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The US Army Special Operations Command hosted the annual International Sniper Tournament in March.
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Competition includes US and foreign snipers, as well as law enforcement shooters.
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Since early 2004, it has become one of the best ways to test the skills of those snipers.
Each year, snipers from around the world gather in North Carolina to become one of the most exclusive military sniper competitions.
The US Army Special Operations Command International Sniper Competition brings together law enforcement agencies from dozens of countries, as well as special operations and sniper teams from traditional units.
Snipers are an important part of every army. You can retrieve valuable targets from a distance and perform reconnaissance in difficult-to-reach areas. The international sniper competition, which began in 2004, has become one of the best ways to test the skills of these shooters.
Best best
Twenty-one sniper teams participated in the 13th iteration of the annual tournament and visited the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School in Fort Bragg, North Carolina in March. This year’s version consisted of a series of events that challenged a team of two.
The four-day event includes 23 scenarios to assess the ability of teams to work seamlessly as shooters and spotters with speed and accuracy against targets from multiple distances in a variety of simulated production environments. had.
The event tested the sniper’s long-range, medium-range, and short-range shooting capabilities with all types of weapons, including sniper rifles, carbines, and pistols.
In general, this contest aims to provide a variety of simulated operational conditions that reflect the reality of modern interactive battlefields.
“The sniper team faces a lane that moves around over obstacles to establish a shooting position and force the target to engage. In other lanes, you may need to be in a stationary position. But other difficult challenges are presented, like a target moving behind an obstacle. ” Colonel Matthew Tucker, commander of the Army’s Second Special Operations Training Group, which hosted the tournament.
Result is
The first place went to the U.S. Army Special Operations Command Team — the generic name might mean that it was made up of members of the Delta Force, A secret unit rarely recognized by the Army..
2nd place went to the team French SAS Commando. The 20th Special Forces Group of the US Army National Guard has won the final spot on the podium.Team Marine Raider The sniper instructor was fourth, and the team of the German Tier 1 military special operations force Kommando Spezialkräfte was fifth.
Units from the entire US special operations community participated, including almost all Army Green Bellett units, the 75th Ranger Regiment, and SEAL Team 1. Armies from several other countries have dispatched teams, including Switzerland, the Netherlands, Norway, Ireland and Italy. ..
Includes law enforcement agencies in addition to military participants United States Coast Guard Team13th, US Secret Services team was 19th.
Important event
This year’s sniper competition was particularly important in the light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The event brought together several NATO allies and strengthened unit-level relationships.
All the international teams that participated are from Europe and “currently face a common threat reminiscent of the Cold War,” Tucker said. According to the Army Times.. “So this was a great opportunity for us this year to improve the interoperability needed by all of us to fulfill our treaty obligations with NATO and other allies.”
Sniper competition is competition, and the team takes it seriously — more seriously than others — but in the world of special operations, the retired Delta, “no matter who wins, it’s suddenly the best. It’s important to remember that it’s not always a unit, “the military operator, who spoke on anonymous terms, told insiders as they continue to work with the government.
“Conversely, it doesn’t mean that the second, third, or last unit that appears is a bad unit,” added the retired operator.
The retired operator said the sniper competition would give participants the opportunity to learn from each other and the units to share their tactics, techniques and procedures. It may be one of the most important aspects of the event.
“For example, an X-unit sniper team may have been deployed in Africa and learned the dynamics of shooting in a very hot environment. That knowledge can be propagated through such competitions. [within] Power. “
Stavros Atlamazoglou is a defense journalist specializing in special operations, a veteran of the Greek Army (the 575th Marine Battalion and the National Service of the Army Council), and a graduate of Johns Hopkins University.
Read the original article Business Insider