The competition for the best sniper among the Army, Navy, Air Force, and ROK-US Marine Corps

A sniper from the Marine Corps team firing in a prone position at the 3rd Marine Corps Commander’s Cup Sniper Competition that takes place until the 8th /Marine Corps

The 3rd Marine Corps Commander’s Cup Sniper Competition, aimed at training elite snipers, is being held until the 8th at the Suseong Shooting Range in Pohang, Gyeongbuk.

This competition, unlike the last one, which was held as an internal competition of the Marine Corps, has expanded its scope of participation to include the Army, Navy, Air Force, and even the U.S. Marine Corps, elevating its status as the first joint sniper competition in the military. This year, the competition includes seven Army teams, three Navy and Air Force teams each, nine Marine Corps teams, and three U.S. Marine Corps teams, with fifty snipers from twenty-five teams participating.

The competition is being conducted in six shooting skill categories: unknown distance shooting, precision daylight shooting, and dynamic shooting.

On the first day of the competition, the unknown distance shooting event took place, in which fixed targets should be suppressed within a range of 500 meters. On the second day, the precision daylight shooting evaluation, in which fixed targets should be suppressed at a given range, and the angle shooting, in which the distances and angles should be calculated to shoot at a fixed target 600 meters away, was held.

On the third day of the competition, the dynamic shooting event involved shooting while changing positions after relocating 200 meters while fully armed (about 44 lbs). On this day, the moving target shooting event, in which moving targets should be suppressed at a distance of 400 meters, and the long-range shooting event, in which fixed targets should be shot at 800 meters away, are conducted.

The Marine Corps Command plans to select four teams that excel at this competition. The best, excellent, and two commendation teams will receive a commander’s certificate, plaque, medal, cash prize, and reward vacation.

The Marine Corps Command expects that through this competition, where snipers from each military can share their know-how and compete fairly, a boom in training elite snipers will be created.

The Navy team is spotting and shooting at targets at the 3rd Marine Corps Commander’s Cup Sniper Competition. /Marine Corps

Sergeant King of the 82nd Battalion of the U.S. Marine Corps said, “It’s a great opportunity to increase our understanding of each other by having fair competition with allied forces.” He added, “It was great to form a consensus not only as an ally but also as a sniper.”

Park Ee Sul, a sergeant major of the 1st Division of the Marine Corps, who is the only female sniper participating in this competition, said, “I am participating in the competition with a sense of responsibility as a representative of the Marine Corps and a sense of duty for the sniper position,” and added, “I am learning a lot about shooting techniques and positions from the bests from each military force and the U.S. Marine Corps, and I feel that I am making improvements.”

Meanwhile, during the competition, participants also had time to discuss how to use the anti-material sniper rifle, which is being put into service in 2023. The anti-material rifle, which has a larger caliber and longer range than the sniper rifle currently in general use, is mainly used to turn off enemy armored equipment.