These pictures from the early 90s are from my original shooting mentor, Eric K. He was in a Force Recon Direct Action Platoon as part of the CIF (Commander’s In-extremis Force) in Southeast Asia. They were tasked with hostage rescue and counterterrorism operations in the region. Note the Nomex flight suits, ProTec helmets, 80’s SWAT armor, SWD goggles, and MP5Ns with Surefire lights. You can also see MEUSOC pistols, homemade telephone cord lanyards, and Eagle SAS holsters. Notable is the complete lack of NODS and the C-cell Maglites stuffed in vests.
Nearly 30 years ago, Eric told me that the best SMG/rifle shooters in the platoon were deemed the “designated marksman” and that they were posted to cover the long axis on plane/train/bus assaults, and also used suppressed MP5s on approaches to eliminate external threats at structures.
About the time GWOT started, I started hearing the term again, but the context was slightly different. It had morphed into the rifleman in an infantry squad that was equipped with a magnified optic (ACOGs originally) to support the squad with accurate fires. When this doctrine was first formalized, it was supposed to be a standard issue rifle, but it was quickly learned that hit percentage went way up with better ammo, freefloat rails, etc. See the issuance of the Mk12 in the USMC, M14 & EBR in the Army, and the various other concoctions such as the AMU rifle with Daniel Defense quad rail and fluted match barrel.
The revised DM concept was proven to be effective. Magnified optics were key when fighting an enemy that attempted to blend into and hide amongst the populace. Spotting a threat sniper in a vehicle hide, an AK buried in man jammies, or an IED in a dead dog on the road at distance saved lives in the counterinsurgency fight.
When most people think of a DMR, they usually associate it with a precision 7.62 gas gun, partly due to video game weapon categories. Of course, once optics were issued to almost everyone mid-to-late GWOT, the USMC and Army did eventually select and issue 7.62 HK rifles to their DMs, phasing out the earlier iterations. Just remember, a Designated Marksman was really a role more than a specific type of rifle.
*How did the concept work out in the conventional Army? If you look at how the squads are organized, the rifleman is usually the newest guy in the squad and has the least experience. As they get more time in and promote to Specialist, they move into automatic rifleman, grenadier, and eventually team leader roles. In reality, the DM rifles are frequently left in the arms room and training/ammo is minimal to nonexistent according to most infantry guys I’ve talked to lately. When they do get taken to the range, it becomes more of a fam-fire/spend-ex..
During every peacetime period in our history, precision rifle fire training is shelved or neglected until the next conflict starts, and then there is a huge scramble for training. Sadly, the knowledge base usually isn’t organic anymore and they have to start over.
