Austin PD will be hosting a 6 day advanced sniper school on Sunday in Austin Texas from 7am to 5pm.
The course will November 29 th through December 4 th which will consist of 60 hours of training on various
sniper specific topics that will build upon skills and expose students to new areas of operational
readiness. This course will deep dive into areas such as hostage rescue tactics, shooting through
barriers, moving targets, improvised but stable positions and tripod specific deployment considerations.
The course will be taught across the city at various locations so expect to travel to training within a 45
minute radius. The course is led by former Austin PD SWAT sniper team leader Mike Castillo and
Retired SWAT sniper Matt Harmatuk who bring over three decades of combined experience with
hundreds of sniper deployments in urban and rural areas in central Texas. The class will also host guest
instructors from high level competition shooters to marine corps scout snipers who bring a wealth of
knowledge including rare access to live stalking exercises, camouflage and long-range sniper
engagements between 500 and 1000 yards. Additionally, students will be educated on covert over
watch assignments, site advances, current case law applications led by SWAT supervisors and repetitions
on hide construction with expert evaluation/feedback. The course is heavy on student repetition, and
will test beyond basic sniper skills with a focus on data collection and development of and/or validation
that your sniper program is in line with current national standards. Based on the ASA (American Sniper
Association) This is a certification course that will have a skills assessment at the end of the week and
will test the student mentally and physically. The following are the minimum requirements to be
eligible to participate in the course:

 Active member of a US based Police SWAT team
 Certified law enforcement sniper
 Deployed as a sniper on a part time or full time swat team for at least one year with operational
experience
 All requirements will be verified prior to class with the agency
 Austin PD basic sniper school preferred but not required

Each student will be expected to download “whatsapp” so that the group is able to communicate and
you will be contacted the week prior to the start of the course. Each student needs to have a working
knowledge of ballistic software with the weapon system profile pre-set up prior to class. Hornady 4DOF,

Geo ballistics or AB Quantum is preferred. Each student needs to have dopes confirmed out to at least
500 yards prior to the start of class. See below for the equipment requirements:

Ammunition
650 rounds of match grade DUTY ammunition
25 Barrier rounds
NOTE: No armor piercing or frangible ammunition. No .338 or 50 caliber.
Weapon System
Precision rifle capable of 1 MOA or better accuracy
Precision optic with a minimum of 10x magnification with associated tools needed to
make adjustments
Bipod capable of canting left and right
Adjustable rifle sling with carabineer
Rifle data book
Rear shooting support bag
Bubble level system on the rifle,
Gas Mask
Support Gear
Shooting tripod capable of standing height
Appropriate cleaning equipment
Callout gear (armor, LBV, gloves, or any gear required by your department SOP)
Sniper pack or drag bag
Kestrel (optional)
Individual camouflage (veils, hoods, sheets, covers, ghillie, hide materials)
Plain clothes for UC day
Binoculars of at least 7X
Shooting mat (optional)
Laser rangefinder
Note taking material, pen, pencil (laptop computer optional for classroom)

Hearing protection
Sunscreen/bugspray
Long sleeve uniform
Boonie hat (Stalking)
Bag of medium sized rubber bands
Earth colored bungee cords (Harbor freight)

There is no particular host hotel however the primary training location will be at 4800
Shaw Ln, Austin Tx, 78744 at the APD public safety training center. I suggest pick a
hotel that is NOT near downtown or in the Lamar/Rundberg area. The domain or north
Austin areas will be a better choice.

For question regarding this class, please contact Region 1 Director AJ Rivera

call/text: 281-796-1889

email: [email protected]

TTPOA believes in bringing in some of the best instructors in the country to share their knowledge and experience. If you have requests for a specific instructor or course, contact your Regional Director.