Four members of the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar Shooting Team traveled to Army base Fort Benning, Ga., to participate in the 52nd Annual Interservice Pistol Championship Matches from June 9-17.
The Miramar station team is competing against the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C., Shooting Team and the South Carolina National Guard Shooting Team.
Eighty-one service members from the Marine Corps, Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard are also scheduled to compete in team and individual matches throughout the week, either with their service team or with their post team.
The Marine Corps Pistol Team is on deck to compete with the other service-wide teams.
“We compete with other posts and stations on the West Coast,” said Master Sgt. Lee Duncan, the pistol team captain and a San Antonio native. “Out here we get to learn from other services’ teams. The members of those teams take time to talk to us and give us pointers.”
The championships also promote interservice bonding between the competitors.
“There’s a spirit of camaraderie here,” said Duncan. “We deploy in a joint environment. Being able to compete in a joint environment is fitting.”
Despite the friendly camaraderie, this multi-service contest is still a competition.
To receive a medal at the championships, service members shoot four different calibers of pistol, so team members must be competent with every pistol.
Last year, Army Staff Sgt. Robert Park II, a member of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, won the overall individual championship, and the USAMU won the overall team championship.
MCAS Miramar was unable to send its pistol team last year due to deployments.
Duncan explained that it is important for the team to attend these matches because the team members can take their marksmanship experiences back to their individual units to help the Miramar shooting team become an even stronger contender in future firing events.
As the competition unfolds, the winners for the daily events are posted online at http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/report_matchResult.cgi?matchID=7374.