MCB HAWAII, KANEOHE BAY, Hawaii -- Two snipers representing 1st Bn., 3rd Marine Regiment, took out their competitors and brought back first place honors in the recent III Marine Expeditionary Force Scout Sniper competition in Okinawa, Japan.
Corporal David A. Bendinger and Cpl. Wayne G. Altheuser, both with 1/3's Scout Sniper Platoon, were on the top of the heap when scores were tallied for the 17 events in the competition.
Five 2-man teams competed for the chance to become the best in III MEF and move on to the All-Marine scout sniper competition in Quantico, Va., in October.
A physical training test and a timed run made up the physical training events, and each of the five teams also competed in 14 other field and firing events.
A written examination rounded out the challenges, and after five days of showing what they knew, the Hawaii Marines came out in front.
"We were a little surprised because all of the scores were kept secret throughout the competition," said Altheuser, who just recently graduated from the 3rd Marine Division Scout Sniper School. "We were actually tied at the end of the competition, and the evaluators had to re-evaluate our scores and performance to break the tie."
The two Lava Dogs shined in events ranging from known and unknown distance shooting with the M-16A2 and M-40 rifles, to live-fire stalking exercises.
"This is a good chance for us to step up to the next level," said Bendinger. "We just kept a relaxed attitude and enjoyed ourselves. I think that contributed to our success."
Both Marines are fresh out of the sniper course, but were still able to prevail over teams much more experienced during the competition.
"The 1/3 Marines came out on top because they were consistent," said Gunnery Sgt. Richard Tisdale, staff noncommissioned officer in charge at the 3rd Marine Division Scout Sniper School at MCB Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay. "They didn't necessarily come out first in all of the events - they just consistently scored high."
Most of the competition involved skills the Hawaii Marines learned at the sniper course, but according to Tisdale, only about 10 percent of being a sniper involves shooting.
"Movement, calling for, and adjusting supporting arms, and reporting information back to higher headquarters makes up a lot of what scout snipers do," Tisdale added. "This competition covered the wide range of skills scout snipers are expected to know before they go out on a mission."
Both Marines graduated from the same Scout Sniper Course at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay, and said the sniper competition was beneficial because of the extra training they were able to do.
"We got to work with a lot of comm. [communications], and we did a new course of fire we haven't done before, so it helped us a lot," Altheuser said. "Any time we get to do more training, and fire more live rounds, we benefit."