Marine Corps Sniper Competition: Unexpected Results

We get it. Not as a Marine Corps Scout Sniper because I was neither a P.I.G (Professionally Instructed Gunman) nor was I a H.O.G (Hunter Of Gunmen). However, I am a Marine and the amount of shit that has been talked about my beloved Corps in the wake of the Sniper Competition needs to be if anything, somewhat quelled. I was not there, I didn't interview the shooters, so what I have to say is only mere speculation. Take it for what it is, mere conjecture.When I first saw the news, I myself was disappointed. I mean, hell the United States Marine Corps wrote the book on long-range marksmanship and concealment. For the longest time, there was zero question in anyone's mind as to who the deadliest snipers on the planet were. There were 0317s. The Marine Corps Scout Sniper. Then...that damned Tom Berenger movie came out in 1993 and then all of a sudden everyone jumped on the "I want to be a sniper" bandwagon. Meanwhile, the Marine Corps had been doin' it to it for decades.We get it. This year, we got beat...just like Dash from the Incredibles, didn't win every single race. He had to make it look like he was capable of defeat, just like the Marine Corps had to lose to let everyone think that we'd lost a step. You can compete, but the Marine Corps Scout Sniper will always be deadly. Hunting pieces of paper and steel...they hunt men, they are the hunters of gunmen.So yes, we (the Marine Corps) "lost", but did we really? Or did we brilliantly bluff the enemy into thinking that they were somewhat safer when the USMC Scout Snipers were out? Because after all we got beat by the Coast Guard...Next thing you know some ISIS guy or some Russian former Spetznaz mercenary fighting in Syria walks outside to light a smoke, complacent because it's those guys that got "beat" by the Coast Guard out in the area...then next thing you know...old boy is pink mist on the side of a brown, sandy concrete wall.Yeah, the Marine Corps "lost" the competition...just keep spreading that around till our enemies become complacent.