TIP OF THE SPEAR
Nobility is as nobility does
BY DOC SPEARS
As I write this I’m just back from Fort Benning and the International Sniper Competition (ISC). I’m very privileged and fortunate to be a trainer and coach for a unit that places high value on the preparation of their sniper teams for competition. I had four teams this year, some of which I’ve worked with many times previously, some for the first time.
While I’d hoped my most experienced team would win (last year that team finished a close second behind a team from 3/75 Rangers), this year they took third behind the victorious team from the 3rd Special Forces Group, and just behind another team from 3/75 in second place.
So in other words, again they did FANTASTIC!!!
Our three other teams finished 6th, 7th, and 8th; out of a field of 35 teams from all the major combat divisions, Special Operations Command (SOCOM) units, and international competitors from allied nations.
As a father, there’s no greater pride that seeing your children surpass you. I take the fraternal view that as an old soldier, I get to be a big brother to these great warriors. And in the role of the old lion passing on what he knows to the young lions—such is my vanity—they’re also my sons. They do surpass me, and I’m very proud of them.
ISC a grueling competition that takes place over four days and nights, testing the full range of sniper skills across devilishly difficult stages of fire, at great distances, in all conditions. The cadre of the US Army Sniper School host and run the event, and do a superlative job. But there are always capricious factors that come into play to determine the victor of any competition, and it’s especially so in the contest to be named the best military sniper.
Light plays a big factor, and sometimes the shooting order means you can have too little with which to spot the trace of your bullet, or suffer with sunlight at blindingly piercing angles. I winced as winds picked up and became unpredictable when only a few minutes before, a team shot the same stage with no winds at all. In long-distance marksmanship, wind is the ultimate factor.
I won’t bore the casual reader with too much of the technical, but I take great solace that the playing field wasn’t exactly even: SOCOM units field rifles chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor, while the regular Amy is still using .308. It’s a difference—with the 6.5 giving a better ballistic advantage and ability to minimize wind deflection—which is why I personally spend most of my time with the 6.5 or 300 Norma.
Did that account for why my most experienced team finished behind two teams from SOCOM shooting their 6.5s? Maybe, maybe not. But it sure would have been great to see a .308 team finish ahead of the 6.5 users, and my teams did finish ahead of many 6.5 teams.
So, I feel justified in rightly pointing out that we finished FIRST among all teams fielding .308. So, there.
ISC occurs during Infantry Week: a week full of many other competitions of combat skills: The Lacerda Cup unarmed combatives competition, Best Mortar, Best Ranger, the Gainey Cup best scout squad competition—there’s a lot going on at Fort Benning at the same time as ISC.
ISC is important (as are the other competitions) because it’s the ultimate proof that there’s no objective reality where anything other than acquired characteristics matter. It demands the participants have endured a long journey of discipline to acquire difficult skill.
And in a world where our culture is dominated by those seeking self-aggrandizement—sacrificing the dignity of their professions in order to make TikTok videos so they can bask in the glowing approval of strangers—it is the greatest of things to witness that ultimate truths can be demonstrated so sublimely.
There are no excuses. The only equality is in results by superior skill. It is survival of the fittest achieved by competence.
In a national culture that has become inundated with attitudes that permit cavalier output in work, frivolity in the workplace, insistence on pleasant fictions to protect feelings of inferior status and victimhood based on any group’s perceived lack of position—the bullet always holds the ultimate truth.
It matters not what characteristic you are born with—ones promoted to substitute for merit, immutable and irrelevant inheritances meant to secure for you a career where your status is unassailable—such things will never bring dignity nor the nobility of character required to do great and meaningful things.
I was privileged to witness many special moments during this year’s ISC, but one stood out. I was on the line when this happened—my guys had been knocked out the round before—and it was an opportunity to witness the kind of nobility of character I’m talking about.
In the final shootout between the teams that finished 1st and 2nd, there were some rare difficulties with the excellent Marathon mover targets—essentially, autonomous robots. On the first shootout, a target fell off a hill. 3/75 had won that stage, but the event NCOIC rightly called for a reshoot. The SF guys won that reshoot, but it didn’t feel right to them. My SF brothers asked the Rangers, with a humble smile and a shrug, “You wanna shoot it again?”
The older, more experienced Special Forces guys won it again that third time—and ultimately the championship—and did it with class. I hadn’t been able to get the full story until their team sergeant reached out to me later to explain in detail how it went down. All we knew at the time was that the 3rd Group guys were happy to shoot it again—but that they did so for that third time because they felt it was only fair—that’s what I mean about nobility of character.
In my Galaxy’s Edge and Wargate series I try to tell stories that create the conditions for the imagining of moments to demonstrate the best qualities of a warrior. And in this world of TikTok and Insta, screeching about feelings, and demands for unmerited acceptance, you can go a very, very long time without anything to be inspired by.
Our warfighters have been subjected to many leaders and policy makers unworthy of their positions—and that is finally changing. But I assure you, the warriors have been there all this time, maintaining the trust, doing their duty, and serving in inspiring ways that few get to see.
A military is always a reflection of the culture it is derived from. It has never been any different, nor could it be. And for those who harbor doubts about the excellence of our military, I can assure you, they are finest that have ever served and will not fail to make us proud.
Brilliant piece. Had to share with my Dad who gave me the shooting skills he learned at Bragg. He enjoyed your sentiments. 👍
Not only do you have one of the coolest jobs in the world, you get to train and instruct some of the most elite warriors. Elite in their skills in combat and also in their character. One of the things I most remember learning from my drill instructors were character traits. I also thought integrity was one of the most important to me, or, as I remember it, “doing the right thing when no one is looking.” Thanks again for all that you do, Doc! Semper Fi!