Staff Sgt. Tyler Johnson and Sgt. Spencer Harrell won first place at the annual competion, held at Fort Benning, Georgia, Apr. 10, 2026, making them only the second Marine Corps team to achieve this victory and the first since 2009. (U.S. Army)
A pair of Marines captured a rare victory at the Army-run International Sniper Competition, securing the service’s first win in nearly 17 years and only the second in the event’s history.
Staff Sgt. Tyler Johnson and Sgt. Spencer Harrell, representing the Marine Corps Shooting Team, outperformed a field of U.S. and NATO sniper teams during the five-day event, which concluded Friday.
This year marked the competition’s 25th anniversary. The Marine Corps last won in 2009, according to the service.
Staff Sgt. Tyler Johnson and Sgt. Spencer Harrell, winners of the 2026 International Sniper Competition, held Apr. 11, 2026, pose together. (Patrick Albright/U.S. Army)
Johnson and Harrell are not officially designated snipers in the Marine Corps personnel system. The former is a rifleman, while the latter is an anti-tank missile gunner. Both serve as instructors with the Weapons Training Battalion in Quantico, Va.
The Corps began restructuring its scout sniper platoons in 2020, phasing out the specialty in infantry battalions and shifting it under reconnaissance battalions in 2023.
Hosted annually at Fort Benning, Ga., the competition tests elite shooters through grueling challenges, including long-range marksmanship, reconnaissance, stealth and concealment, according to the Army’s website.
Johnson’s facial hair helped make the duo a favorite among commenters on the Army Maneuver Center of Excellence’s Facebook page. The mustache he sports “could bend physics,” one of the comments stated.
Staff Sgt. Tyler Johnson and Sgt. Spencer Harrell won first place at the annual International Sniper competition last week at Fort Benning, Georgia, Apr.11, 2026, becoming only the second Marine Corps team to achieve this since the event began and the first to win since 2009. (Daniel Marble/U.S. Army)
The Marine Corps Shooting Team later took to Facebook to congratulate the pair on their win, though some commenters expressed disappointment that Johnson had since shaved the mustache.
Johnson and Harrell were one of the only duos in an online photo gallery of entrants. Most teams consisted of three members: a shooter, a spotter and a coach.
The international competition was held alongside the Best Jumpmaster and Best Mortar contests, as well as the Lacerda Cup — a multi-event infantry competition testing endurance, marksmanship and tactical skills — as part of the Army’s Infantry Week.
