Why does it say "Hold Breath"?

[Poppis 10]

For what it's worth, I was in the Infantry myself, and during marksmanship training we were told specifically to "breathe in normally, exhale 1/3 to 1/2 of the breath, hold your breath at that point, and take the shot".

Same here.

[BeerHunter 0]

For what it's worth, I was in the Infantry myself, and during marksmanship training we were told specifically to "breathe in normally, exhale 1/3 to 1/2 of the breath, hold your breath at that point, and take the shot".

CAF is basically breath in normally ,exhale normally , relax , sight and shoot. Takes about 2 - 3 seconds before breathing reflex kicks in then you've lost your shot. Rinse and repeat.

Nothing about "holding your breath"

Of course this pertains to precision shooting (ie sniper , long range shots) and not saturation fire which these days is the norm but in it's context in ArmA2 it pertains to precision firing.

But isn't it odd that a silly little post like this has garnered so much attention?:o

BTW - I think the answer is that the true meaning is lost in translation and I'm sure the chaps at BIS have more on their plate than terminology.:p

[CplBlakeman 10]

We were told more of a pause in breathing out rather than holding it. I believe this was because folks would take in a big breath of air and then make their heart pound and tense up, which can ruin a shot.

In, 2, 3

out, shot, 2, 3

[trooper117 10]

The breath should be held just prior to releasing the shot.. also, if the firer hasn't been able to finalize the point of aim and shot release by approx 5 seconds, they should relax, re-aim and go through the process again.. this will stop all this bollox about 'holding the breath for too long' thus stopping the firer from maintaining the aim...

Bear in mind as well, this process is normaly applied during 'grouping and zeroing' where the firer is prone and stable, and under no pressure to release the shot.. Combat shooting on the other hand is more instinctive and often requires the firer to make snap decisions in split seconds where they dont have time to go through the complete firing cycle..

I have to tell you that 'The marksmanship principles' are fine and dandy on a gallery range in peace time, and should certainly be taught to enable recruits to understand the firing process, but out in the cuds for real under proper combat conditions, and also in unorthadox and unstable firing positions you are not always able to apply them..

[Raggz 10]

Mostly used by snipers. Soldiers in combat usually can't hesitate to shoot by using this proceedure.If snipers take a breath when firing at a target 600-700 meters away the bullet will be way off target. Proffesional snipers are well trained in lowering bloodpressure and in breath control.

I saw a video once from a situation in a park somewhere in US where a guy acted threatening and had a gun (don't remember if he had a hostage). As he sat down on a bench a sniper shot the gun out of his hand. This sniper was about 200-300 meters away from target. That's what i call precision :)

[SylverFyre 10]

So much rabble about something that got lost in translation.....

But it wasn't lost in translation - the English phrase "Hold youre breath" means cease breathing in or out, and the OP asked the question why does it say that when he thought that it meant something else. The devs got it spot on

Anyway, at least some people who really do know have posted what really happens during training and real life combat so we learned summat :cool:

[BeerHunter 0]

I saw a video once from a situation in a park somewhere in US where a guy acted threatening and had a gun (don't remember if he had a hostage). As he sat down on a bench a sniper shot the gun out of his hand. This sniper was about 200-300 meters away from target. That's what i call precision :)

That was the worst shot ever by a sniper.

He was aiming for the guys head and missed by a mile , accidentally shooting the gun out of the guys hand. :p :D

[Second 0]

Mostly used by snipers. Soldiers in combat usually can't hesitate to shoot by using this proceedure.If snipers take a breath when firing at a target 600-700 meters away the bullet will be way off target. Proffesional snipers are well trained in lowering bloodpressure and in breath control.

It takes just about 0.001 seconds to start holding breath, by that point one big thing moving barrel has been negated. It's simple reflex to drive into one's spine. Sure they won't reach accuracy they would in range (unlike sniper could) as situations are far from shooting range conditions. Quite many who describe their (usually first) kill seem to state that they did what did the what they learned in shooting range. A clean accurate shot. That if they have exposed opponent at which they can take accurate shot. Sure probably not everyone can do it if they can't control their nerves.

Firing in volume against unseen enemy is another thing, which probably shouldn't get mixed with actual shooting skillzors, or marksmanship.