Photo By Sgt. Danielle Rodrigues | The California National Guard's two teams took first and third place in the Overall...... read more read more
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The California National Guard Combat Shooting Team garnered national attention in February when the team successfully defended its title in the national U.S. Army Small Arms Championship, also known as The All Army.
More than 200 shooters at the competition represented cadets, active duty soldiers, Army reservists and National Guard members from across the country. The competition took place from the Jan. 26 to Feb. 1 at Fort Benning, Ga.
The CNG team’s two squads took first and third place in the Overall Team Championship this year, backing up their performance in 2013, when they took first in the Overall Team Championship and the Combined Arms Team Championship.
“Small arms competition shooting includes pistol, rifle and multi-gun matches,” said veteran team member Staff Sgt. Oscar Moreno from Company B, 40th Brigade Support Battalion, 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. “The multi-gun event requires a variety of moving and shooting, transitioning from weapons used and types of targets engaged … shooting and running distances up to 1.5 miles.”
The All Army is an advanced combat live-fire training event that recognizes team and individual excellence in three categories: novice, open and pro. Novice participants have never competed in the All Army, open-class participants have competed at least once, and pro-class participants have earned a Distinguished Marksmanship Badge for excellence with either the pistol or rifle.
“Competition is training,” said Lt. Col. Louis Millikan, state marksmanship coordinator and commander of 1st Battalion, 184th Infantry Regiment, 79th IBCT. “Competition is an opportunity to validate our soldiers’ marksmanship skills, where they can gain vast experiences — more than they normally would in the traditional 39 days of [National Guard] training per year.”
Top performers
Individual winners for California this year included Spc. Demetrios “Hank” Iannios of the 1-184th, who took home multiple awards in the Open Class, winning the title of Open Class Champion, Open Class Combined Arms Champion and Open Class Rifle Champion. He was followed closely by two teammates in his hunt for the Open Class Championship, with Moreno and Millikan finishing 3rd and 4th, respectively.
Sgt. 1st Class Sean Bayard of the 1-184th, meanwhile, earned the Col. Ralph Puckett Trophy for achieving the highest overall score in the novice class.
Sgt. 1st Class Geoff Applegate of the 1-184th earned the Distinguished Pistol Shot Badge at this year’s All Army, becoming the only CNG soldier with that badge as well as the Distinguished Rifleman Badge. Last year Applegate took the top individual honor in the All Army, dethroning four-time champion Army Reserve Master Sgt. Russell Moore as the top shooter, but Moore was able to earn back his title this year.
“Besides bragging rights, [the team’s performance] gives credibility to the State Marksmanship Program,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Robert Matey, the CNG’s enlisted leader for operations. “These soldiers will be the ones to impart the knowledge gained in competition to the next generation of soldiers.”
It starts at home
Every shooter on Team California earns their spot at the annual California Combat Match, a competition held each spring for CNG soldiers and airmen.
“I had never competed at this level before joining the team,” Iannios said. “I attended the California Combat Match last year and did very well. Since then I’ve competed at the state, regional and national level. … You pick up a lot from the pros.”
Shooters who compete at the California Combat Match come out the other side as a more valuable contributor to their unit, Millikan said, because the organizers run a shooting clinic in conjunction with the competition.
“We cover the fundamentals of adjusting your site picture, your weapon, your sites and your optics. We talk about kit, magazine and pouch placement,” he said. “These things we do to engage the enemy faster, with a higher degree of accuracy.”
One of the events at the Combat Match is called the nine-Minute Match, which Millikan said is “the ultimate test of balancing marksmanship fundamentals and heart rate.”
“A shooter that can do this will win on the battlefield and in competition,” he said.
Putting training into action
Winning on the battlefield, of course, is the point of marksmanship training and competition. The concept and creation of the CNG Combat Shooting Team developed as a result of 1st Sgt. Jose Garcia’s experience in Iraq in 2004.
“A lot of my shots [in Iraq] were misses, and I never really knew why,” said Garcia, who is now the team’s shooting coach and assistant state marksmanship coordinator. “It led me to seek out marksmanship-type courses.”
Garcia’s education and experience led to a teaching spot with the National Guard Marksmanship Training Center in Arkansas, where he met California Guardsmen who told him about Task Force Warrior, a CNG Army pre-deployment training element that was disbanded at the end of 2013. That information eventually led to a partnership with Millikan.
“Lieutenant Colonel Millikan was and still is very passionate about shooting, improving this program, spreading the word, increasing the scope and size of the program to turn out the best shooters in the Army,” Garcia said.
Together they established the Combat Shooting Team, which is run through volunteer efforts and often at the participants’ expense. Training and competition are accomplished in addition to the team members’ traditional Guard duties.
Though the opportunity is open to all CNG members, every member of the current team falls under the 79th IBCT, except 49th Military Police Brigade Staff Sgt. Jeff Ice. The members hail from cities and towns all over the state and come from varying walks of life, like ranch hand, police officer and railroad conductor.
Clear mind, sharp focus
As part of the team’s mental preparation for the All Army, each year the CNG soldiers agree to ignore scores.
“We shoot our match and know our individual scores, but we don’t keep track of the other competitors,” Iannios said. “One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned from competing is to focus on the task at hand. Our motto is, ‘A peaceful mind generates power.’”
Millikan said another common saying repeated by the team is, “Hey, it’s in the rear-view, and that mistake was just training.”
He also often reminds the team members, “Anger is a choice — don’t let it bother you.”
Proof of concept
“Competing at the All Army matches is a great accomplishment in itself, but winning is monumental for both the soldier and the state,” Matey said. “It’s important to return to the All Army match to defend the state’s title and confirm to all that two years winning is no fluke and our state marksmanship program is top notch.”
Garcia said physical fitness is vitally important to achieving a top marksmanship score, but as long as a soldier is in top physical shape, the Combat Shooting Team can teach anyone to shoot at a championship level.
“To win validates our training methods, our techniques,” he said. “It shows that if you do what we do, you’ll produce the best shooters in the Army.”
| Date Taken: | 02.07.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 02.07.2014 17:09 |
| Story ID: | 120306 |
| Location: | SACRAMENTO, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 1,048 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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