Two Marine snipers brought home the top prize at this year’s International Sniper Competition in a rare win for the Corps.
Staff Sgt. Tyler Johnson and Sgt. Spencer Harrell took first place at the annual competition, which was last week at Fort Benning, Georgia, becoming only the second Marine Corps team to win the event and the first since 2009.
In a lighthearted nod to the long-running joke about Marines and crayons, the winners posed with a Crayola 24-pack on the trophy, drawing delighted reactions on social media.
Two-man sniper teams from across the United States and partner nations were eligible to participate in the multiday competition, which tests long-range marksmanship, target detection, reconnaissance and reporting, and movement under stealth and concealment, according to the Army.
The experience also serves as a forum for service members to exchange tactics and best practices.
The International Sniper Competition was hosted from April 7-10 as part of the Army’s Infantry Week.
The competition in Georgia differs from the U.S. Army Special Operations Command International Sniper Competition, which was held in North Carolina in March.
Eve Sampson is a reporter and former Army officer. She has covered conflict across the world, writing for The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Associated Press.
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