Copyright 2002 The Houston Chronicle Publishing Company
The Houston Chronicle
October 16, 2002, Wednesday 3 STAR EDITION
SECTION: A; Pg. 29 Metfront
LENGTH: 854 words
HEADLINE: Snipers learn craft at complex;
Police among those who train at facility
SOURCE: Staff
BYLINE: ARMANDO VILLAFRANCA, Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau
DATELINE: AUSTIN
BODY:
AUSTIN - Nestled in an isolated corner of Real County is Thunder Ranch, a 2,400-acre compound where gun enthusiasts - including lawmen - learn the art of tactical assault.
The facility has operated for years without much notice, offering courses such as defensive handgun and urban rifle that are conducted in realistic settings.
But since a sniper laid siege to suburban Washington, D.C., Thunder Ranch has drawn a lot of attention.
"People ask me what do they do at Thunder Ranch. I tell them they teach success and they use firearms to do that," said Ernie Hansen, the Lincoln City, Ore., chief of police and a part-time instructor at the facility. Heidi Smith, wife of Thunder Ranch President Clint Smith, said she has been flooded with media requests seeking interviews with her husband for insights into the sniper subculture. She declined a request from the Houston Chronicle for an interview and tour of the facility.
But she did say the complex, about 96 miles west of San Antonio near Mountain Home, has had no contact with Maryland authorities about the shootings, in which nine people have been killed and two wounded since Oct. 2.
"Our only comment at this time is that anybody that we do (train) here has proof of no criminal background. We do not want to say anything, do anything until this is all over," she said. "Until this is over and they capture this excuse for a human, we really don't want to contribute to anything or say anything that would hinder the police in what they're trying to do there."
Clint Smith has trained snipers for police departments, and some of them have returned as part-time instructors. One course at Thunder Ranch teaches students in precision rifle shooting, hitting a target at up to 1,000 yards.
"Snipers are kind of like the Air Force. They stand off a little bit, they get to hit stuff. They don't really kind of have to get dirty, and I don't mean that ugly. But there is a detachment from it a little bit," Smith said in a 60 Minutes II interview last year.
In the lexicon of snipers, Smith described the sniper target as a computer shielded inside a helmet that is constantly moving. He was referring to the human head of a hostage-taker with the computer being the brain and the helmet being the skull.
When the facility opened in July 1993, law enforcement agencies looked upon it with suspicion and monitored its activities. Just months earlier, the Branch Davidian siege outside Waco had come to a fiery end.
But it's no longer subject to such scrutiny. Instead, it has become the place in Texas where some law enforcement agencies go for training, from simple firearm certification for a small county sheriff's department to city police SWAT training.
The Department of Public Safety routinely sends its SWAT officers and other tactical units to Thunder Ranch. Teela Mange, DPS spokeswoman, could not comment on the training tactical units receive there, but she did say, "They have the training to bring the incident to a close."
There are a number of buildings and ranges where training is conducted, according to its Web site.
In Thunderville, a mock-up of a city street, students are trained to make split-second decisions in an urban assault scenario. And nearby is the Tower, a four-story building from which a sniper with a high-precision rifle can shoot into Thunderville.
Much of the complex's success is given to Clint Smith, who is held in near-legendary regard by some in law enforcement and tactical assault training.
"You'll find no greater patriot than Smith, no greater friend of right and no greater foe of wrong," Hansen said.
While he was director of training at the gun manufacturer Heckler & Koch from 1986 to 1987, Smith developed much of the curriculum. The German gun manufacturer is known for producing the MP5, the preferred weapon of tactical units in the United States and internationally.
"He made a great contribution," said Steve Galloway, director of creative services for Heckler & Koch. "When he was at Heckler & Koch, he had a great influence on the direction of our whole training division."
Smith served two tours in Vietnam as a Marine infrantryman in Combined Action Platoons. The CAP program placed a squad of 14 Marines and a Navy Corpsman in 114 villages and hamlets.
The platoons lived with villagers, offering them protection and training them as militia while conducting night and day patrols in the surrounding area. At the time, CAP Marines were known as being idealistic and sympathetic to the Vietnamese people.
When he first started his urban rifle course in 1983, Smith said, finding interested students was difficult. That changed after April 11, 1986, when two FBI agents were killed and five wounded in a shootout with suspected bank robbers in Miami.
"I believe that this incident, or its end result, is one of the most significant training catalysts in American law enforcement in the past 50 years," Smith wrote in GUNS magazine in 1996. "One effect has been the influx of rifle training and the growth of rifle training programs, which has been nothing short of massive."
