I am a founding member of team L337 KREW. Our home field is Adventure Zone just south of Guthrie off I-35 & Seward road.

L337 KREW

I’ve made many friends through this wonderful sport.  LK was founded Oct of 2006 by myself & my coworker Jonathan.  Since then the adventures of LK have lead us to many glorious victories.

LK founders Jonathan “Striker” Tomlin & David “Soulspitter” Roberts

War Wagon – Iwo Jima 2010

Winter Gillie

L337 Krew 2007

L337 Krew 2009

In 2008 myself & two other team mates took first place in the first annual Oklahoma Classic 3 Man Woodsball Tournament.

This was the last-round tournament-winning flag score picture from the day. We worked very hard for the win.

I have a paintball video up on YouTube that seems to have had favorable reviews:

I have have come across a few writings about myself that I found entertaining, here’s my favorite by my good friend Chris Reed.

“There Is Such a Thing as a Paintball Sniper”

A short memoir by Nashorn

For some reason, Soulspitter’s warnings didn’t register in my head as I was barking out orders atop the fort tower and I took a nice one to the head. There was no mask (or hair for that matter) protecting that part of my nub and it hurt like hell. As I was making my way back to the kill box, I saw my “killer” sitting in the bushes. I felt like giving him a nasty stare or something, but I had been warned at least twice by that “passing bush” of my pending doom. I just told myself mentally Suck it up, Nash. I should’ve listened better and got my head down. Oh well. As I was approaching the opposing player dressed in a dark navy Coast Guard work uniform, I heard the faint but distinct report of an Ion firing-once. The fact that it was only one shot grabbed my attention. As sudden as the sound occured, there was a very perceptable split second of dead silence. Then came a thundering

THWACK!

It was the undeniable sound of a head shot. The paintball on plastic impact was so loud, for a moment, I thought it had cracked the player’s mask. As the enemy player realized he was out, he called out, “good hit.” It was the finest kill I had ever seen. It was so clean, so…absolute. It was then that I recalled the sniper creed: “One Shot. One kill”. Soulspitter then appeared from the bushes to confirm his kill. He had a mask on and a ghillie suit, but one only had to look in those eyes to know there was a $hit-eatin’ grin blazing underneath. I believe there was a certain pep in his step as he trotted by and a slight victory jump followed by a thumbs up as he passed by. To this day I’m not sure why I thanked him for avenging my “death” in my mind rather than words. I took a couple of seconds to make sure the now “dead” guy was removing himself from play. I then looked back in the direction that Soulspitter was headin’ to, but he had already become one with the forest again. I thought to myself, “Poor bastards. Dave’s on a roll.”

I have written a few short articles as well, among them my favorite being what the paintball sniper is like. It gives a good description of what it’s like to be in my shoes on the weekend.

Paintball Sniper Mindset & Tactics.

D.Roberts – 6yrs dedicated paintball sniper position.

- Stealth & use of the Ghillie Suit -

Here we run into a lot of speculation about how a ghillie is or isn’t really useful.

The truth is, a ghillie suit is only as useful as the person wearing makes it be.

In all honesty I have really become so accustomed to wearing my ghillie suit in the field that I sort of feel like a piece of me is missing when I don’t have it on. Reaching the point where your ghillie is no longer a tool to be used but more of an extension of your own body is when it really started becoming effective for me. At first it’s a little silly feeling & clunky & you try to use it to blend into stuff, setup good ambushes by lying down, hugging tree’s.. ect. But there is so much more use to having good camo.

One might think of a ghillie suit as a magic cloak that makes you invisible. This is far, far from the truth. A ghillie suit is like makeup. You take a beautiful woman & put a little makeup to accent & bring out her features and she’s still beautiful. its not what the person wears, but instead the attributes of the person underneath it.

Everybody knows the common sense methods of stealth.

- move quietly

- move slowly

Most know more thought out methods of stealth.

- taking advantage of noise; move during breezes to muffle your footsteps

- sprint during spurts of firefight noise.

- very quickly glance at the ground to plan your footing as walk to avoid sticks.

- stay low, stay in the shadows, use your darker colors where they count.

And some practice advanced methods of stealth.

- rolling your feet from heel to toe along the edge of your foot SLOWLY to totally eliminate   distinguishable foot steps.

- always hug tight to whatever nearest object you are by, (trees, fence, bunker)as you move.

- always avoid direct sunlight.

- when advancing on an enemy point directly at him with your gun & move ONLY directly toward him so that from a glance you appear to be motionless.

- when cover is blown & enemies are advancing sprint 2 or three seconds directly away from them then hook a 90 degree turn for another 2 seconds, pick a tree & drop to one knee & freeze as soon as that tree is in the line of sight of the enemy.

- practice being able to ‘keep your cool’. if several enemies are approaching your location by all means let them. remain absolutely 100% motionless with your red dot trained on the nearest one’s head as they advance, reach you, & pass you. feel the rush from your beating heart move down your arms & into your finger tips & place that one well aimed shot into the back of one of their heads & let the rest go. a good sniper must always be willing to let some go in order to stay alive.

- know to dip your head strait down – slowly – & face the dirt if your area is being scanned. your helmet is a classic well known shape & easy to pick out if you are facing someone.

-  make use of sticks by throwing them in areas to make your enemy face that direction to gain that 1 vital second needed to advance 3 feet & fire.

- practice the slow creep – when the wearer becomes so accustomed to his ghillie that he/she can accurately recognize when  a situation presents itself & act by simply strolling through a wooded battle at a snails pace without drawing any attention whatsoever. being able to recognize & act on opportunities of stealth is a vital part of what sets apart the sniper from the ambush camper.

- making use of his/her surroundings. if you must go prone take a moment to pile leaves between your legs in a snow angel motion & toss a few on your back & head before you assume your ambush position.

- be skilled in recognizing opportunities to use a teammate, even if they are unaware of it, as a point to ghost off of.

- be skilled at keeping all possible enemies in one direction, creeping slow circles around them.

- use your ears & your eyes. when creeping into unknown territory take a moment to pause every 20 feet or so. focus on one spot in the distance & stare. your eyes are very good at identifying movement & superb at it when they are not moving. close your eyes & listen. trust your senses.

- be skilled in your observation of wildlife – birds in one direction  almost always guarantees that you will not find enemy contact in that  immediate direction.

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All of these things put together make a very skilled paintball sniper, even if he is dressed in a santa clause suit. Ghillie suits accentuate the sniper & intensify these skills. They are the conduits through which snipers channels their skill sets. Skill sets designed for only one thing.

If you have any questions or comments about paintball please feel free to leave a comment & I will do my best to reply in a timely manner.