Photo By Sgt. Nevada Jack Smith | California National Guardsmen fire their weapons during the Expert In Competition...... read more read more
CAMP ROBERTS, Calif. - The staccato burst of weapons fire was a familiar sound as California Air and Army National Guardsmen competed in the Third Annual California Combat Match, April 4-8, at Camp San Luis Obispo.
“This competition mimics the actions you would take in combat. This allows soldiers and airmen to be more confident of their skills when in an actual combat situation,” said Lt. Col. Loren A. Weeks, commander of Task Force Warrior, the training program which prepares units for deployment, and host of the match.
The competition was intense for the service members participating. Each match was designed to test them in different ways. The first round, the Expert in Rifle competition, had troops firing at targets well past the standard 300-meter range. The competitors then advanced toward their targets, sprinting to their next firing line.
“I learned that I could shoot targets with my ironsights at over 400-yards,” said Cpl. Balreet Kaur, a medic with the 79th Brigade Special Troops Battalion (BSTB), based in San Diego.
The Expert in Rifle and Expert in Pistol competitions were considered the most intense by some participants as these matches allowed the soldiers and airmen to earn “leg points”. If a troop has accumulated enough leg points, they can qualify to earn the distinguished marksman medal.
Though some service members were in it for the win, many more were simply grateful for the chance to compete and receive such advanced training.
“The competitiveness is fun but it is the training that makes this competition great,” said Spc. Vincent Torres, 24, a Red Bluff, Calif., native with the 49th Military Police Brigade in Fairfield.
“It’s a great experience; I’m receiving new training in combat readiness. It has improved my skills by far and I now know that I can move and shoot with a purpose,” said Torres.
Many of the matches were designed to test troops in ways they had not expected.
One competition, The Devils Playground saw troops sprinting to a fortified position while carrying a large ammunition can. Once there, each service member would have to fire at alternating 100 and 25- meter targets all while either moving to a secondary position of firing, or switching their fire from their left and right shoulders.
“I have enjoyed The Devils Playground the most,” said Torres. “It teaches you to transition from your left and right hand. The training it gives you really tests your ability to move and shoot while using both your dominant and non-dominant hand.
The troops were very enthusiastic about the competition. With awards like a brand new rifle, a trip to a professional marksmanship training seminar, and the ability to purchase certain weapons at cost from their manufacturers, the prizes for the individual matches proved to be great incentive for many hopeful sharpshooters.
“It’s good to have incentives to compete,” said Weeks.
Even with a myriad of prizes available to the competitors, most service members expressed their feelings that competing was prize enough.
“I hope we can do this more often and get more people involved,” said Torres.
“This is definitely great marksmanship training. These training fundamentals should be taught more at the unit to unit level,” said Kaur. “This may be a competition but even if you don’t win you are still taking home irreplaceable skills.”
At the end of the week many competitors were singled out for their talent as they continued to prove themselves the best. The aggregate winner of the competition was Sgt. 1st Class Geoffrey Applegate, an Infantryman with the 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, (IBCT), who had the highest overall score in the match.
When asked how he felt about winning Applegate responded with deep humility, “It’s a huge honor, first of all, just to be able to shoot here,” said Applegate. “The level of competition was pretty steep. There were some good shooters. To be honest I’m surprised that I won anything.”
Winning was only half the battle. The competitions secondary objective was to see who the best marksmen were in the hopes of forming a combat match team for the California National Guard.
“We have multiple opportunities for follow on competitions,” said Weeks. “The ultimate goal is to have a team that can compete at the regional and national levels.”
When asked on the importance of the competition Weeks said, “This is training. This is real.”
| Date Taken: | 04.05.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 05.15.2011 17:29 |
| Story ID: | 70427 |
| Location: | SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 173 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, California National Guardsmen take aim at winning Best Marksman, by SGT Nevada Jack Smith, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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