One of the world's most important snipers: Who is Adelbert Waldron?

According to official records, Waldron neutralized a total of 109 enemy personnel, reaching an unprecedented number.

Let's get to know one of the best snipers in the world, Adelbert Waldron.

Adelbert F. "Bert" Waldron III (March 14, 1933 – October 18, 1995) was a United States Army sniper who served during the Vietnam War with the 9th Infantry Division. Until 2011, Waldron held the record for most confirmed kills by any American sniper (109 confirmed kills).

Waldron was born on March 14, 1933, in New York, USA. Waldron, who lived until 1995 and died at the age of 62, remained on active duty as a sniper between 1953 and 1970. The reason why Adelbert Waldron is one of the successful names in the Vietnam War is his shooting training, discipline, and seriousness of duty in the Navy and Army as well as his skill in sniping. in the Vietnam War; He managed to become one of the few snipers for his country and made a name for himself among the best in the units he was assigned to.

One of the reasons for Adelbert Waldron's reputation as such an accomplished sniper, if not the most important, is his success in shooting moving targets. With his strong instincts, quick wit, and coolness, which are indispensable for sniping, he has served his country by providing superiority in the field by making accurate shots.

Let's follow Waldron's success from Michael Lee Lanning's book Inside the Crosshairs: Snipers in Vietnam, Waldron's moving target shooting skill is explained with a concrete example.

According to the book, Waldron notices enemy elements coming towards them over the Mekong River. While all soldiers and snipers try to locate an incoming enemy, they do not realize that a nearby boat is a decoy. However, Waldron notices the enemy soldier camouflaged behind the coconut tree 900 meters away and manages to hit the moving enemy. No need for a second shot. This move of Waldron eliminates the danger of the destruction of his unit by scattering the enemy elements that will ambush them one step later.

What wars did Adelbert Waldron participate in, serving in the US Navy and US Army?

Waldron participated in the Vietnam War, which took place in world politics for a long time. Although it has had external assignments, these are not a war, but a military mission. Rising to the rank of Senior Staff Sergeant, Waldron was deemed worthy of important awards such as “Distinguished Service, Silver Star, Bronze Star, Distinguished Service Cross, and Presidential Unit Citation” during his service.

Weapons Used by Waldron

What weapons did Adelbert Waldron use, which stands out with his accurate shots and record number of enemy element destruction? What was his priority in choosing a gun? Let's talk a little bit about technical reviews.

According to the records, Waldron used the XM21, a modified version of the M14 rifle, instead of bolt action rifles as its primary choice. The XM21 was a semi-automatic magazine-fed sniper weapon. Combining the strengths of the M14 and XM21 models (most of the parts produced at that time were compatible with each other and snipers could choose the appropriate accessories during the war), Waldron attached the night vision scope of the M14 rifle to the XM21 semi-automatic sniper rifle.

It combined the night vision (Starlight Scope) of the M14 and the accuracy of the XM21 rifle. His success, however, was his successful firing at running and moving targets using the XM21 weapon system. Although the consequences of the Vietnam War were very severe, the successes of the snipers on both sides showed the US Army how important the sniper is for a team.

In this way, the USA, which prepared new doctrines on the importance of sniping and accurate shooting in war, increased its investments in order to benefit from snipers and accurate shots for all the wars it would participate in later on. This is why sniper training like Adelbert Waldron and Chuck Mawhinney, which we will talk about in the next articles, by thinking about the flash in the war and following an effective sniper school strategy, helped reduce the losses in the next wars.