Editor's note: This post originally appeared on Quora, as an answer to the question, "What is it like to be a sniper?" Michael Janke, a former Navy SEAL, shared his answer with us.
My initial reaction was to decline answering this question. Not an easy question to answer — almost uncomfortable for me. I am not quite sure how to address such a personal question. I recognize the fascination that the public has with this strange profession and skill — both morbid and sensationalized at the same time. So here it goes.
As a 12-year SEAL and Sniper, I spent the better part of my adult life learning, using, refining, and living this skill, yet I find it difficult to put into words "what is it like to be a sniper?" In the teams, older snipers and team leaders look for more solitary and quiet individuals who have focus and a quiet about them.
Some individuals have a comfortable knack and a natural feel for navigating any environment unseen. The rigorous training to become a SEAL will physically and mentally take you to a whole new level.
There is nothing glorious or sexy about the job. It is very hard on your body, and it's not something you would want to chat about at a cocktail party.
In my experience, people already have a formed opinion of what type of person you must be, what morals you have and that you must be a little off, long before you even meet them._class_245_with_learning_the_importance_of_listening.jpg)
You spend days crawling, climbing, slinking, while getting bit by every bug and scratched by every thicket. Bathroom use is done while you lay on your side, looking through night vision or scopes for endless hours. Not to mention, your rest comes from sleeping in 15-minute bursts.
An additional skill that is sought out, honed, and refined is something we call "Bubble Compartmentalization"— or the ability to block everything else out for long periods of time, except specific visual and observation skills, and basically the ability to sit still, observe, and calculate without losing your mind.
Once on the target area, you do the business of a sniper, usually in support of a SEAL assault team that comes in fast and hard in helicopters.
You then fast rope down onto the target, take it down, then board and fly away. Now your work begins again —exfiltration, the art of getting out of the target area. Sometimes these situations are filled with some very angry enemies running around trying to figure out what happened. 
There are so many different skill sets that need to be constantly refined as Sniper tactics, equipment, weather, enemy, and ballistic trajectories change dramatically in an Urban Sniper role.
It is one thing to be able to hide in a jungle with vast areas of cover and concealment — it is an entirely other thing to be an effective sniper in a City or Urban Warfare environment.
The difficulty factor goes way up. The amount of practice, study, and hours spent mastering every type of environment (shooting from buildings, helicopters, ships, shooting through glass, walls, different mathematical calculations for temperature, humidity, altitude, load, etc. These SEAL missions are non-stop, high-stakes learning games.
When I tell people that there are many complementary skill sets as a Sniper and a CEO of a company, they think I am absolutely crazy, but there are many. A good CEO is there to "support" his team and help make them look good. Not the other way around.
The ability to focus on getting from A to B without being distracted, the ability to operate and maintain a company's focus through constant changes, and adapting rather than causing panic.
The ability to not have an ego in the game at hand and not make the mission, goal or success, "about me," but rather about everyone else. To use your power only when the moment is required — not flaunting it for all to see. 
I apologize if this long-winded answer in the end does not give you the "meat and potatoes" of how it feels to be a sniper, but I find it extremely hard to clearly articulate something so personal and yet job oriented. There are many good books out there that do a hell of a job telling specific stories and giving blow-by-blow accounts of combat sniping missions.
I was trained on the 50-caliber McMillan and the Barrett sniper rifles by Carlos Hathcock. He was a guest instructor to my sniper class; he was a good man and a great teacher. His book is a good book to start, but I feel my personal stories do not have a place here in this forum, so I hope I stayed on topic about how it feels.
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