[2] Mawhinney, born оn February 23, 1949, in Lakeview, Oregon,[3][4] was the son of a World War II Marine Corps veteran, and was an avid hunter in his youth.

[2][7] On Valentine's Day 1969, Mawhinney encountered an enemy platoon and killed 16 NVA soldiers with head shots.

"[2] Mawhinney sought to change the public perception about snipers, who he maintained save lives by sapping the enemy's will to fight.

But when Mawhinney spotted an enemy at only 300 yards (270 m), a range at which he was routinely a deadly shot, he missed several times, and the man got away.

"[2] After a chaplain declared him "combat fatigued", Mawhinney returned to the United States and served briefly as a rifle instructor at Camp Pendleton.

[2] After leaving the Marine Corps in 1970, Mawhinney worked for the U.S. Forest Service until his retirement in 1997, married his wife Robin and had three sons with her.

Following his retirement from the Forest Service, he began speaking at conventions and public events and attending national sniper shooting competitions.

[16] One of these knives is awarded to the top graduate of each class from the USMC Scout Sniper School in Camp Pendleton.