USAMU Soldiers bag ‘three of a kind’ in Rockies

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Julius Clayton | Raton, N.M. - Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Horner, a Suffolk, Virginia native and a Soldier with the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, fires his shotgun while making his way through a stage during the 2017 Rocky Mountain 3-Gun Championship Aug. 10-13. Horner won the silver in the tactical scope division and was a member of the four-man team that won the team championship for the third year in a row. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Julius Clayton/released)  

RATON, NM, UNITED STATES

08.18.2017

Story by Sgt. 1st Class Julius Clayton 

U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit

By Sgt. 1st Class Julius Clayton

RATON, N.M. – High in the mountains of New Mexico, in a historic little town on the Colorado border where the Santa Fe Trail and the Santa Fe Railroad meet, Soldiers from to the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit made a little history of their own, claiming the team match portion top prize of the 2017 Rocky Mountain 3-Gun Championship Aug. 10-13 for the third year running.
The team consisted of Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Horner of Suffolk, Virginia; Sgt. 1st Class Kyle McMaster of York, Pennsylvania; Staff Sgt. Joel Turner of Belton, South Carolina; and Staff Sgt. Tyler Payne of a Princeton, Maine; all of the USAMU’s action shooting team.
Horner said because of the Army, they won not only the team title, but also two individual titles. Turner and Payne received individual gold medals for their shooting divisions, Open and Heavy Metal Scope, respectively. Horner and McMaster won silver medals in their respective divisions---Tactical Scope and Tactical Iron Sights.
“No matter what the Army asks you to do, they provide the training, equipment, and time,” Horner said.
“This was my first year, out of five, competing in the Open Division,” said Turner. “It is really awesome to win in that division and show the world what the marksmen at the USAMU are able to do with all the equipment, training, and coaching provided by the Army.”
The Rocky Mountain 3-Gun World Championship is set in the natural terrain of mountains, riverbeds and rock formations in northern New Mexico. The area provides plenty of wide-open space to fire rifles and pistols at long-range targets and to fire shotguns at moving aerial targets.
Horner said the type of shooting required in this match ties directly into training Soldiers.
“The rifle, which is all speed, up close and accuracy at the long ranges, closely replicates what Soldiers are currently seeing in downrange,” he said.
Turner said everything he learns on a course of fire like the Rocky Mountain 3-Gun Championship, can be applied to operational situations.
“Our sport specifically—action shooting—relates to combat because (Soldiers) shoot on the move, shoot around barricades and shoot from many alternate positions,” he said.
The competition consisted of five different shooting divisions and nine different target stages, contested over three days with each competitor shooting three stages a day.
McMaster, action shooting team chief, said, “Our goals are to always win each match we compete in. With what the Army provides us, we should not expect anything less from ourselves.”
He noted that the team was excited to win the team match and those two individual division titles and that they learned many valuable lessons that they can carry forward to their next competition.
“I believe that by competing in a match like the Rocky Mountain 3-Gun, with its high elevation and natural terrain, it allows us to gain knowledge about how our weapons systems work in these conditions,” said McMaster. “Which in turn can be applied to the whole Army, specifically for Soldiers who are deployed and in similar environments.”




The U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit wins national and international shooting competitions, supports Army marketing engagements, and advances small arms lethality to demonstrate Army marksmanship capability, connect America to its Army and enhance marksmanship effectiveness in combat. USAMU is part of the U.S. Army Marketing Engagement Brigade and Army Marketing and Research Group.

• Date Taken: 08.18.2017
• Date Posted: 08.21.2017 10:58
• Story ID: 245453
• Location: RATON, NM, US
• Hometown: BELTON, SC, US
• Hometown: NORFOLK, VA, US
• Hometown: PRINCETON, MN, US
• Hometown: SUFFOLK, VA, US
• Hometown: YORK, PA, US