Tri-Service

Night Fighting Competition: Britain Vs. Canada

The Canadian Forces Small Arms Concentration (CFSAC) is a series of shooting matches conducted annually by the Canadian Forces at the Connaught Ranges and Primary Training Centre, located near Shirley's Bay in Ottawa, Ontario.

Dating back to 1869, the marksmanship competition brings in hundreds of competitors from British, Canadian and U.S. Armed Forces.

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This year, more than 250 individuals took part in more than 50 matches involving rifle, pistol and light machine gun events, using various combat-like movements and scenarios.

During matches, rifle engagements varied from 'deliberate' (shooting 10 rounds in 60 seconds), to snaps (targets popping up) and movers (targets moving horizontally across the berm). Overall, the competition included day and night fire with rifles, pistols and light machine guns.

The images, taken by U.S. Army photo by Master Sgt. Michel Sauret, are from the Light Machine Gun Night Fire match-up between Canadian and British forces.

"The hardest part is the mental game. It's telling yourself that this is going to suck, but it's going to suck only for so long, so you just keep on going," said Chief Warrant Officer Two Andy Knote.

"Every few months, there's another world championship and the best military combat shooters come and compete there. So you're testing yourself against the best," said Master Sgt. Lance Espinosa, U.S. Army Reserve combat shooter from Skandia, located in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

"The international combat matches, in my estimate, are the closest thing we can come to a combat shooting environment without actually being shot at," said Knote, who lives in North Chicago.

"Too often we say, 'Well, it worked in combat.' But I say, when you have a fire team on line with full battle load engaging a couple of targets, who knows who is actually [shooting well]? This actually measures the individual marksman's competence," he said.