NIAMEY, Niger -- In 1718 James Puckle developed the first machine gun, which he called his Defense Gun. Since then the machine gun has been a vital asset to the arsenals of armed forces throughout the world. It has proven to be a weapon that can be pivotal to the outcome of a battle, much like the addition of a sniper to any fire team. So, it came as no surprise to Sgt. Chris Singley, instructor/trainer, and GySgt. Eric Coughlin, staff non-commissioned officer in charge, Trans-Sahara Counter Terrorist Initiative Mobile Training Team (TSCTI MTT), that the Niger military had such weapons. However, Singley and Coughlin never expected that they'd be teaching the force of this country how to be effective machine gunners and snipers.
Singley and Coughlin, along with the other 22 Marines and Sailors of the MTT, answered the State Department's charge to bolster the capabilities of Africa's Sahel region and stem the flow of illicit arms, goods, and terrorists in the area by training select military units from Chad and Niger. After a successful eight weeks of training in Chad, the MTT set out to duplicate their success with another eight weeks in Niger on August 9, 2004. With a similar training schedule of courses such as field medicine and land navigation, the MTT found the soldiers responsive and excited. However, at the MTT's discovery of the Nigerien Army's weapon capabilities, the TSCTI training coordinators realized there was room to expand into specialized training. Singley and Coughlin were assigned the task to give a select few of the 150 Nigerien soldiers being trained an opportunity to experience Marine Corps machine gun and sniper training.
Within one week Singley took 18 Nigerien soldiers who didn't have much basic knowledge of the machine gun and taught them how to properly employ and fire the weapon.
"I knew it would be challenging, but I also knew I had the necessary skills to make them good. I was trying to get them to understand how a machine gun works and not be afraid of the weapon," said Singley, a native of Milledgeville, Ga.
Singley familiarized the soldiers with the weapon by having them practice setting the weapon up and conduct malfunction drills. He also worked with the soldiers on manipulating the traversing and elevation mechanisms, adjusting fire using an assistant gunner, and live fire drills.
"We had really good translators, so the language barrier was not really a problem, said Singley. "Now they can provide the commanding officer with an effective support by fire element."
Simultaneously, Coughlin took eight Nigerien soldiers under his command and molded them into snipers. The soldiers under Coughlin's charge had little to no experience with the NDM-86 sniper rifles in their arsenal. Coughlin sprung into action, battle site zeroing the rifles with his snipers.
"BZOing was the toughest part, because when they first shot, they didn't have good trigger control or shooting position," said Coughlin.
Within the course of 10 days Coughlin worked on the soldier's marksmanship and observation techniques. He also worked on camouflaging, navigation, field sketching, and scope orientation.
"I wanted to teach them as much as possible. Sniper school is nine weeks long, and I only had 10 days. I wanted these guys to apply the principles and hit the target," said Coughlin.
Coughlin saw his diligent hands-on training with the soldiers pay off at a Nigerien training facility called Samari, where the entire company being trained by the MTT was performing field operations.
"These guys were tremendous. They had a first round kill at center mass from 320 millimeters, which made it a hard shot with the position of the sun and wind," said Coughlin.
Although focused with their efforts to train the Nigerien soldiers, Singley and Coughlin heard the beckon of the Marine Corps again. The two learned that there was an opportunity for them to perform the same type of mission in Iraq. As a result, they eagerly departed Niger a week ahead of the rest of the trainers.
"My unit needed another body for a similar mission, and I had just enough time to do it if a left here early, so I volunteered to go," said Singley. "I'm excited about doing the same thing in a new place with new challenges, even though it's in a hostile environment."
Despite the fact the two Marines are excited to go, they know they will miss Niger and the bonds they built here.
"I would go on a mission with these guys any day. Those are my guys, and we did a lot of sweating and long hours together. I will miss working with them," said Coughlin as he packed bags.