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Special Forces Sniper Team cleans up at the International Sniper Competition

by · March 5, 2012 · Posted In: USASOC
snipercomp
The Rangers I worked with in Sniper Section at 3rd Ranger Battalion used to do a good job of cleaning house out at the International Sniper competition held annually at Ft. Benning, Georgia. This year it was B/2/3 that dominated, the CIF company with 3rd Special Forces Group stationed at Ft. Bragg. While not as widely known as other Direct Action SOF units, each Special Forces Group has one CIF company, which includes snipers, that focuses on Direct Action raids rather than the Unconventional Warfare mission that ODA’s are known for.

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The top five at the International Sniper comp this year were:

Champion — Master Sgt. Kevin Owens and Sgt. 1st Class Terry Gower, B Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Bragg, N.C. (585)

Runner-up — Cpl. Michael Craven and Cpl. Lloyd Kenny, Irish Defence Forces (555)

3rd place — Sgt. 1st Class Tony Amerman and Sgt. 1st Class Andy Roy, B Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Special Warfare Training Group, Fort Bragg (535)

4th place — Staff Sgt. Jonathan Geib and Sgt. Jesse Wargolet, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 158th Infantry Regiment, 29th Brigade Combat Team, Arizona National Guard (505)

5th place — Sgt. 1st Class Gabe Kessay and Sgt. 1st Class Chance Giannelli, D Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Special Warfare Training Group, Fort Bragg (485)

Read the rest on the US Army’s official website.

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Grogscol
Grogscol

Great to see 3 of the top 4 were Irish, Master Sgt Kevin Owens served in Irish Special Forces (ARW) before enlisting in the US Army. Well done to all the competitors - very high standards indeed!

anirishlad
anirishlad

 @Grogscol That's quite a progression. Do you know if he was picked for SF during his time in ARW as part of an exchange program or if he joined once he left the PDF ?

Grogscol
Grogscol

 @anirishlad As far as I know you have to do Selection again, I know of another ARW member who emigrated to the US after leaving the army, joined the National Guard and had to do Special Forces selection again and passed (again). Anyone who passes Special Forces selection twice deserves to be there.

LaRoux
LaRoux

How hard is it to become a member of CIF? Is there a selection?

Old PH2
Old PH2

Around here a number of us "old timers" like to compete and we regularly go to Camp Perry.  Can't say I've ever done well.  But it's the one chance "locally" to interact with and learn form USMC,USA, and USN competitive shooters.

 

I also thought the idea of shooting the same platform was a no-brainer, kind of like certain Auto racing events.  Great chance to see who is best not who has the best equipment.

anirishlad
anirishlad like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 2 Like

Wow all guys were US apart from number two spot. It's class to see we were well represented within the competition.

KineticFury
KineticFury

Looks to me that you were represented by all of 'em!

FormerSFMedic
FormerSFMedic like.author.displayName 1 Like

The results don't surprise me at all. The SF Sniper Course has become increasingly more efficient and has been known to produce the best snipers in the world. Of course I'm a bit biased but these guys have proven their skill in the last two years taking top honors at the International Sniper Competition and the Special Operations Sniper Competition in 2010 and 2012! I don't know about you, but that's what we call a sign! At first I was kinda upset about the choice to level the playing field with the same equipment. However, I changed my mind after realizing how much sense it makes. Not only that, but most of snipers would have likely used similar equipment this year anyways. The SOF community has started a shift toward semi-auto guns, so it was a good choice to have everyone compete with one as well. The competition is as much about learning and training as it is competing, and it serves to further solidify the use of such systems on the battlefield.

Connor31
Connor31 like.author.displayName 1 Like

 @FormerSFMedic I agree, I heard SFSC started to implement ballistic software and PDAs in the course and now they're shooting even farther with increasing accuracy.

FormerSFMedic
FormerSFMedic like.author.displayName 1 Like

@ConnorT -That is true! I had a chance to visit over at the Sniper School a couple years back and the stuff they're teaching is truly state of the art. The ballistics solver software has really changed the game and allows the sniper to be more capable. Imagine a ballistic solver that allows you to gather years worth of data with less than 10 rounds! The real benefit is how it's impacted the training time. SF Sniper School candidates are now able to get more time learning tradecraft instead shooting from yard lines to compile a data book. The real secret is in how the curriculum has changed since I went through. They are using training techniques to utilize the time a student spends in school more efficiently. They are able to learn more in a month than I did in 2! The ballistics solver software is controversial in some sniper circles, but I can tell you that it's here to stay and more effective than the old data book. A lot of guys out there in the community don't want to admit it, but the SF snipers are now at the forefront of modern sniping!

FormerSFMedic
FormerSFMedic

@JackMurphyRGR @ConnorT -Did you have a question pertaining to my comment?

FormerSFMedic
FormerSFMedic like.author.displayName 1 Like

That's supposed to be 2010 and 2011 ^

feraljundi
feraljundi like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 2 Like

Awesome. I thought it was cool that they limited the competition to a specific weapon. Here is a quote from the article. "In the past, teams in the International Sniper Competition could bring any weapon considered military issue. This year, all used the M110 Semiautomatic Sniper System, a 7.62 mm gas-operated rifle that's standard in Sniper School. "We were trying to alleviate guys from coming in here with high-powered scopes and different guns," said Staff Sgt. Derek Balboa, an instructor. "We wanted to level the playing field a little bit. It had become too much of a gear race. This year, we made it more of a marksmanship skill and competition. I think it turned out pretty good."