Ft. Benning, Ga (WRBL) – Some of the best shooters in the world arrived at Fort Benning this week for the 2023 International Sniper Competition. Shooters from as far away as the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia competed with soldiers from the United States in this year’s competition. While everyone is battling for the top spot soldiers also see this an incredible learning opportunity. Sgt. 1st Class Timothy Moore has over a decade of experience as a sniper and is a grader in this year’s competition, and he see the amazing chance for these shooters to learn from each other.

“You have people from everywhere that might do things a little bit different. Some might do it better. Some might have a different outlook on it. We get to view that, take lessons learned and see the different ways people are doing things and make like a hodge podge. See what works best, and see what doesn’t work. What maybe could be done this way and take that from them,” said Sgt. 1st Class Moore.

The sniper teams were made up of three people. They had to navigate different tasks that challenged their skills while dealing with the Georgia climate and elements. Some times their targets were hundreds of feet away in different scenarios. Ironically while these teams are competing against each other they’re also rooting for each other.

“The community of snipers as a whole is very close knit, always competitive right, but you’re always looking out for each other. So, I mean not to speak for every team here, but I gurantee if you ask them, they want the other teams to do good as well. They want them to do well and get good lessons here,” said SFC Moore.

The competitors are all wearing different uniforms and representing different countries. They’re also finding out that while they serve different nations, the snipers are more alike than they realized.

“Definitely takes a unique person right? Somebody that’s able to think outside the box. Somebody that knows when to let things roll. When to be serious about certain things. It is awesome to see that snipers in other nation’s armies are kind of like us too you know?” said SFC Moore.

Modern warfare will bring in new methods, and new technology to use on the battlefield. However, the cadre in this competition want to remind everyone there’s still nothing quite like a well trained sniper.

“The way we’re able to do that job and still limit collateral damage to the area that’s around us. I mean you’re not going to get that with any other system or person,” said SFC Moore.

The International Sniper Competition started on Monday, April 10th and will wrap up on Thursday, April 13th.