Photo By Spc. Glenn Brennan | A Lithuanian Army sniper team competes in the Pennsylvania State Sniper Match...... read more read more
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FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. - Nine two-man sniper teams competed in the annual Pennsylvania State Sniper Match held by the Pennsylvania National Guard's Marksmanship Training Unit here Nov. 3 to 6.
In addition to teams from the Pennsylvania National Guard, the competition also included teams from the New Jersey National Guard, the active-duty 10th Mountain Division from Fort Drum, N.Y., and from the Lithuanian Armed Forces. The Pennsylvania National Guard and Lithuania are partners through the National Guard State Partnership Program.
The team of Sgt. Alexander Tormos and Sgt. Joseph Piacine of Headquarters and Headquarters Co., 1st Battalion, 111th Infantry Regiment, 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team finished in first place. They were followed by the team of OR-5 Osvaldas Zalieckas and OR-4 Modestas Rakauskas of Lithuania’s Grand Ducess Birutes Uhlan Battalion in second place, and the team of Staff Sgt. Benjamin Braverman and Spc. Bryce Bryan of HHC, 1-111th Infantry Regiment in third place.
The event is designed to promote sniper team training. The teams were timed as they maneuvered different scenarios, shooting moving targets, perching up on high platforms – all in a chance to hone combat skills and practice new techniques.
“Basically, anything you learn as a sniper or during sniper school will be incorporated in the shooting and moving events that we will be doing at this competition”, said Sgt. Stephan Duc of HHC, 1-111th, sniper section. “It's really all inclusive of being a sniper not just a shooting competition, it is a sniper competition.”
Soldiers are tested on various ranges at Fort Indiantown Gap. One drill was the blind shoot drill. For this drill the participants fire on targets that they had pre-measured but could not see, this was an opportunity for them to validate their math for their shooting formulas.
Another drill that the soldiers conducted was the recon and stock lane. This event was not a shooting event, but was a field craft.
“So if anybody knows what a ghillie suit is, it is a vegetation suit. For the event they will wear one. The goal is to walk through the woods and to be relatively undetected”, said Duc. “It takes a lot of technique and practice in order to get to that point to move around so easily.”
For this event the soldiers have an area over 2,000 kilometers to cover and a three-hour time limit to not be detected by the graders. The graders observe the lane by vehicle to try and catch any of the snipers, when and if they are spotted they will be removed from that match and receive zero points for the event. There are penalties for moving incorrectly.
Braverman was selected to compete for the first time in his 13 years of service with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard.
“We're seeing a lot of events here that are a combination of different skill sets like tripod shooting, mixed with cardiovascular fitness mixed with pistol shooting” said Braverman. “Being selected for the competition validates our individual skill sets that we have to qualify on when we become snipers.”
Other than the spirit of competition and the glory of winning, the marksmen can network as they compete and take new ideas with them from their fellow competitors to their home units to improve readiness.
The winners of the Pennsylvania State Sniper Match advance to the Winston P. Wilson Sniper Championship in Arkansas, which will be held in December 2022.
| Date Taken: | 11.06.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 11.06.2022 16:22 |
| Story ID: | 432744 |
| Location: | FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, PENNSYLVANIA, US |
| Web Views: | 277 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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