John Plaster

John L. Plaster (born 1949)[1] is a former United States Army Special Forces officer regarded as one of the leading sniper experts in the world.[2] A decorated Vietnam War veteran who served in the covert Studies and Observations Group (SOG), Plaster co-founded a renowned sniper school that trains military and law enforcement personnel in highly specialized sniper tactics. He is the author of The Ultimate Sniper: An Advanced Training Manual for Military and Police Snipers, The History of Sniping and Sharpshooting, and Secret Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines with the Elite Warriors of SOG, a memoir of his 3 years of service with SOG.

This article is about the soldier. For the Atlanta 1866 murder, see Tenth Street (Atlanta).
John L. Plaster
Nickname(s)"Plastic Man"
Born1949 (age 73–74)
AllegianceUnited States of America
Service/branch United States Army
Years of service1967–1971
Rank Major
Unit5th Special Forces Group
MACV-SOG: RT New Mexico
Battles/warsVietnam War
AwardsBronze Star Medal

Purple Heart
Meritorious Service Medal
Air Medal
Army Commendation Medal
Presidential Unit Citation
Good Conduct Medal

National Defense Service Medal
Vietnam Service Medal
Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal
Combat Infantryman Badge
Other workGunsite Training Center, Paulden, Arizona
Signature

Early life and education

Plaster graduated from high school in 1967 and holds a BA in Journalism from the University of Minnesota. He was trained as a communications sergeant in the U.S. Army Special Forces.

Career

Plaster was initially assigned to 5th Special Forces Group[3] and served three combat tours in the Vietnam War as a member of MACVSOG beginning in October 1968, leading intelligence-gathering and recon teams in North Vietnamese Army-controlled areas of Laos and Cambodia and along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.[4][5] He was wounded once, and decorated four times, eventually receiving a field commission in recognition of his combat experience. Plaster's final tour with MACVSOG ended in November 1971. He retired from the military at the rank of Major.[6]

Plaster parlayed his military experience into becoming a sniping instructor to members of many U.S. governmental agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Customs Service, the United States Marshals, Navy SEALs, and United States Marine Corps. Foreign units that have attended the school include the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Spanish Foreign Legion.

Since 1993, Plaster has been a precision rifle instructor at the Gunsite Training Center in Paulden, Arizona. He was recently Chief of Competition for Autauga Arms' U.S. and European sniping championships.

Plaster's experiences serve as part of the basis for the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops; he assisted the game's developers in developing the game by providing his wartime experiences to them.[7]

Awards and decorations

Published writings

Books
  • The Ultimate Sniper: An Advanced Training Manual for Military and Police Snipers (1993). Paladin Press. ISBN 978-0-87364-704-5
  • Plaster, John L. (2000). SOG: A Photo History of the Secret Wars. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press. ISBN 978-1581600582. OCLC 445847740.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  • Secret Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines with the Elite Warriors of SOG (2004). Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0684856735
  • The History of Sniping and Sharpshooting (2008). Paladin Press. ISBN 9781581606324
  • Sharpshooting in the Civil War (2009). Paladin Press. ISBN 978-1581607031
  • SOG: The Secret Wars of America's Commandos in Vietnam (1998). Onyx. ISBN 978-0451195081
  • Sniping in the Trenches: World War I and the Birth of Modern Sniping (2017). Paladin Press. ISBN 978-1610049023
  • SOG The Secret wars of American Commandoes on Vietnam. Caliber press 1997

Journals

Notes
  1. Cunningham, Henry (5 April 2001). "Secret Vietnam Commandos Honored With Presidential Unit Citation". SFALX. Fayetteville Observer. Archived from the original on 25 April 2001. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  2. Rosenau, William (2001). Special operations forces and elusive enemy ground targets: lessons from Vietnam and the Persian Gulf War. Rand Corporation. p. 17. ISBN 978-0-8330-3071-9.
  3. Plaster, John (6 December 2017). "Major Plaster Discusses SOG". UltimateSniper.com. Archived from the original on 1 August 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  4. Lewis, Jack (1997). "The Passing of the Sub-gun". Gun Digest Book of Assault Weapons. Gun Digest. p. 144. ISBN 978-0-89689-498-3.
  5. McKenna, Thomas P. (2011). "Flying in Phu Non". Kontum: The Battle to Save South Vietnam. University Press of Kentucky. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-8131-3398-0.
  6. Gene McCarthy, ed. (2005). Special Operations Association. Turner Publishing Company. p. 141. ISBN 978-1-59652-156-8.
  7. Pakinkis, Tom (11 May 2010). "CoD: Black Ops gets expert advice". ComputerAndVideoGames.com. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved October 25, 2012.
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