Photo By Senior Master Sgt. Matthew Hecht | U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Benjamin Patti and Staff Sgt. Christopher Gracia present...... read more read more
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Soldiers with New Jersey’s marksmanship team competed in this year’s Winston P. Wilson Pistol & Rifle Championship at the National Guard’s marksmanship school at the Robinson Maneuver Training Center, North Little Rock, Arkansas.
New Jersey’s four man team, made up of Sgt. 1st Class Benjamin Patti, Staff Sgt. Christopher Gracia, Staff Sgt. Joseph Wolf, and Staff Sgt. William McGrath took home first place for the Bianchi Battle Course. The Bianchi Battle Course combines tactical movement with precise marksmanship while shooting with the M9 pistol as well as the M16 rifle.
Gracia, from Echo Company, 250th Brigade Engineer Battalion, has competed in the WPW competition four times, and was thrilled to finally bring home an award.
“This year, to come home with first place, it was an honor,” said Gracia. “It’s an honor being part of the team.”
Patti, who has attended the Marksmanship Master Trainer Course at Fort Benning, Ga., and is also the program coordinator, explained that the marksmanship team is hoping to be a force multiplier by assisting in firearms instruction with New Jersey Army National Guard units.
“We’ll go over preliminary marksmanship instruction, drills, zeroing, and practice qualifications for units on a quarterly schedule, hopefully ending with actual qualifications,” said Patti.
Patti was enthusiastic about the support the marksmanship program has with New Jersey National Guard leadership.
“I get the opportunity to work with some awesome Soldiers, and we’re building this program up,” said Patti. “It gave me a great deal of pride to bring home this award, to show Brig. Gen. Jemal J. Beale and Col. William Morris that we’re going to continue improving the marksmanship program. It’s really going to take off.”
| Date Taken: | 05.22.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 05.22.2019 15:45 |
| Story ID: | 323541 |
| Location: | NJ, US |
| Web Views: | 93 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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