Photo By Capt. Memory Burch | All Guard International Combat Team Member, Army Sgt. Justus Densmore, Texas Army...... read more read more
ARMY TRAINING CENTRE PIRBRIGHT, WOKING, England - The All Guard International Combat Team competed in the British Army Reserve Operational Shooting Competition winning the historic Fortuna Trophy, June 13-29, 2016 in the United Kingdom, which was the first international competition attended since 2006.
In addition, the All Guard Team competed against more than 200 international marksmen resulting in the team members winning the Overall Individual Aggregate Championship, Overall Individual Rifle Aggregate Championship, and the Overall Individual Pistol Aggregate Championship, as well as all team members placing within the top 30 as individual shooters.
Army Sgt. Justus Densmore, Texas Army National Guard, was the Best International Individual Champion and High Shooter on the Fortuna Trophy winning team, and Staff Sgt. Joseph Noe, Arkansas Army National Guard, was the Pistol Close Quarter Match Assessment Champion, which was a contributing event for the Fortuna.
The best combat shooters in the National Guard accomplished their main goal, winning the Fortuna Trophy, for the first time in 15 years.
“I'm very honored to be one of the few, National Guard Soldiers, to ever get the chance to compete for the Fortuna Trophy,” said Sgt. Densmore.
The Fortuna is a competition between the United States National Guard and the British Army Reserve. It consists of four matches: the Defense Assessment, the Advance to Contact, the Pistol Close Quarter Battle, and the Urban Contact Assessment- Rifle.
“Very few soldiers ever get the chance to train in combat style shooting events like these,” continued Sgt. Densmore. “I have used the knowledge gained form these matches to train three engineer companies, preparing for deployments around the world.”
Each service is allowed to have one team of eight members and the team who has the highest aggregate scores determines the winner.
“As an individual, it was a great honor winning the Fortuna Trophy,” said Sgt. Densmore, “but it took our whole team to pull it off. We all came together to build each other up and help each other shoot the best possible scores we could.”
The team members who pulled this off as representatives on the All Guard Team included (descending in rank order):
Maj. David Stapp, OIC, Arkansas Army National Guard
Master Sgt. Greg Neiderhiser, NCOIC, Pennsylvania Army National Guard
1st Lt. Garrett Miller, team member, Pennsylvania Army National Guard
1st Sgt. Jonathan Chapman, team member, Louisiana Army National Guard
1st Sgt. Tommy McGee, team member, Louisiana Army National Guard
Sgt. 1st Class Paul Deugan, team member, Iowa Army National Guard
Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Noe, team member, Arkansas Army National Guard
Sgt. Justus Densmore, team member, Texas Army National Guard
Sgt. Evan Messer, team member, North Dakota Army National Guard
Sgt. Jeremy Steffel, team member, Virginia Army National Guard
Sgt. Brandon Swanson, team member, Wisconsin Army National Guard
Sgt. Steven Fletcher, team member, Virginia Army National Guard
All Guard Team Members placed in several other events:
Sgt. Densmore, Rural Contact, 1st Place
Sgt. Densmore, Urban Contact, 1st Place
Sgt. Swanson, Fleeting Encounter, 3rd Place International
Sgt. Densmore, Attack and Reorganize, 3rd Place (International)
“As cliché as it sounds, the fundamentals are key,” said Sgt. Densmore. “Steady position, proper trigger squeeze, sight picture and breath control, have to be focused on and fine-tuned before you ever begin shooting for time or speed. Once the fundamentals have been refined, I can then focus on the actual courses of fire for the event.”
“The next major step in preparing for next year's Fortuna meeting is to attend the Canadian Armed Forces Small Arms Concentration in Ottawa, Ontario this September,” said Maj. Stapp. “The courses of fire and match conditions are very similar to those in England and will be a great training opportunity to gain more valuable experience with these combat style matches.
| Date Taken: | 06.27.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 07.25.2016 11:50 |
| Story ID: | 204932 |
| Location: | WOKING, ENG, GB |
| Web Views: | 247 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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