RICHMOND, Va. –
For the third consecutive year, snipers from the Lynchburg-based 1st Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment, 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team traveled to Finland to compete against their international peers at the HÄYHÄ 2024 Sniper Shooting Championship. Three Red Dragon snipers - Staff Sgt. Joshua Johnson, Sgt. James O’Connell and Spc. Jonathan Farrar - competed Sept. 20-22, 2024, at a training site near Imatra, Finland.
“Being a sniper is the privilege of a lifetime,” O’Connell said. “It is something I’ve wanted to do since before I joined and something I’ve earned through hard work and a genuine love of country. Competing internationally is an honor I hope to earn again.”
The multi-day event included numerous stages, all designed to test the snipers on their craft. It wasn’t a marksmanship competition, but a competition designed specifically for snipers.
“While shooting was the central focus of the event, the Finnish cadre clearly demonstrated an understanding that our jobs are more than just being good behind the rifle,” O’Connell said.
Competitors faced lanes that required them to prove their competency with skills including tactical casualty care and calling in air support, and faced numerous physical challenges as well. Those skills and the ability to conquer challenges using “raw physical strength” are all “critical to a sniper’s role,” and, according to O’Connell, are part of what sets the sniper apart from the basic marksman.
“The competition was very dynamic and each event would require you to create a plan in less than five minutes and execute the plan,” Farrar said. “Events were timed and would require you to stealthily set up your shooting positions prior to engagements.”
To prepare for the competition, the three first trained independently. Farrar said he focused on “running, rucking and doing calisthenics” to make sure he was ready to face the physical challenges he knew the competition would present. Then, the snipers came together at Fort Barfoot for several days of more focused training.
“We trained on shooting in various positions, making simultaneous shots, stress shooting and stalking,” Farrar said.
O’Connell added that the team focused on tackling targets at unknown distances and firing from the standing position as well.
“On my own time, I studied formulas I would use, focused on my physical exercise routine and on endurance cardio, and got trigger time on my personal rifle to stay sharp,” he said.
Ultimately, the snipers earned a 9th place finish out of 14 teams. Each Virginia sniper expressed a deep appreciation for the work put in by their Finnish hosts, and left the competition with a few valuable new lessons.
“I learned that there’s a surprising amount of overlap in the way that we and the rest of NATO do things as snipers,” O’Connell said. “I feel confident that if I had an English-speaking Finn as my spotter, we would have no trouble working together and getting a good effect on target.”
Farrar called the HÄYHÄ 2024 Sniper Shooting Championship his best military experience to date, and said part of what made it so great was both being continuously challenged and having the opportunity to learn from other members of the sniper community.
“I enjoyed the competition because it was challenging [and] I was able to build relationships with the other competitors,” Farrar said. “Our community is small and we are always looking for ways to become better and more lethal.”