DOPE – Data on Prior Engagements

For a SEAL sniper, the outcome is irrelevant. What matters is the system—precise, relentless, and ever evolving. Progress isn’t measured by a single shot but by the refinement of every future one. Each variable is logged in the DOPE book—a system that turns countless misses into the certainty of "one shot, one kill."

DOPE—Data on Prior Engagements—captures everything: distance, wind, elevation, even the curve of the earth. When so much is accounted for, a miss often holds more value than a hit, as its lessons guide future shots with greater precision. Through this discipline, snipers improve—misses become data, and data becomes accuracy. Each shot refines the next. The shot is the outcome; the book is the process.

Like a journal, the DOPE book records patterns but also marks the finality of each shot. “The only easy day was yesterday” reminds SEALs that today will demand more than the day before. Their best effort is an unburdened effort. So, once the data is logged, the shot must be left behind. The casing has now served its purpose, and the shot stays down range.

Obsession with any single shot corrupts the system that ensures future shots will find their mark. High-pressure shots in high-pressure circumstances are made only by those who are driven by data, not overcome by outcomes. To this end, elite snipers regulate their minds as much as their rifles. They practice progressive muscle relaxation, slow their hearts with box breathing, and fire between beats. Most importantly, they master arousal control—the ability to regulate their emotional response. Yesterday is ‘easy’ only when its page in the DOPE book is turned.

“Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.”

A SEAL sniper can fire in a fraction of a second, but accuracy comes from deliberate refinement over time. Success lies not in speed, but in the evolution of error. Failure, when studied dispassionately, becomes fertilizer for future growth.