Sniper teams from 20 countries showed off their skills in Fuerzas Comando 2016. The event consisted of various skill competitions between military and police Special Operations teams from all over the Western Hemisphere.
The goal of Fuerzas Comando is to promote inter-military relations and cooperation. The event is also a prime opportunity for various nations to show off their skills with some friendly competition.
Sniper teams participate in Fuerzas Comando 2016, a military training competition featuring more than 20 countries. (US Military Videos/YouTube)
A video posted to YouTube showed the intense sniper team competition from the event. Sniper teams can be seen shooting stationary and moving targets with various weapons and conducting a handful of drills that require the troops to drag dummies across a landscape.
See the sniper teams in action in the video below:
Striking a target with a sniper rifle is not just a matter of aiming and shooting. A number of different factors can affect how a bullet travels, especially over such long distances, and the marksman is just one member of the sniper team.
The video shows anywhere from two to five total soldiers on a single sniper team who all have critical jobs when it comes to hitting the target. Some team members will calculate the range of the target or the speed a target is moving. Others may need to monitor wind speeds or weather patterns that can affect the trajectory of the bullet.
Sniper teams participate in Fuerzas Comando 2016, a military training competition featuring more than 20 countries. (US Military Videos/YouTube)
In addition to firing their weapons, the sniper teams are expected to be able to successfully accomplish a handful of other important tasks, such as moving “bodies” downrange. In the video, team members can be seen dragging dummies hundreds of yards from one end of the landscape to the other.
The dummies can weigh upwards of 150lbs, and dragging them across the dirt is no easy task. The troops are expected to haul them a few hundred yards down the desert landscape, which is quite the feat, especially when the troops are already bogged down by their usual gear.
Sniper teams participate in Fuerzas Comando 2016, a military training competition featuring more than 20 countries. (US Military Videos/YouTube)
In addition to the sniper team competitions, Fuerzas Comando also conducts assault team competitions. Their tasks consist of physical fitness tests, a confidence course, close-quarters combat, rucksack march, an aquatic event, and an obstacle course.
At the end of the nearly two-week event, Columbia came out on top with the United States placing fifth.
