Photo By Sgt. Gauret Stearns | Staff Sgt. Max Maguire, standing, and Sgt. Brett Rowley, prone, brief competitors on...... read more read more
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Fifteen teams of four Nebraska Army National Guard Soldiers traveled to Greenlief Training Site near Hastings, Nebraska, Aug. 4-7, to compete for top honors at the 2022 Adjutant General’s Marksmanship Sustainment Exercise.
This exercise, also known as the TAG Shoot, has been on hold for two years due to a cancellation in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as 2021 due to the lack of funding. Prior to this hiatus, the TAG Shoot has been a tradition spanning over two decades. During this event, Soldiers spend three days on the range and compete in various relays that involve tactical movement and firing M17 pistols and M4/M16 service rifles.
The events are spread among three different firing ranges: the pistol range, the known distance (KD) range of up to 500 meters, and the 25-meter zero range. The different relay matches provide Soldiers with an opportunity to test and hone their marksmanship skills outside of their annual weapons qualification while participating in friendly competition against others.
“We always want to give Soldiers that opportunity to earn points towards distinction, towards their marksmanship badges,” said Staff Sgt. Maxwell Maguire, one of the event organizers.
In addition to their awards, the top winners will have the opportunity to compete at the regional and national levels for marksmanship competitions in the future.
“It’s an intro to competitive, combat-style shoots. We have the State Marksmanship Team, and the TAG Shoot is kind of that feeder to see who we have that has some talent that we can develop,” 1st Sgt. Adam Borer explained. “We take the top 25 shooters and invite them to the team tryouts, and then that determines our team for the following year.”
Although this competition serves as an opportunity for experienced shooters to show their skills, it isn’t just for the experts. The teams are made up of Soldiers who have varying levels of experience, ranging from novice to pro. All levels of shooters were put to the test at every event.
“I have never run and then tried to shoot for accuracy at 400 meters. It was a lot of fun just trying new things,” said Pfc. Ryan Peters, a novice competitor.
Many Soldiers, like Peters, took advantage of the opportunity to have extra shooting time and embrace the friendly competition.
“I’m here because I heard it was a lot of fun,” Peters said. “I mean, who doesn’t love to get paid and go shoot with free ammo? If you like shooting, come here, get some extra trigger time, and get better at it.”
When the three-day-long competition concluded, some Soldiers’ performances stood out from the rest.
For the individual awards, The State Sergeants Major Combined Arms Individual Championship Match was awarded to Sgt. Brandon Kahnk and the Gary Anderson Excellence-in-Competition trophy was awarded to Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jason Meyer.
The Combined Arms Team Championship overall first place winners were “The Three Best Friends That Anyone Could Have” of Company A, 2-134th Infantry Battalion (Airborne) with Capt. Dalton Boden, Staff Sgt. Freeman Sandquist, Spc. Peter Kavan, and Spc. Madison Gack.
| Date Taken: | 08.07.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 08.11.2022 12:39 |
| Story ID: | 427049 |
| Location: | HASTINGS, NE, US |
| Hometown: | OMAHA, NE, US |
| Web Views: | 132 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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