Photo By Capt. Denise Douglas | Master Sgt. Garey Diefenderfer shooting his service rifle at the Civilian Marksmanship...... read more read more
CAMP JOSEPH T. ROBINSON, Ark. – Master Sgt. Garey Diefenderfer is a quiet man. His unassuming demeanor would suggest that he is content to live in the background and not draw attention to himself.
His good nature and humble exterior hides the fact that he is one of the best marksmen in the National Guard. In fact, the Pennsylvania native has been shooting on the All Guard rifle team for nearly 20 years and coaches many of the up and comers.
His mastery with the rifle has recently been recognized by the NRA for establishing a new national record.
Diefenderfer represented the Guard in the Sinclair International East Coast Fullbore Nationals in April 2014. The record-breaking match consisted of 10 shots being fired at the 300 yard line. With each shot being worth a maximum of 10 points, Diefenderfer scored a perfect score of 100, with eight of those shots being in the center X-ring. What makes his score even more impressive is that he was making those shots with no optics.
The match is designed to eliminate artificial advantages.
“The match rules require everyone fires a .308 caliber, 155 grain bullet,” he says. This puts every competitor on a level playing field. “You really have to rely on skill and your ability to read the wind.”
That skill is hard-earned. It isn’t easy to train for long-range matches in the military, because there isn’t a lot of individual access to long distance ranges. “You have to go to a match to get practice,” he explains.
Diefenderfer starts training in February to prepare for the national championships in late summer. While the Guard will support him to shoot some matches, he spends a lot of personal time and money practicing and going to matches.
“I spend a consuming amount of time shooting,” he says. “It is about food, sleep, and shooting.” Like many of the other All Guard shooters, he either dry fires or shoots air rifle every day to hone his fundamental skills. He explains that “it’s a very degenerating skillset.”
Diefenderfer doesn’t just shoot for the accolades, though. Shooting is a family tradition.
“My dad runs a junior [shooting] program and that’s how I got into it,” he says. “My son shoots in that program now.” His son, Grant, 10, shoots on the junior smallbore air rifle team. They travel to matches together.
Maybe that is why he spends a substantial amount of time helping others learn to shoot. In addition to assisting his dad with the junior program, Diefenderfer teaches small arms firing schools at national competitions and he helps his unit out with marksmanship training and qualification.
Diefenderfer is a C17 flightline crew chief with the 167th Air Wing, in Martinsburg, West Virginia.
Diefenderfer’s humble nature is never far from the target, though. He is quick to give credit to the others where it is due.
“I am lucky to have all the unseen people around that support us as shooters,” he said while discussing the All Guard team.
While speaking of Senior Master Sgt. Dan Norwood, the All Guard team’s armorer and mentor, he says the team would suffer without him.
“Dan works with us to multitask,” he says.
While Diefenderfer is primarily a rifle shooter, Norwood has been working with him to transition into pistol shooting as well. “[Norwood] is the glue that holds us all together,” he says.
All the hard work that Diefenderfer has been putting in is evident. In addition to spending his personal time and effort, he says shooting against the best people in the country makes him a better shooter.
“We work very hard to get good results, because the result shows us how much effort we put in,” he says.
With this national record under his belt, Diefenderfer is channeling those efforts on to bigger challenges. “I plan to represent the National Guard at the world championships,” he says.
The 2015 World Long Range Championship will be held at Camp Perry, Ohio, in August.
| Date Taken: | 06.24.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 06.24.2015 12:54 |
| Story ID: | 167943 |
| Location: | MARTINSBURG, WV, US |
| Hometown: | MARTINSBURG, WV, US |
| Hometown: | WAYNESBORO, PA, US |
| Web Views: | 1,036 |
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