QUANTICO, Va. — Col. Christopher Naler was selected in 2006 and Maj. Chris Fain in 2007 to be on the All-Marine Skeet Team by the National Skeet Shooting Association for the All American Skeet Team in the category of military second team for 2012.
“We have been shooting together since 2006,” said Naler, commanding officer of the Marine Corps Information Operation Center. “And we have been fortune to make the All-American Team every year but one.”
The requirements to be on the All-American Skeet Shooting Team is a minimum number of targets hit, known as a target standard, for the five different events, 12 gauge, 20 gauge, 28 gauge, .410 bore and then doubles. A shooter must hit at least a thousand targets for 12 gauge and then 800 for all the other gauges and 500 for doubles.
For shooters to achieve the goal they have to participate in 10 registered shoots during the shooting season, which is March to Oct. 31. Naler and Fain, who is the officer in charge of Marksmanship Management Program Section at Weapons Training Battalion, have both been to events in Virginia, North Carolina and Maryland, as well as other state-registered shoots.
“For the All American, we compete based on how we perform at our local, state, regional and national competitions,” said Naler. “We gain points at all of those competitions and there is a running total of our points and, at the end of the year, they go through and select the top 10 or 15 for All American.”
The two big shoots they participate in annually is Armed Forces Skeet Championship, which was held at the Conservation Park of Richmond in Charles City, Va., last year, and the World Championships, which was held at the National Shooting Complex in San Antonio last year.
The two have traveled all over the United States together, shooting as members of the Marine Corps Skeet Shooting Team, building a relationship with each other and other Marines around them who also participate in the sport.
“Marines have a tendency to think the same way, when you become part of a team or program like this then you are around people that are even more like minded,” said Fain. “I’ve been in for 23 years and I’ve met some of the best friends that I’ve had in the Marine Corps.”
The All-Marine Skeet Team is currently competing in the Armed Forces Skeet Championships in Waco, Texas against the Army, Navy and Air Force. They have won the 20-gauge event and are currently leading the overall event as of Wednesday with Friday being their last day of competition.