Rob Furlong (born 11 November 1976) is a Canadian former military sniper who, from March 2002 until November 2009, held the world record for the longest confirmed sniper kill in combat, at . Friscolanti, Michael
"We were abandoned", Maclean's, Rogers Publishing, 2006-05-15, pp. 18–25.
His record stood for over 7 years and was improved upon by Craig Harrison with a distance of using a L115A3 Long Range Rifle.

Early life

Born on Fogo Island, Newfoundland, on 11 November 1976. In his early life Furlong taught himself to fire a rifle ambidextrously.

Military career

Inspired by a VHS tape, Furlong decided to join the military in 1997. Furlong enlisted in the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also res ...

and served with the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. Furlong was stationed in Bosnia in 1999 as a peace keeper. In March 2002, Furlong participated in

Operation Anaconda Operation Anaconda was a military operation that took place in early March 2002 as part of the War in Afghanistan. CIA paramilitary officers, working with their allies, attempted to destroy al-Qaeda and Taliban forces. The operation took plac ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

's Shah-i-Kot Valley. His sniper team included Master Corporal

Graham Ragsdale Graham Ragsdale (born 28 June 1969) is a former soldier of the Canadian Forces. He commanded the sniper team from the 3rd Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry attached to the United States Army 187th Infantry Regiment (United Sta ...

(Team Commander), Master Corporal Tim McMeekin, Master Corporal

Arron Perry Arron Perry is a former master corporal in the Canadian Forces who in March 2002 broke the 34-year-old record for the Longest recorded sniper kills, longest recorded sniper kill in combat, completing a kill at a range of during the War in Afghani ...

, and Corporal Dennis Eason. A group of three Al-Qaeda fighters was moving into a mountainside position when Furlong took aim with his

long-range sniper weapon (LRSW) The McMillan TAC-50 is a long-range anti-materiel rifle. The TAC-50 is based on previous designs from the same company, which first appeared during the late 1980s. As of 2017 it holds the record for the longest confirmed sniper kill. McMillan mak ...

, a .50-calibre McMillan Brothers Tac-50 rifle, loaded with Hornady A-MAX 750 gr

very-low-drag bullet A very-low-drag bullet (VLD) is primarily a small arms ballistics development of the 1980s–1990s, driven by the design objective of bullets with higher degrees of accuracy and kinetic efficiency, especially at extended ranges. To achieve this, ...

s. He began firing at a fighter carrying an RPK machine gun. Furlong's first shot missed and his second shot hit the

knapsack A backpack—also called knapsack, schoolbag, rucksack, rucksac, pack, sackpack, booksack, bookbag or backsack—is, in its simplest frameless form, a fabric sack carried on one's back and secured with two straps that go over the shoulders ...

on the target's back. The third struck the target's torso, killing him. The distance was measured as . With a muzzle speed of , each shot reached the target almost three seconds after Furlong fired. This became the longest sniper kill in history at the time, surpassing the previous record set by his teammate, Master Corporal Arron Perry, by . This feat is not typical for the effective range with a high first-hit probability of the employed rifle on non-static targets (see maximum effective range). The shot was aided by the ambient air density in the Shah-i-Kot Valley where Furlong operated, which is significantly lower than at sea level due to its mean elevation. In December 2003, PPCLI snipers Master Corporal Graham Ragsdale, Master Corporal Tim McMeekin, Corporal Dennis Eason, Corporal Rob Furlong and Master Corporal Arron Perry were awarded the Bronze Star Medal by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

for their actions in combat during Operation Anaconda from 2–11 March 2002. Furlong held the record of longest kill shot recorded in history until November 2009, when his record of was beaten by Corporal of Horse Craig Harrison, of the

Blues and Royals The Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons) (RHG/D) is a cavalry regiment of the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry Regiment. The Colonel of the Regiment is Anne, Princess Royal. It is the second-most senior regiment in ...

, part of the

Household Cavalry The Household Cavalry (HCav) is made up of the two most senior regiments of the British Army, the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons). These regiments are divided between the Household Cavalry Regiment sta ...

of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

, who set a new record by shooting two Taliban fighters at , using a .338 Lapua L115A3 Long Range Rifle.

Later career

After leaving the Canadian Army, Furlong moved to

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

and joined the

Edmonton Police Service The Edmonton Police Service (EPS) is the municipal police force for the City of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific O ...

in 2004, although he had considered joining

Joint Task Force 2 Joint Task Force 2 (JTF 2; french: links=no, Deuxième Force opérationnelle interarmées, FOI 2) is an elite special operations force of the Canadian Armed Forces, serving under the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command. JTF 2 is known to wo ...

. In 2012, Furlong was dismissed from the police for discreditable conduct, after an episode in which he physically abused and urinated on a fellow police officer. , he operates a marksmanship academy, called Rob Furlong's Marksmanship Academy, based in Alberta.

References

External links

Link to Rob Furlong's Marksmanship AcademyPersonal Interview #1Personal Interview #2
{{DEFAULTSORT:Furlong, Rob Living people Canadian military personnel from Newfoundland and Labrador People from Fogo Island, Newfoundland and Labrador Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry soldiers Canadian military personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Canadian military snipers 1976 births