1st LEB Marines take top shot trophies

Photo By Cpl. Joshua Murray | The 1st Law Enforcement Battalion Shooting Team recently won four of the seven trophies at a shooting competition aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif. The team, which has only been established for two months, took 1st or 2nd place in every event.  

CAMP PENDLETON, CA, UNITED STATES

12.19.2014

Story by Cpl. Joshua Murray 

I Marine Expeditionary Force

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - Marines with 1st Law Enforcement Battalion, I Marine Expeditionary Force, recently competed in a marksmanship competition with rifles and pistols aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. Their team took four of seven trophies and placed first in the rifle team competition and second in the pistol team contest.

While competitive shooting is a way for the Marines to relax and enjoy themselves, it also reinforces shooting techniques and fundamentals that cross over into the Marine Corps.

Gunnery Sgt. Eujenio Rojo, the communications chief with headquarters and support company, 1st LEB, said these competitions are beneficial to the Marines who participated as well as the whole battalion.

“While the Marines are learning how to more effectively fire their weapons, which makes them more effective in the Marine Corps and in law enforcement, they also earned our battalion something to be proud of,” said Rojo, who was also the team high shooter for the event. “Our battalion is relatively young, and we haven’t had any kind of recognition, so anything that helps show off what we can do is really useful.”

Being part of the shooting team taught the Marines a new sense of teamwork and unit cohesion that they hadn’t experienced with each other before the group was formed two months prior to the competition, said 1st Lieutenant Michael Rose, the H&S Company executive officer and the team captain.

“There is something about getting out with Marines and shooting that brings us closer together and makes us work better as a unit,” Rose said. “These seven Marines never really interacted with each other before the team was made, but now they are all close and they work better together. They see their own flaws and don’t get upset when their teammates correct them and try to help them.”

Even though the team only went to one pistol range to train over the two months, they have been together, the Marines scored 1,100 out of 1,200 points during the rifle contest to take 1st place, 867 points out of 1,200 in the pistol contest for 2nd place and 667 points in the Gunner’s Cup.

“I really have to thank all of the Marines on my team for shooting so well during the competition,” Rose said. “They all applied the fundamentals and took corrections and advice with a grain of salt to improve their marksmanship.”

Due to the teams’ success in their first competition, they plan on staying together to compete again in the division competitions, which will take place towards the end of February.

• Date Taken: 12.19.2014
• Date Posted: 12.19.2014 14:42
• Story ID: 150773
• Location: CAMP PENDLETON, CA, US