The Houston Chronicle
October 16, 2002, Wednesday 3 STAR EDITION
SECTION: A; Pg. 29 Metfront
LENGTH: 854 words
HEADLINE: Snipers learn craft at complex;
Police among those who train at facility
SOURCE: Staff
BYLINE: ARMANDO VILLAFRANCA, Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau
DATELINE: AUSTIN
BODY:
AUSTIN - Nestled in an isolated corner of Real County is Thunder Ranch, a 2,400-acre compound where gun enthusiasts - including lawmen - learn the art of tactical assault.
The facility has operated for years without much notice, offering courses such as defensive handgun and urban rifle that are conducted in realistic settings.
But since a sniper laid siege to suburban Washington, D.C., Thunder Ranch has drawn a lot of attention.
"People ask me what do they do at Thunder Ranch. I tell them they teach success and they use firearms to do that," said Ernie Hansen, the Lincoln City, Ore., chief of police and a part-time instructor at the facility. Heidi Smith, wife of Thunder Ranch President Clint Smith, said she has been flooded with media requests seeking interviews with her husband for insights into the sniper subculture. She declined a request from the Houston Chronicle for an interview and tour of the facility.
But she did say the complex, about 96 miles west of San Antonio near Mountain Home, has had no contact with Maryland authorities about the shootings, in which nine people have been killed and two wounded since Oct. 2.
"Our only comment at this time is that anybody that we do (train) here has proof of no criminal background. We do not want to say anything, do anything until this is all over," she said. "Until this is over and they capture this excuse for a human, we really don't want to contribute to anything or say anything that would hinder the police in what they're trying to do there."
Clint Smith has trained snipers for police departments, and some of them have returned as part-time instructors. One course at Thunder Ranch teaches students in precision rifle shooting, hitting a target at up to 1,000 yards.
"Snipers are kind of like the Air Force. They stand off a little bit, they get to hit stuff. They don't really kind of have to get dirty, and I don't mean that ugly. But there is a detachment from it a little bit," Smith said in a 60 Minutes II interview last year.
In the lexicon of snipers, Smith described the sniper target as a computer shielded inside a helmet that is constantly moving. He was referring to the human head of a hostage-taker with the computer being the brain and the helmet being the skull.
When the facility opened in July 1993, law enforcement agencies looked upon it with suspicion and monitored its activities. Just months earlier, the Branch Davidian siege outside Waco had come to a fiery end.
But it's no longer subject to such scrutiny. Instead, it has become the place in Texas where some law enforcement agencies go for training, from simple firearm certification for a small county sheriff's department to city police SWAT training.
The Department of Public Safety routinely sends its SWAT officers and other tactical units to Thunder Ranch. Teela Mange, DPS spokeswoman, could not comment on the training tactical units receive there, but she did say, "They have the training to bring the incident to a close."
There are a number of buildings and ranges where training is conducted, according to its Web site.
In Thunderville, a mock-up of a city street, students are trained to make split-second decisions in an urban assault scenario. And nearby is the Tower, a four-story building from which a sniper with a high-precision rifle can shoot into Thunderville.
Much of the complex's success is given to Clint Smith, who is held in near-legendary regard by some in law enforcement and tactical assault training.
"You'll find no greater patriot than Smith, no greater friend of right and no greater foe of wrong," Hansen said.
While he was director of training at the gun manufacturer Heckler & Koch from 1986 to 1987, Smith developed much of the curriculum. The German gun manufacturer is known for producing the MP5, the preferred weapon of tactical units in the United States and internationally.
"He made a great contribution," said Steve Galloway, director of creative services for Heckler & Koch. "When he was at Heckler & Koch, he had a great influence on the direction of our whole training division."
Smith served two tours in Vietnam as a Marine infrantryman in Combined Action Platoons. The CAP program placed a squad of 14 Marines and a Navy Corpsman in 114 villages and hamlets.
The platoons lived with villagers, offering them protection and training them as militia while conducting night and day patrols in the surrounding area. At the time, CAP Marines were known as being idealistic and sympathetic to the Vietnamese people.
When he first started his urban rifle course in 1983, Smith said, finding interested students was difficult. That changed after April 11, 1986, when two FBI agents were killed and five wounded in a shootout with suspected bank robbers in Miami.
"I believe that this incident, or its end result, is one of the most significant training catalysts in American law enforcement in the past 50 years," Smith wrote in GUNS magazine in 1996. "One effect has been the influx of rifle training and the growth of rifle training programs, which has been nothing short of massive."
