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SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii — Soldiers from Alaska, Washington and Hawaii competed in a grueling series of physical challenges from Dec. 1-2 culminating in a pistol and rifle marksmanship competition at Schofield Barracks.
The I Corps “2-Gun Sharpshooter Competition,” open to any job specialty in the military, was hosted by the 25th Infantry Division. Ten teams, with five Soldiers per team, competed in six stages with U.S. Army issued weapons for top sharpshooter honors.
Teams from the 25th Inf. Div., Schofield Barracks, Hawaii; the 7th Infantry Division, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington; the 593rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command, JBLM; U.S. Army Alaska; the 17th Field Artillery Brigade, JBLM; the 42nd Military Police Brigade, JBLM; and the 555th Engineer Brigade, JBLM competed for top spot in the “2-Gun Sharpshooter Competition.”
“I’m excited for my first competition,” said Sgt. Joseph Brooks, 1st Battalion, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team. “I was assigned as the master marksman for my battalion, and it’s a great opportunity having the chance to come out to this competition. I’m going to not just improve myself, but I’m going to learn a lot that I can take back to my unit and train them as well.”
The competition, the second in a series of three competitions, not only emphasized readiness across the Corps, but served as qualification for the teams that will compete at the U.S. Army Marksmanship competition at Fort Benning, Georgia, next year.
“It’s not who can sit behind a shooting platform and hit target, its ‘can you move casualties under fire, can you hit targets on the move, can you do this under stress?’” said 1st Lt. Albert Pattillo, actions officer, 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Inf. Div. “It’s that level of readiness that we are really looking for in these Soldiers in this competition.”
Day one of the America's First Corps 2-Gun Sharpshooter Competition started bright and early and consisted of an unknown distance run for competitors with six ‘mystery’ events along the route. The event was a physically demanding three-mile loop in mountainous terrain, where competitors engaged in numerous physical tasks they had to complete together as a team.
The mystery events consisted of “Kim’s game” a memory game, marksmanship questions, weapons box, target detection and reporting what objects they remember from “Kim’s game.” At each station additional weight was added to the already heavy loads carried by competitors. The second half of day one consisted of pistol and rifle ranges, an unknown distance shoot and night fire.
Day two began with the “shoot-no shoot” event. Competitors had six seconds to identify targets and engage enemy targets, avoiding friendly elements.
For the final event, the “combat stress shoot,” competitors navigated through a course consisting of several tasks involving physical endurance and M4/M9 specific qualification scenarios.
The competition also served as a train-the-trainer event for the participants, said 1st Sgt. Nicholas Klein, who led Soldiers from the 17th Field Artillery Brigade and the 555th Engineer Brigade.
“It’s about overcoming obstacles – as long as you’re learning you can go back to your units and teach the newer Soldiers these types of things that they haven’t experienced,” said Klein.
A team from U.S. Army Alaska took the top spot in the competition. 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Inf. Div., took second place. Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 7th Infantry Division, took third place.
In the individual categories, Sgt. 1st Class Tyler Virgin from U.S. Army Alaska earned first place. Staff Sgt. Arthur Brown, 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Inf. Div., earned second place. Staff Sgt. Vincent Evans from the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Inf. Div., earned third place.
“Soldiers across America’s first Corps put a lot of energy into this and nobody gave up. They know it’s an important event. It was a great opportunity for the Soldiers of America’s First Corps to compete in the beauty of Oahu, and for our Soldiers to showcase our readiness to train, fight and win tonight,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Brian Hester, 25th Inf. Div. “Soldiers worked very hard physically and also have to work on their mental resiliency and the focus that it takes to put the rounds on target.”
| Date Taken: | 12.03.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 12.06.2018 14:43 |
| Story ID: | 302289 |
| Location: | SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, HI, US |
| Web Views: | 89 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Top Pacific shooters compete at Schofield Barracks, by SSG Sarah Sangster, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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