THE SUN WAS ALREADY rising as he moved into his final hide site. At this point, he had been radio silent for the past 12 hours and hoped that with the lack of communication his primary exfiltration point was still a go, even though he didn’t care for the means of extraction.

 He was alone, and wishing that he had his sniper buddy, but this time he had volunteered to conduct the operation unaccompanied based on mission requirements. He had only completed one other lone sniper operation, and that was during a training exercise in Nevada. At that time his team was conducting a Full Mission Profile, a training event that simulates real world events and conditions to test the men’s planning and preparation. The mission was complex and required multiple teams to conduct simultaneous hits in various locations in order to successfully rescue a hostage from a warehouse near area 51. The training area was significant because of the extensive tunnel systems.  For the upcoming mission, the team had learned that the rebel group they were targeting had access to unused tunnels that they were now using to smuggle people, weapons and drugs.

 Conducting the mission as a singleton shooter came with risks, sniper school teaches you to operate in pairs as a team, a shooter and a spotter. This not only helps maintain overall situational awareness while moving, but it also allows the shooter to focus on one thing, taking the shot. His team was selected to rescue the hostage, and during planning they realized that because of the lack of terrain features or concealment areas in the flat desert, the sniper team would have to move through an unused underground rail system in order to get into position.