Photo By Cpl. Justin Humphreys | The cadre who participated during the Mississippi State Marksmanship Proficiency...... read more read more
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CAMP MCCAIN, Miss. – Twenty Mississippi Army and Air Guardsmen came here to increase their marksmanship skills during a training event that ran Sep. 22 - 25.
Each came on behalf of their units to attend the Mississippi State Marksmanship Proficiency Training Program, which consisted of familiarization and exercises with an M9 pistol, an M16 rifle, and an M500 shotgun.
“This event is training disguised as competition because when you give people an incentive, they usually perform better,” said Staff Sgt. John Carlisle, a marksmanship team instructor.
The event came to a final contest coined the “Governor’s Challenge” in which each trainee had to run a 500 yard dash and shoot targets with pistol, rifle, and shotgun.
“The Governor’s Challenge is a contest we designed for the marksmanship program,” said Carlisle. “We gave it the name because, back then Haley Barbour was the governor, and we thought it would pique his interest.”
Awards are given out to those who placed in the top three of each event along with total points in rifle marksmanship, in pistol marksmanship, and in overall points. Also, every person who goes through the event is given a certificate of completion.
The goal of the course is to teach people how to use light weapons so they can teach others back at their home units.
“It’s a force multiplier,” said Capt. Warren Robbins. “We’re teaching soldiers so they can go back to their unit and train everyone else.”
Master Sgt. Darren Bridgers, a Mississippi Air National Guard marksmanship team member, added, “If we can train 20 Soldiers, and each of them teach ten more people, then two hundred people will have been taught marksmanship.”
The entire team is constantly looking for their program to grow by adding new members through means of local competition.
“What will happen if all of us retire one day and no one takes our places?” Asked Master Sgt. Bridgers. “We need fresh faces to pass on the program from generation to generation.”
Hoping to employ new Soldiers and Airmen in the Mississippi National Guard, the team will travel across states to try their hand at competitions, including the All-Guard competition held at Camp Robinson, Arkansas, and the All-Army competition at Fort Benning, Georgia.
“It’s not just about the competitions; we enjoy teaching people about advanced marksmanship and passing on our knowledge to the next generation,” Bridgers said.
The 20 Soldiers and Airmen who make up the marksmanship team are passionate about training people in marksmanship because weapons are crucial in deployments and, with only one weekend a year devoted to weapons qualification, are under-utilized in most home units.
“A weapon is a soldier’s most important asset when deployed, so how do you expect to be proficient with a weapon when you’re only using it once a year?” Carlisle asked.
“The goal of marksmanship is about becoming better (with a weapon) and hitting your target before they hit you.”
| Date Taken: | 09.25.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 09.28.2016 17:03 |
| Story ID: | 210547 |
| Location: | CAMP MCCAIN, MS, US |
| Web Views: | 84 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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