This annual competition tests which country has the best snipers

Team Mighty
Apr 2, 2018 9:40 AM PDT
1 minute read
This annual competition tests which country has the best snipers

SUMMARY

The best snipers in the world meet up at Fort Bragg, North Carolina each year to fight for top bragging rights and to learn from each other.

The best snipers in the world meet up at Fort Bragg, North Carolina each year to fight for top bragging rights and to learn from each other.


Snipers compete during the 2014 US Army Special Operations Command International Sniper Competition. Photo: US Army Staff Sgt. Shelman Spencer

Twenty-five sniper teams from the U.S., Ireland, Singapore, Kazahkstan, and other allied nations competed in 21 tough events during the 2016 U.S. Army Special Operations Command International Sniper Competition, which took place Mar. 20 to 25.

Each event tests snipers' professional and tactical skills and is based on actual combat experiences. The competitors conducted day and night shoots in a tactical environment at ranges from a few dozen feet to over 3,000.

"The competition is combat-oriented on things that have been used on deployment," Master Sgt. Jason Brown, a Special Forces Sniper Course instructor and an event coordinator during the 2014 competition told an Army journalist. "Because of this, it tests the competitors on tasks that will help them complete their missions down range."

A sniper with the Army Marksmanship Unit prepares for the stalk event during the 2014 competition. Photo: US Army Staff Sgt. Shelman Spencer

Snipers have to prove they can stalk through the bush and fire a variety of weapons to win. And the competition is fierce, most units send their best sniper and spotter teams to earn top honors. They have to be masters of sniper techniques.

One of the best things about this competition and others like it is that when top-tier snipers from friendly militaries get together, they trade tips and secrets on how to be effective. The cadre running the event can also see skills they can teach to future students.

"It brings all the snipers together from all over the world, which gives them a chance to communicate on what they are doing in training to become better snipers," said Brown. "This helps the SFSC committee because most of the competitors are from the Special Operations Forces Regiments and it allows us to see how well they have been trained by us and how well they are conducting their own training once they have completed ours."

US Army snipers compete in a pistol event. Photo: US Army Sgt. Joshua Laidacker

Special Forces Association-Chapter 62 with The Special Forces Charitable Trust sponsored the competition and funded prizes such as rifles, optics, and other high-quality, essential equipment.

Green Berets swept the podium as 3rd Special Forces Group took the top spot in 2016 and two other Special Forces groups took second and third.

The U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School and U.S. Army Special Operations Center of Excellence Sniper Course instructors ran the annual U.S. Army Special Operations Command International Sniper Competition.

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