES (the understanding); the SKILL is
   built on the RANGE under an instructor, by firing + correcting.

Shooting as a soldier

The final part of the lesson is that a soldier's shooting is not mere firing but a disciplined, accountable act, and the recruit must grasp this from the start. A soldier fires the aimed shot: a shot fired deliberately at an identified, lawful target, with the sights aligned and the marksmanship principles applied, as opposed to firing wildly, blindly, or without aim. The aimed shot is the only kind of shot a soldier fires, because it is the only kind a soldier can account for. This connects shooting directly to the discipline and the law the conduct lesson teaches: a soldier fires only aimed, controlled shots, only at a lawful target they have identified, mindful of what is beyond the target, and never sprays rounds wildly or fires without a clear, lawful aim. Marksmanship serves this discipline, because the skill of accurate shooting is what lets a soldier fire deliberately and hit the intended target rather than missing and hitting something else. So the recruit learns that shooting well and shooting rightly go together: the soldier who can shoot accurately can fire the controlled, aimed shots the law and discipline require, while the soldier who cannot is dangerous as well as ineffective.

Accountability for every round is the heart of shooting as a soldier. A soldier is responsible for each round they fire, where it goes and what it strikes, and this responsibility makes deliberate, accurate, disciplined shooting a matter of duty and not only of effectiveness. Every round fired must be one the soldier intended, aimed at a lawful target, controlled, and accounted for; there is no such thing, for a soldier, as a round fired carelessly or without responsibility. This is why the discipline of marksmanship matters beyond hitting the target: it is the skill that lets a soldier discharge their accountability for every round, firing deliberately and accurately at what they lawfully intend. The recruit therefore learns marksmanship as a discipline as much as a skill: the steady, controlled, aimed shooting of a soldier who answers for every round, governed throughout by the safety that comes first. As a recruit lesson, this is the first taste, the principles, the understanding, and the discipline; the skill itself is built on the range, under a qualified instructor, by firing live or in training, observing the fall of shot, and correcting, and it is developed in the weapon-handling and skill-at-arms training of the Phase Two courses. The airsoft final exercise that closes Phase One gives the recruit a first applied taste of shooting under conditions, within the safety standard that governs it. But the foundation is laid here: a soldier carries a weapon to use it, using it means hitting what is aimed at, accurate shooting is achieved by the marksmanship principles, and a soldier's shooting is the disciplined, accountable firing of aimed shots at a lawful target, built on safety and governed by it. That is marksmanship as a soldier learns it, and the recruit begins it now.

In Practice: The Recruit's First Shots

A recruit of the Royal Kaharagian Army, having learned to handle a weapon safely in the earlier lesson, comes to the basics of shooting, and how they learn it shows this lesson. Safety governs from the first moment: everything is done within the cardinal safety discipline, the weapon never pointed at anything not meant to be shot, the range rules observed, because marksmanship is built on safety and never sets it aside. With safety sound, the recruit learns the marksmanship principles. At first their shots miss, and an instructor helps them find why, working through the principles. Their position is unsteady, so they learn a firm, supported hold that keeps the weapon still. Their aim wanders, so they learn to align the sights correctly and hold them on the aiming point. Their breathing moves the weapon, so they learn to steady the breath and release the shot in its natural pause. And, the commonest fault, they are snatching the trigger, jerking it and pulling the weapon off aim at the instant of firing, so they learn to squeeze it smoothly and release the shot with the aim undisturbed.

As the recruit applies the principles together, the shots begin to hit. The change is not talent but the few simple things done right: a steady hold, a held aim, controlled breathing, and above all a controlled trigger. The recruit learns that accurate shooting is the reliable application of these principles, built by firing, seeing where the shot went, and correcting under the instructor's eye. And throughout, they learn that a soldier's shooting is disciplined and accountable: they fire aimed, controlled shots at the target, deliberately, and understand that in the field every round is one they would answer for, fired only at a lawful target and mindful of what lies beyond it. They do not spray rounds or fire without aim; they fire the aimed shot, the only kind a soldier fires.

