Photo By Maj. Valerie Palacios | Sgt. Maj. James Mauer, the noncommissioned officer in charge of the U.S. Army Reserve...... read more read more
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CAMP ATTERBURY, Ind. -- For some Soldiers, this was their first time competing in the U.S. Army Reserve Midwestern Small Arms Championship held at Camp Atterbury, Indiana, while others were repeat contenders at this five-day event. The 384th Military Police Battalion, a subordinate unit of the 200th Military Police Command, hosted the training and championship matches with the help of marksmanship experts from the U.S. Army Reserve Competitive Marksmanship Program beginning April 21.
Fifty Soldiers from about 20 U.S. Army Reserve units across the nation came together for this championship. The event consisted of classroom instruction, team hands-on training on a known distance range, and a competition to see who earns the coveted Excellence in Competition Badge. The main objective was to improve on individual marksmanship techniques and capabilities on both service rifle and pistol in a variety of firing positions.
Sgt. 1st Class Jacob Probst, an analyst with the 337th Military Intelligence Battalion and senior weapons instructor, said the training competition increases the level of marksmanship of Soldiers so that they will be prepared to go overseas or back to their units to train others.
“Going to a pop-up range and shooting 40 rounds is kinda like level one. This is probably like level two or level three. It’s more precise,” said Probst. “It’s competitive, so it’s not just a hit or a miss.”
He said that the difficulty is in precision because each Soldier is scored on how accurate their shooting is, as opposed to just hitting anywhere on the pop up or paper target. Probst offered tips such as looking at the front sight and not the target when aiming, being consistent with weapon placement and bringing the weapon up to one's head, not lower one's head down to the weapon.
The event was open to all Army Reserve Soldiers and the expert marksmanship trainers hope to get more participation in the coming years. Staff Sgt. Maria Santana with the 419th Movement Control Battalion is looking forward to the next competition where she hopes to send more people from her unit.
“I’m already lobbying for us to send like a whole squad next year. It’s really good knowledge for overall leadership and soldiering,” said Santana. “It’s probably one of the best experiences I’ve had (on duty travel) so far in my career. I’ve just learned so much, and it’s only two days in. So, I’m pretty excited to be here.”
The competing Soldiers all had positive things to say about their experience. This was Sgt. Steven Adams’ first time competing on this type of range.
“We were really pumped when we found out about this. And even just based off of today and last night, when we did a quick class, I’ve already learned a lot about what I’ve been doing wrong in the past eight years,” said Adams, with the 994th Engineer Company.
The championship wrapped up with 12 Soldiers earning the Excellence in Competition Badge, six for rifle and six for pistol. Some Soldiers who already earned the badge from a previous match gained points toward earning a distinguished rating with their respective weapon. Everyone walked away with improved marksmanship capabilities and new techniques to share with their home units.
For more information about the U.S. Army Reserve Competitive Marksmanship Program and upcoming events, visit: https://www.facebook.com/USARCMP/ and https://armyreservemarksman.info/
| Date Taken: | 04.25.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 04.28.2017 15:29 |
| Story ID: | 231963 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 99 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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