FORT BENNING, Ga. - When a sniper team from the 82nd Airborne Division entered the International Sniper Competition they only had less than a month to practice, so they went in just hoping to finish in the top half of the competition. However; the team pleasantly surprised themselves when they far surpassed their own expectations and finished second in the service category.
"Our goal was to finish 15th or better," said Staff Sgt. Derek McMann, a Clatskanie, Ore. native. "We did a lot better than we thought we'd do," he admitted modestly.
The sniper team from C Troop, 1st Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Abn. Div., was one of the 31 teams that participated in the competition that drew teams from Ireland, Spain, France, Canada, Denmark, and various units with in the U.S. military, to Fort Benning, Ga., from October 14 - 23.
There were 21 teams that competed in the service competition, which uses all standard- issue military equipment, and 10 teams that competed in the open class, which uses custom rifles.
"The sniper team's performance at the competition was truly exceptional, especially given that they shot with weapons straight from the Troop arms room," said Capt. John Hartsock, the troop commander.
Placing second in the event was not an easy task for the C Trp. snipers, which consisted of Sgt. Patrick Meyer, the shooter, McMann, the spotter, and Staff Sgt. Jeffrey Lewis, the coach. The team had to overcome the drama of a tight competition and a scope falling off during one of the test.
"It was a real nail biter," said Lewis, a Woodstock, Ga., native. "Right up to the last event second place was anybodies' game."
Lewis went on to explain that throughout the competition there was only a 10-15 point difference between the teams that were sitting in second through sixth place.
To make things more nerve-racking, the day before the final competitions Meyer's scope on his weapon fell off during a competition. However, with clever thinking the team was able to temporarily fix the problem.
"We took a Monster can (an energy drink container), cut it down, folded it up and placed it under the scope," Lewis explained. This provided more of a grip for the scope.
"It held until the end," added Meyer, an Otterville, Mo. native.
Some of the competition challenges were an obstacle course and alternate positions; which Meyer's and McMann both said were exhausting, aerial shooting from a Blackhawk Helicopter, convoy live fire, as well as a pistol shoot, which was the event that sealed their fate with second.
"As soon as we got done, the stress just came off," McMann said while making a motion of lifting something off his shoulders. "We started high-fiving."
Even if the sniper team went into the competition a little skeptical about how'd they perform, anyone who'd ever worked with the team before never doubted them for a second.
"We knew they were going to do well, we saw what they could do in combat," said 1st Sgt. Kevin Spooner, the first sergeant of C Trp., 1- 73 CAV.
"We're all proud of them," Hartsock said.
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