Re: Ft Benning International Sniper Comp
I don't mean to get into a thread hijack.
MSG Jared Van Aalst, KIA Afghanistan, 4 AUG 10 -- former US Army Rifle Team Shooter/Instructor
Quite a few others did Iraq and Afghan TDY combat tours <span style="font-weight: bold">while assigned to the AMU but attached to someone else's task force,</span> with a few CIBs, CIB with star, CABs, and Bronze with V.
You might not see it and may not like the idea, but they're still Soldiers getting shot and blown up. They're assigned to a hollywood unit and have a different job for a few years.
FORT BENNING, Ga.--Sgt. 1st Class Jason Parker, U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, instructs an Afghan National Army soldier on proper marksmanship techniques with an M16A2 rifle while deployed to Afghanistan. Parker, a three-time Olympian, and Soldiers from the USAMU have been deployed this year to establish a novel marksmanship instruction program for ANA soldiers.
Teaching, Iraq, 2004
<span style="font-weight: bold">"2010 USPSA Area 8 Championship</span>
September 8, 2010
For those of you not familiar with what we do, we compete in USPSA/IPSC. Practical shooting is one of the fastest growing shooting sports today, and probably relates to Army weapons training better than any other discipline.
Last week, members of the USAMU Action Shooting Team competed in the 2008 Area 8 Championship, myself included. It was a long weekend, but fortunately we were graced with good weather from start to finish. This match was stacked with top shooters! Several of which were former USAMU members.
It was a 10 stage match with over 200 rounds split over 2 days. The stages were very challenging and didn't allow much room for error. Some of the other top competitors completed the match in one day, so we were able to get an idea on how some of the stages were shot. With that said, it wasn't very helpful. The great thing about this sport is that it challenges the shooter not only in speed and accuracy, but also in having the ability to negotiate through a course of fire as efficient as possible.
<span style="font-weight: bold"> <span style="color: red">This was my 2nd competition after returning from Afghanistan,</span> </span> and I was pleased with my performance. I had a good mental game throughout the match, and stayed rather consistent. A couple errors kept me from placing higher or even winning the event, but everyone was far from perfection. Above all, this match tested us on consistency and endurance.
The best part of this trip was the number of junior shooters present. Many of which attend our Junior Clinic in Fort Benning, GA. It looks like the shooting sports will continue to flourish after all. Til next time, Army Strong."
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<span style="font-weight: bold">Army rifle shooters on target at 50th Interservice Championship</span>
By Michael Molinaro, USAMU PAO
MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. — Soldiers from the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit’s Service Rifle platoon dominated their fellow servicemembers at the 50th Interservice Rifle Championships July 17-26, proving once again that the premier marksmen in the military serve in the Army.
Despite the determination of the other services to dethrone the defending champions, the Soldiers displayed their superior skills at the annual meeting of the military’s best rifle shooters, winning 18 out of 19 team and individual matches.
The USAMU won the coveted 10-man Interservice Rifle team championship match. Team shooters were Sgt. 1st Class Lance Dement, Sgt. 1st Class Grant Singley, Staff Sgt. Tyrel Cooper, Staff Sgt. Brandon Green, Staff Sgt. Joel Micholick, Staff Sgt. Daniel Peters, Sgt. Sherri Jo Gallagher, Spc. Kevin Trickett, Spc. Augustus Dunfey, and Spc. Amanda Elsenboss. Coaches were Sgt. 1st Class Emil Praslick and Staff Sgt. Walter Craig, while Staff Sgt. Scott Grant Staff and Sgt. Nathan Verbickas were team captains. Cooper was the high individual shooter during the match with a score of 496-21x.
USAMU teams swept all team matches, including the Marine Corps Combat Development Command Commanding General Match, the Infantry Trophy Team Match, and the Interservice 1,000 yard Team Match.
Two USAMU Soldiers stood out individually at the championship. Cooper won his first overall championship after posting the high aggregate score for individual matches. He won the Navy match, Army match, the 1,000 yard match rifle, and the match rifle individual long-range championship to go along with his overall championship. He also won the Lt. Col. C.A. Reynolds Memorial Trophy for high score in the 10-man team match.
“This means a lot to me,” Cooper said, <span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="color: #FF0000">who returned from an Afghanistan deployment in April.</span></span> “It’s my eighth year on the team and my first win. You’ve got a lot of guys here who have won it two or three times-- it’s not easy.
The longest standing record at the match was broken by Micholick. He set a new match record in the 1,000 yard long range match with a service rifle, and also eclipsed a record that been held since 1984 by scoring a new high in the long-range aggregate with the service rifle after scoring a 397-12x.
"Staff Sgt. Micholick did not simply break a record, he crushed the longest standing record in the history of the Interservice Rifle Championships, which stood for nearly thirty years and in perhaps the most difficult match - the 1000-yard long range - with a service weapon,” said Lt. Col. Daniel Hodne, commander, USAMU.
“I could not think of a more fitting time for one of our Soldiers to establish this new record than at the 50th iteration of this Interservice Rifle Championship."
The Excellence-in-Competition Match was won by Staff Sgt. Armando Ayala. Green, Verbickas, Trickett and Gallagher also won individual matches. Gallagher was crowned high woman shooter.
With the overall win, the USAMU swept all individual and team championships in Interservice competition for 2011, the second consecutive year they have done so.
The competition, which dates back to 1960, when the value of Interservice marksmanship competition was recognized in a Memorandum of Understanding by the chiefs of each service, highlights the professional capacity and versatility of military service members. The 50th anniversary of the rifle championship is a significant milestone in the history of competitive marksmanship.
Oh, and the girls deploy too: