2019 International Sniper Competition At Fort Bragg by U.S. Army Sgt. Michelle Blesam
July 22,
2019
Two-man sniper teams from allied countries, NATO and four
branches of the U.S. armed forces participated in the 10th United
States Army Special Operations Command International Sniper
Competition at Fort Bragg, North Carolina from March 17-22, 2019.
Each team faced a myriad of challenges that tested their
performance under physical and mental stress while racing against a
time limit of as little as four to eight minutes per event.
Competitors received no instructions until just moments before
competing in scenarios designed to replicate unexpected, but
potential battlefield conditions.
A competitor in the United States
Army Special Operations Command International Sniper
Competition looks through the scope of a sniper rifle on
Fort Bragg, North Carolina, March 19, 2019. Twenty-one teams
competed in the USASOC International Sniper Competition
where instructors from the United States Army John F.
Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School designed a series
of events that challenged the two-person teams’ ability to
work together, firing range, speed and accuracy in varied
types of environments. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Michelle
Blesam)
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"The way we run this is completely different," said Master Sgt.
Josh, a Special Forces Sniper Course instructor. "The competitors
show up to each event with only their briefing book. They are
completely blind. They don't get the opportunity to talk to anybody,
listen to anything or see the stages before shooting."
While
21 teams brought their experience, skills and weapons to the
competition, they learned quickly that victory could boil down to
simple fundamentals.
"You have the super precision side of
your skill set, but basics will come into play at some point in the
next five days," said U.S. Army Col. Michael Kornburger, Commander
of the 1st Special Warfare Training Group (Airborne) that hosted the
event, during the competition orientation brief.
The
competition kicked off with a night live-fire exercise on the
installation's Range 37. This range, a 130- acre, 360-degree course
and the epicenter of the competition, was developed specifically to
train special operations forces for urban warfare techniques and to
hone marksmanship skills. There, the teams engaged targets with
their rifles and pistols with the aid of night vision devices. The
limited visibility and reliance on noise discipline made the first
event all the more challenging.
Competitors engage targets on a
night live-fire range in the United States Army Special
Operations Command International Sniper Competition on Fort
Bragg, North Carolina, March 19, 2019. (U.S. Army photo by
Sgt. Michelle Blesam)
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Throughout the entire competition, the pace never slowed as the
administrators forced a very rigorous and precise schedule.
Competition designers pushed participants to their mental limits
with events that required teams to find an enemy target in a crowd
at long range or to abandon their own weapons and take up a fallen
sniper team's rifle, scope and data on previous engagements card.
Physically demanding events stressed their ability to fire with
precision, such as engaging targets while running through a grueling
obstacle course or with one hand cuffed to their back.
Competitors in the United States
Army Special Operations Command International Sniper
Competition engage targets on an obstacle course during a
live-fire range event on Fort Bragg, North Carolina, March
19, 2019. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Michelle Blesam)
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"The core tasks of everything revolves around real-world
application," emphasized Josh.
Many events required more than
sniper mastery. Competitors used carbines and pistols as well,
switching from one weapon system to the other as they navigated
through obstacles.
"The reason we added that in there is as a
lead component for level one snipers; you should be able to shoot
all your weapons effectively," Josh said. "It's easy to get down and
practice behind your favorite rifle or gun, but you have got to pick
them all up."
On the final day of the competition, the snipers donned ghillie
suits and participated in a "stalk" event. This event required teams
to sneak up to a target across hundreds of meters of terrain without
being detected by administrators actively searching for them, all
again under the stress of a ticking clock.
Since its
initiation in 2009, the international competition has served to
strengthen partnerships amongst allied military participants.
"These guys could very well see each other on a not too distant
battlefield somewhere down the road," said U.S. Army Maj. William
Cunningham, the commander for Range 37. "That camaraderie of getting
together with the guys that do the same stuff for the same cause,
albeit they're from different countries, is another great part of
this competition."
This year's winners were:
1st place: USASOC 2nd place: USASOC
3rd place: Marine Corps Scout Sniper
U.S. Army |
U.S. Department
of Defense
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