Photo By 1st Lt. Wes Parrell | Marine Lance Cpl. Dustin Moreland and Pfc. Garrett Markve from the 6th Engineer...... read more read more
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FLORENCE, Ariz. – Members of the Arizona National Guard competed in a statewide joint service run and shoot biathlon in Florence, Ariz., Jan 17.
The 2015 Biathlon Shooting Competition was hosted by the Arizona Army National Guard’s Small Arms Training Branch at the Florence Military Reservation. Teams from the Arizona Army and Air National Guard, Army Reserve and Marine Corp Reserve made up the 18-team roster.
Air Force Tech. Sgt. Randy Wyres and 1st Lt. Stephen Paluga represented the 161st Air Refueling Wing as returning competitors after finishing in third place during the last biathlon event.
“Putting all this gear on is a whole other level of awkwardness,” said Wyres. “We don’t work in this every day, and we can’t practice throwing grenades on the flight line. Although we have past experience, it will come down to who has the least amount of penalties.”
The course began with teams memorizing a list of military-related items that they would have to recite at the finish line. Then teams start out on the three-mile course stopping at nine different stations ranging from close quarters battle to hand grenades, to the a 500 meter shot with open sights.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Thomas McKendry, SART-B member and event organizer, explained that the competition was designed to test a team’s ability to shoot, move and communicate.
“Teams will encounter a series of unique challenges at each station,” said McKendry. “They will use weapons they are familiar with, such as the M16 and M9 Beretta, and they will use some they are not so familiar with, such as the Winchester 1200 combat shotgun.”
Missed targets and time penalties added an extra 100 meters of running per penalty to an already rigorous course. No team completed the event without penalties and some added 2,000 meters to their course length.
The top team was the Arizona Army National Guard’s D Company, 1-158 Infantry, 2nd Lt. Nick Caporrimo and Sgt. 1st Class Zachary McCracken, with a winning time of 1:17:14.
“We just pushed through it. We did not stop running,” said McCracken. “There were some shots we missed and probably shouldn’t have, but we did not let that affect us at the next station. In the end, staying on target and endurance carried us though.”
The final results were:
First place:
Army 2nd Lt. Nicholas Caporrimo and Sgt. 1st Class Zachary McCracken, D/1-158th Infantry
Second place:
Marine Sgt. Jahziel Sanchez and Lance Cpl. Rogelin Delgadillo, 6th Engineer Support Battalion
Third place:
Army Capt. Caleb Grandy and Sgt. David Turner, 2/285th Assault Helicopter Battalion
| Date Taken: | 01.17.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 01.22.2015 16:50 |
| Story ID: | 152504 |
| Location: | FLORENCE, AZ, US |
| Web Views: | 904 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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