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A marksman (also designated marksman) is a profession which is mostly to be found in military context. He/she is trained to shoot precisely with a certain type of rifle. Some military doctrines use marksmen attached to an infantry squad. In that capacity the marksman takes accurate longer range shots at valuable targets as needed, thus extending the reach of the squad.
Another term for a marksman is a sharpshooter.
A marksman should not be confused with a sniper. While snipers are intensively trained to master field craft and camouflage, these skills are not required for marksmen. There are differences in role and training that affect doctrines and equipment. Snipers rely almost exclusively on stealthy bolt-action rifles while a marksman can effectively utilize a faster-firing, but more conspicuous semi-automatic rifle. A sniper's intensive training, forward placement and surveillance duties make the role more strategic than a squad-level marksman. Thus, marksmen are often attached at the squad level while snipers are often attached at higher levels such as battalion.
In the British Armed Forces, marksman is traditionally the highest shooting rating. Holders of the rating wear a crossed rifles badge on the lower sleeve.
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