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Wolf

Wolf

Active member
Just a little information about myself: I intend to join USMC in the future, and have a desire to become a Sniper.

After reading some of the past threads, I’m aware I’m not the only one to claim I want to become a sniper - and the standards to become one are very high.

I respect every soldier’s opinions, and I’m very willing to hear what they think of my aspirations.

As you read my questions, keep in-mind that I’m still only a civilian, and although I know many soldiers, I only have general knowledge of the military.

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I’m left-handed.
What effect wills that have on my shooting, and what history is there about left-handed shooters?

I’m near-sighted; I wear glasses/contact lenses.
Numerous resources tell me that I can still qualify to become sniper with vision correctable to 20/20, however, there’s some concern about the reflection of the glasses compromising a position (among various other things).
I was also told by someone that eye surgery makes your vision very poor at night.
Is there any information to confirm or deny that? And, if you had to choose, would you just stick to sports glasses/glasses?

I’ve heard, in some cases, a soldier who’s failed the first time, can return at a later date to retry a course.
Is there a limit to how many times a soldier can retake a course? Does this situation only apply to only certain types of soldiers?

That's it for now.
Forgive me if some of these things have been covered in past threads. I simply wasn't around at the time to read them, and I may have missed a few while conducting my search through the forum history.

Thanks.
 
About vision at night. I have LASEK corrective surgery (Not LASIK) and I don't have any issues with seeing at night. I did a tour in the Marines with them. Held up all the way. No problems whatsoever.
About things like being afraid that your glasses will reflect light etc., if the authorities don't care, neither should you. Just shooting good enough to qualify for sniper school alone will be hard enough... and then qualifying as a sniper will be even harder still. If you're really worried about it, something as simple as a baseball cap or service cover will solve this and I don't think anyone will give you a hard time for bringing along a service cover on a mission, especially if you say you need the visor to shield your eyes.
I don't know if being left handed will be an issue with the sniper rifle. But it won't be an issue on your basic M-16. The M-16 is far more left hander friendly than the South Korean K-2 but I was still in the team of the 50 best shots from the brigade of 3000 so if you got the talent, you shouldn't have problems with the M-16. I would imagine that the USMC has M-40s designed for left handed shooters because some left handed shooters shoot REAL good. But this you will have to check with someone who knows better. I'll shoot an email to a friend who's a USMC MP sniper. He should know.
 
An MP sniper is more of a Designated Marksman than a Scout Sniper. I've known snipers with glasses and since all of the M40 systems are built by the MTU at the Big Q I'm pretty sure those guys and gals can set one up for a lefty.
 
Depending on your age, eye surgery may not be an option (and I checked with my own optometrist, because I considered it as well). A lot of eye surgeons will not operate on folks under 21. Thanks for the night vision info, I'll have to look into that. I suppose it could damage what little tapetum that humans have.

I dunno if being left-handed would affect you much; I shoot, throw, etc. right handed even though I use my left for eating and writing.
 
Being left handed won't affect him a bit. I guarantee it.
Night vision being a problem... it wasn't a problem for me but I hear that this is true for some people who have opted to take LASIK. Light sources tend to show a halo around them at night. I've had LASEK and I haven't had this problem.
After the surgery, you should give it at least six months for your eyes to stabilize and heal from the surgery. This is especially true with LASIK because they actually cut the lens of your eye, then stick it back on again. With LASEK though, about ten days after surgery you will be almost blind so you will need a lot of help from... mom. Basically even the smallest source of light will be painful to deal with. And if the room is hot, Lord have mercy on your soul. But the procedure is safer and in the end, the result is more stable because this method does not require reattaching any part that's been cut. They just carve away at your eye the way it is and then stick in a hard contact lens for ten days (don't remove, don't rub, don't touch) so that the tissue can heal itself.
LASEK will test your patience, but I say it was well worth it and I'm glad I got that and not LASIK.
 
the_13th_redneck said:
Being left handed won't affect him a bit. I guarantee it.
Night vision being a problem... it wasn't a problem for me but I hear that this is true for some people who have opted to take LASIK. Light sources tend to show a halo around them at night. I've had LASEK and I haven't had this problem.
After the surgery, you should give it at least six months for your eyes to stabilize and heal from the surgery. This is especially true with LASIK because they actually cut the lens of your eye, then stick it back on again. With LASEK though, about ten days after surgery you will be almost blind so you will need a lot of help from... mom. Basically even the smallest source of light will be painful to deal with. And if the room is hot, Lord have mercy on your soul. But the procedure is safer and in the end, the result is more stable because this method does not require reattaching any part that's been cut. They just carve away at your eye the way it is and then stick in a hard contact lens for ten days (don't remove, don't rub, don't touch) so that the tissue can heal itself.
LASEK will test your patience, but I say it was well worth it and I'm glad I got that and not LASIK.
Click to expand...

interesting, i haven't looked into this procedure but i will now. i had asked the recruiter about whether or not having vision correction before enlisting was a good decision, and he said that the military views it as a surgery and therefore might, in some cases, hurt your eligability for enlistment? if that's the case i'm gonna have to learn to deal with my glasses ;) does anyone know about this? thanks
 
I think that recruiter doesn't know what he's talking about. Try asking another recruiter. I've never heard of this being a problem except maybe about ten years ago when people didn't know much about them.
The requirement is that your eyes be correctable to a certain specification.
I heard they even correct your vision inside the military. You're going to have to ask around about this because it may be possible that a procedure undertaken INSIDE the military is accepted by someone with the procedure done outside the military before enlistment may be barred. Again you'll have to check this one out.
Personally fixing my eyes has been a great decision. Always ask more than one recruiter and if possible ask for an official web address or document that states the facts with the official endorsements.
 
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