‘BRO,’ Fort Riley sniper team places 9 of 35 at competition
Sgt. Phillip Ryan, HHC, 1st Bn., 16th Inf. Regt., prepares for a day of shooting at the 2012 U.S. Army International Sniper Competition, which was Nov. 2 to 7 at Fort Benning, Ga. Photo by: Ashley Cross, MANEUVER CENTER OF EXCELLENCE.
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Story by: Amanda Kim Stairrett
1ST INF. DIV. PUBLIC AFFAIRS
A sniper team representing the 1st Infantry Division and Fort Riley placed ninth out of 35 teams in the 2012 U.S. Army International Sniper Competition.
The yearly competition, sponsored by the U.S. Army Sniper School, was Nov. 2 to 7 at Fort Benning, Ga.
Staff Sgt. John Jasper and Sgt. Phillip Ryan, both with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Inf. Div., competed against military and civilian snipers from across the armed forces and world. Teams traveled from Ireland, United Arab Emirates, Germany and Denmark to test their skills, according to information from the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit.
Jasper was the team's shooter and Ryan served as spotter.
Staff Sgt. Daniel Horner and Spc. Tyler Payne of the U.S. AMU placed first.
Jasper, who is the HHC's sniper squad section leader, competed last year.
"We placed pretty close to what we did in 2010, so overall we did close to what we expected," he said.
The most challenging part of the competition was an event where teams had to maneuver through a three-story building and identify five specific targets out of a field of faces, Jasper said. It "proved to be a bit tricky," he said.
Aside from competition, the five days in Georgia provided an opportunity for snipers from around the military and the world to get together and share training ideas, tactics, techniques and procedures, and "share experiences we've all learned from previous deployments," Jasper said. Lt. Col. Roger Crombie, 1st Bn., 16th Inf. Regt. commander, said he was proud of the team. Jasper is a great example of a leader who sets high standards and holds himself and his team accountable to achieve them, he said, and the team returned with great lessons learned and loftier goals for next year.
"They threw their hat in the ring with the best teams from among the uniformed services," Crombie said. "Not only did they train hard, but they did very well representing the 1st Inf. Div."