Life @ LPD - Sniper Training

When Dan and I started the month of April we knew it was going to be a hectic but rewarding month of events. The first of those happened last week when Dan finally got the chance to attend Sniper Training, which officially made him a certified police sniper for the LPD SWAT Team. Even though it was an awesome opportunity for Dan, it also flipped our lives upside down for a short period of time. But, what can I say... after being married to a cop for the past five years I'm completely use to our lifestyle not being exactly normal.

I won't lie and say that I wasn't annoyed most of the week. Throughout the week bullets, guns, rain gear, random packets of food, muddy boots, bags full equipment, etc. littered the entire house. Me being the clean freak I am... all the "stuff" kind of drove me insane. AHHHH! Also, I was driving back and forth from home to work 2-3 times a day because Dan and I's hours currently are insanely long and I was in charge of making sure the dog was fed and let out. PHEW! But, let me tell you, hearing about Dan's awesome week and seeing how much he enjoyed himself made it ALL worth it!

So now, with a little bit of Dan's help as I type this post, I will try to fill you in about his week and also about what each picture is of... bear with me as I'm not the expert on this Sniper stuff.

Most of the week was spent on the 100 yard line as 26 students practiced their shooting skills at different targets they were presented.

Here is a picture of what it looked like looking down the range. There were 13 target backers. Below the targets are the "butts," where people worked to swap out targets while bullets flew over their heads.

Another shot of the 100 yard line.

Here's a picture of several shooters down in the "prone" position.

Shooter on the glass getting ready to take a shot.

Picture of Dan enjoying trigger time. They got to have a lot of that and he came home each evening talking about how fun it was.

It rained during the beginning of the week and was very wet and muddy. Dan came home several nights and had all his wet/muddy gear laying out on the floor of the kitchen. The joy I felt... NOT!

A shot of one of Dan's rifles.

More shooting going on...

Here's a pic of the scope turrets... whatever that means?

Some of Dan's fellow classmates and instructors on the 500 yard line.

So now after a week of Sniper School Dan was certified to shoot a bolt action precision rifle, which only Snipers can legally shoot. He practiced shooting at the 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500 yard lines to gain experience at those distances. He also spent several hours just laying in one spot and observing a house that simulated a real life sniper scenario. He shot moving targets and pop up targets. And he practiced several different drills with the different kinds of rifles he has. Dan thought this experience was great and gave him much more confidence behind his rifles. We are very excited that now he can put his skills to use if he ever has too.