CAMP JOSEPH T. ROBINSON, Ark. – The All Guard Combat shooting team held its annual tryouts at Camp Joseph T. Robinson, Ark., from Sept. 15-19. The team consists of some of the best marksmen in the Army and Air Force National Guard and represents the Guard at national level competitions.
Competitions are not just for the joy of shooting, though. “Soldiers who are proficient in marksmanship, who increase their proficiency and experience through competition, are better able to perform as unit marksmanship trainers,” said Maj. David Stapp, the All Guard Combat Team Program Manager.
Sustainment training is the ultimate goal of marksmanship competitions and this was evident during the tryouts. In addition to shooting different matches throughout the week, a few of the current All Guard members were acting as coaches for the new shooters.
“We try to cover the basic positions with them; the kneeling, sitting, standing and prone,” said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Christopher Marcott, the All Guard Combat team captain. “The hardest thing for a lot of new shooters is that they want to keep shooting the way they’ve been shooting.”
Marcott has been on the All Guard team for 15 years. He knows what works and what doesn’t work. “We’ve done a lot of testing on positions,” said Marcott. “We try to let everybody learn from what we’ve learned.”
The combat team doesn’t just focus on shooting ability, either. Unlike the other All Guard shooting teams that focus heavily on target shooting, the combat team has to perform wearing combat equipment, using multiple weapons systems, and may have to run during some of their matches.
Part of the tryouts this week is a one mile run in uniform with boots, vests, magazines, helmet, a water source, their rifle and pistol. “Being part of the combat team is that everyone has some aerobic ability,” said Marcott.
The challenges of the week should be nothing new to these potential candidates. They were chosen from the top competitors at this year’s national matches held in May. Marcott started at the top of the list from the Winston P. Wilson Championship matches and started making his way down the list to invite shooters to the tryout.
In order to have 17 shooters present for the tryout, Marcott made it through roughly the top 50 competitors from the list. “It has to do with availability,” he said. “The advantage of that is we are looking at people that we might not have looked at, otherwise.”
Scores from the tryouts will be consolidated with the scores of current All Guard members and an order of merit list will be created. This list is how the teams are picked for competitions. Marcott’s end goal is to assemble the best possible team.
Building a great team isn’t the only benefit the shooters will take home from this week of tryouts and training, though. “Proficiency in marksmanship is at the core of being a capable warrior,” said Stapp. “It increases individual readiness and combat capability to succeed and survive in combat.”
Proficiency in marksmanship is an individual skill and to make it to the top, Marcott says the key is to practice. He emphasizes that the top shooters on the current All Guard Combat team got their on their own, through determination and discipline.
“What I always did to get better was to look for someone that was a better shot than me,” said Marcott. “If I was doing something differently, I would change to what they were doing. And when I got to their level, I would look for someone better.”
Marcott suggests that some of the easiest ways for shooters to improve their scores don’t require range time and bullets. “You can get a lot of practice just by dry firing and getting into position.” He goes on to compare shooting to getting a maximum score on a physical training test. “You’re not going to get a 300 if you only do PT on drill weekends.”
The selected members of the All Guard Combat team will compete at the Armed Forces Skill at Arms Meeting held at Camp Joseph T. Robinson, Ark. in May 2015.
| Date Taken: | 09.19.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 09.23.2014 17:56 |
| Story ID: | 143052 |
| Location: | LITTLE ROCK, AR, US |
| Web Views: | 134 |
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This work, National Guard soldiers compete for spot on the All Guard shooting team, by 1LT Denise Douglas, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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