Schutzenschur

Earning an expert badge with American weapons is tough, but earning another country’s weapon badge can be a once in a lifetime opportunity. A group of Multi-National Task Force (East) Soldiers got that opportunity at Camp Casablanca, when German Soldiers invited the Americans to shoot German weapons and qualify for the German rifle badge, the Schutzenschnur.
“[The Schutzenschnur] is only for German Soldiers, but we are allowed to invite any nation,” says German Maj. Alexander Sauer, commander of the MNTF(South) headquarters company. “Today we asked our American and Austrian friends as our guests.”
The day began with German Soldiers giving blocks of instruction on each of the weapons that would be fired during the range. “They were terrific,” says Sgt. Nicki Fellenzer. “They were incredibly helpful; they were very, very friendly, and very knowledgeable about the weapons.”
The Schutzenschnur is awarded to German noncommissioned officers in gold, silver or bronze, depending on the shooter’s skill level. Qualification for bronze and silver involve shooting the HK P8 pistol and the Gewehr G36 rifle from three different positions. Obtaining gold requires the Soldier to also qualify expert with the machine gun as well as the pistol and rifle.
“My favorite weapon was the [P8],” says Staff Sgt. Bum Kim, a chaplain’s assistant with Task Force Falcon. “It was very light, not like the berretta… very light and [it handled very well].”
Spc. Paul Brown, with TF Falcon, liked the rifle best. “The German rifle is a little more accurate because it has two sights,” he says, “you have an optical sight which is 3X, and you also have a red dot system, which is better for shoot and move situations.”
The Soldiers will shoot the machine gun July 25.
While shooting new weapons and earning foreign badges is a great opportunity for the Soldiers, the day was about more than that. “The shooting is working together with other nations to get in contact and have a feeling of familiarity,” says Sauer.
“This is my first time integrating and working with the Germans,” says Kim. “It was a great experience!”