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FORT BLISS, Texas - Soldiers at Fort Bliss competed in the Best Sniper Competition at 1st Armored Division for a chance to represent the division at Fort Benning.
Every year, Soldiers compete to for the chance to be the Army’s Best Sniper at Fort Benning, Georgia. Soldiers assigned to Fort Bliss competed to represent the 1st Armored Division as its top sniper this year.
According to the Army, the primary mission of a sniper in combat is to support combat operations by delivering precise long-range fire on selected targets.
Over the course of five days in January, Soldiers from 1st Armored Division competed in the Iron Sniper competition. While nine teams began the competition, only five completed it, with four teams falling due to injuries, proving it’s no easy feat.
Pfc. Adam Garcia, a native of Los Angeles and Sgt. Michael Pomerening, a native of Farmington, Minnesota, both infantry Soldiers with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team placed top in the competition.
Garcia, who has only been in the Army for a year and a half, is scheduled to go to sniper school at Fort Benning, Georgia, in March, with his partner, Pomerening.
“It’s always better to have better knowledge,” said Garcia. “But I guess I got good training from my leaders.”
Though the team worked in nearly perfect sync, they only paired up a week before the competition, shooting hundreds of rounds at the range in early January, in the snow.
“I think we did well,” said Pomerening. “We talked it through each other and it worked out.”
Second place in the competition went to Spc. William Macphee, a native of Cape Cod, Massachusetts and his partner, Spc. Trevor Freeman, a native of Little Elm, Texas. Both are infantry Soldiers in 2nd BCT.
“I just came out of sniper school, as well as my partner, so that is good preparation,” said Macphee. “We knew exactly what we were doing.”
Freeman, who was also Macphee’s partner in sniper school, agreed, saying that because they had just completed sniper school, they had not yet developed any bad habits and they worked well together.
Staff Sgt. Gamaliel Ortiz, one of the cadre and evaluators from 2BCT and a native of Vernon, Texas, was pleasantly surprised by the competitors’ abilities.
“I was very impressed with the caliber of shooters and snipers we had,” said Ortiz. “The motivation they had was good and they continued to push forward, and I was very happy with that.”
One of the more difficult tasks for the competitors proved to be the long-range marksmanship, due to the high winds in the desert.
Most people were having problems with the 700-meter target, explained Pomerening. While they fumbled around at the start, they ended up picking themselves back up and hitting the target several times, despite the harsh conditions.
The shooters were put to the test not only physically, but mentally, as well.
“In terms of learning, the biggest thing from the competition, I would say, is that your body will never quit on you,” said Macphee. “It’s your mind that will quit first.”
| Date Taken: | 02.05.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 02.06.2015 16:05 |
| Story ID: | 153826 |
| Location: | FORT BLISS, TX, US |
| Hometown: | CAPE COD, MA, US |
| Hometown: | FARMINGTON, MN, US |
| Hometown: | LITTLE ELM, TX, US |
| Hometown: | LOS ANGELES, CA, US |
| Hometown: | VERNON, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 73 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Iron Sniper takes aim at competition, by SFC Kristen Duus, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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