1st-ever USASOC sniper competition this week - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

1st-ever USASOC sniper competition this week

Only one of 17 two-man sniper teams will be able to claim first place at the end of a week-long sniper competition at Fort Bragg, N.C., the first of its kind to be held by the U.S. Army Special Operations Command.

The meet begins Monday and is exclusively for soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines assigned to special operations units. This year’s competitors are all soldiers, but officials at Range 37, where the competition will take place, hope to attract special ops troops from all the services by the time next year’s competition rolls around.

“We’re looking at a small, overutilized community and getting everybody together who’s not in the box or somewhere else is almost impossible,” said Chief Warrant Officer 4 Bill Gunter, who manages the Special Operations Sniper course at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School.

The standard of excellence, he noted, has always been winning the Army or Marine Corps competitions. Special operations troops have always competed in those events, but now will be able to compete among themselves for top billing.

But winning any of the competitions for special ops troops, he said, is not easy because of their operational tempo, leaving them less time to train than soldiers in the regular Army.

“Even a trained sniper to compete at this level needs months of practice. You have to show up at this competition at the top of your game,” Gunter said.

The Army Sniper School’s 9th annual Sniper Competition at Fort Benning, Ga., attracted 31 two-man teams for its October event, including several from Special Forces. Organizers at the Special Warfare School and Center are encouraged with the relatively strong turnout for their first event.

The sniper teams will be tested on their craft and their teamwork with a mix of day and night events that include stalking, counter sniper, loophole and cold bore shots, plus closing the distance with multiple target engagements and moving through scramblers in an urban setting, negotiating numerous tactical challenges.

In the event of a tie, the remaining sniper teams will fire 10 rounds from the 900-meter line in five minutes, with the shooter and spotter rotating and repeating. The highest score takes first place.

The events and more than $60,000 in prizes will be sponsored by top weapons and gear manufacturers, and the winners will be announced at a banquet Dec. 11.

The teams competing in this year’s meet are from the following units:

• 1st Special Forces Group, Fort Lewis, Wash. — two teams

• 3rd Special Forces Group, Fort Bragg — six teams

• 7th Special Forces Group, Fort Bragg — three teams

• 10th Special Forces Group, Fort Carson, Colo. — one team

• 19th Special Forces Group, Draper, Utah — one team

• 20th Special Forces Group, Birmingham, Ala. — two teams

• Special Operations Task Force — one team

• 75th Ranger Regiment — one team