The value is a recruit who has begun to become an effective as well as a safe bearer of arms: one who can hit what they aim at by applying the marksmanship principles, and who shoots with the discipline and accountability a soldier owes for every round, all built on the safety that comes first. They have had only the first taste, the principles and the discipline, and the skill will be built and deepened on the range and in the Phase Two courses. But the foundation is laid: the recruit understands that a soldier carries a weapon to use it well, that accurate shooting comes from the marksmanship principles, and that a soldier's shooting is the safe, disciplined, accountable firing of aimed shots at a lawful target, which is the whole of this lesson.

Check Your Understanding

Explain why marksmanship matters and how it builds on, but never sets aside, weapon safety. Why is a soldier who can handle a weapon safely but cannot shoot accurately "only half-trained," and how is accurate shooting tied to a soldier's accountability for every round?
Describe the marksmanship principles, position and hold, the aim, breathing control, and trigger control, and what each contributes to an accurate shot. Why is trigger control the one recruits most often get wrong, and why do the principles only work together?
Explain what it means to shoot "as a soldier": firing the aimed shot at a lawful target, and accounting for every round. Why is the aimed shot "the only kind of shot a soldier fires," and how is this a recruit's first taste with the skill built on the range?

Reflection (write a short paragraph): This lesson teaches that a soldier carries a weapon to use it, that using it means hitting what is aimed at, and that a soldier's shooting is the safe, disciplined, accountable firing of aimed shots at a lawful target, never wild or careless firing. Think about why accuracy is a matter of discipline and law and not only of effectiveness, given that a soldier answers for every round and a missed shot may hit what it should not. Why does accurate shooting come from a few simple principles done right rather than from talent, and what would it take to build, on the range and over time, the safe and disciplined marksmanship a soldier owes?

Summary

A soldier carries a weapon to use it, and using it means hitting what is aimed at: marksmanship, the skill of accurate shooting, is the next step beyond the safe handling of the weapon-safety lesson. A soldier safe but unable to shoot accurately is only half-trained.
Marksmanship rests on safety and never sets it aside: it is accurate shooting done within the cardinal safety discipline, learned safely and accurately together, with safety overriding throughout. It also matters because accurate shooting is part of a soldier's discipline and accountability, since a soldier answers for every round and a wild or missed shot may hit what it should not.
Accurate shooting is achieved by the marksmanship principles: a steady position and hold (a stable platform so the weapon does not waver), the aim (correct sight alignment held on the aiming point), breathing control (steadying the breath so it does not move the weapon), and trigger control (a smooth, controlled release that fires without disturbing the aim, the principle most often got wrong). All four work together.
A soldier's shooting is the aimed shot: fired deliberately at an identified, lawful target, with the sights aligned and the principles applied, never wild or without aim, because the aimed shot is the only kind a soldier can account for. Marksmanship serves the discipline and law of conduct, letting a soldier fire the controlled, aimed shots required.
Accountability for every round is the heart of shooting as a soldier: each round is one the soldier intended, aimed at a lawful target, controlled, and answered for. Marksmanship is the skill that lets a soldier discharge that accountability, firing deliberately and accurately.
This is a recruit's first taste, the principles, understanding, and discipline; the skill is built on the range under a qualified instructor by firing and correcting, developed in the Phase Two skill-at-arms training, and first applied under conditions in the airsoft final exercise within its safety standard. Safety governs everything.
Cross-references: builds on the weapon safety of Lesson 05 (Weapon Safety and the Disciplined Bearer of Arms) and is taken further in Weapon Handling and Safety (FLD 210); the aimed shot and accountability for every round connect to the conduct and rules for the use of force of Lesson 15 and The Law of Armed Conflict for Soldiers (PME 201); and it is applied in the Final Exercise of Lesson 15.

Marksmanship: the Basics of Shooting