The Governor’s 20 Tests Michigan Guardsmen Marksmanship and Mettle.

Photo By Spc. Veronica Cornejo | U.S. Army Soldiers and Airmen with the Michigan National Guard participate in the Governor’s Twenty marksmanship competition at Camp Grayling Maneuver Training Center, Michigan, September 19- 22, 2023. Guardsmen compete in several rifle and pistol shooting events over a three-day period, with the top 20 percent receiving a special Governor’s Twenty tab to wear on their combat uniforms. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by SPC Veronica Cornejo)  

GRAYLING, MI, UNITED STATES

10.19.2023

Story by Staff Sgt. Daniel Garas 

Michigan National Guard

CAMP GRAYLING, Mich. – Guardsmen across the state put their marksmanship skills to the test in the 2023 Michigan Adjutant General’s Match, September 18-22, 2023, at the Camp Grayling Joint Maneuver Training Center.
Colloquially called the "Governor’s Twenty," or the "Governor’s Cup," the annual event consists of nine individual rifle and pistol challenges designed to promote marksmanship and provide service members from the National Guard community an opportunity to test shooting skills and weapon systems in a battle focused environment.
Competitors that scored in the top 20% are awarded a tab embroidered with the phrase “Governor’s Twenty,” that they are authorized to wear for the remainder of their military career.
“The main goal of the competition is to help Soldiers master their marksmanship skills, and also learn something from more experienced competitors and staff,” said assistant match director U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Jacob Schrot. “The intent is that these marksmanship skills go back to the Soldier’s home unit where they can continue teaching marksmanship, thus allowing the entire force to become proficient in small arms marksmanship skills.”
Originating in 1968, The National Guard Bureau established the Governor's Twenty with the goal to train Soldiers for regional and national competitions against other states’ top marksmen. As years progressed, new challenges have been added to the match, to reflect the lessons learned in conflicts overseas, like including stressed-induced shooting events.
Events like these reflect the total Army marksmanship training strategy – a concept designed to incorporate skills required for success in combat. In other words, Soldiers and Airmen should understand common firing principles and become skilled marksmen.
“Since the 1980s, the Army has revolved their training strategy for individual Soldiers around shoot, move, and communicate,” said Capt. Marshall Halas, with 1st Battalion, 125th Infantry Regiment and Governor’s Twenty match director. “Forcing a Soldier to advance marksmanship skills beyond the concept of a flat/static range into a stress shoot ensures the Soldier understands the added difficulty of engaging enemy threats accurately and concisely while physically exhausted.”
Prime examples of this are events like the hoplite run. Competitor’s targets only remained exposed for five minutes. In that time, competitors had to fire ten rounds for score, but only after they completed an 800-meter run in full kit along a designate course. Many finish the run covered in sweat, drained of energy, and heavy breathing. Many take a few moments to calm their breathing before firing. Others will run out of time, and their target will disappear before they can get off all their rounds.
The lessons learned from recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have impacted not just the types of shooting events – but their names. Formally, the rifle and pistol courses are named the Sgt. Duane Dreasky Rifle Match and Sgt Craig Frank Pistol Match. Both are named after fallen Michigan Guardsmen from the Global War on Terror.

“The physical challenges add a degree of difficulty that many Soldiers do not experience during their Annual Weapons Qualification,” said assistant match director U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Jacob Schrot. “Incorporating stress fire events allow Soldiers to understand the additional skills necessary to place accurate fire on target while mentally and physically exhausted.”
In another event known as “the feats of strength,” shooters fired at targets between physical activities like sprinting, a weighted sled drags, carrying a set of kettlebells, and flipping a railroad tie over a guard rail.
2023 had more competitors than in the last five years, allowing staff to award 24 tabs. Bronze marksmanship badges were also awarded to the top 10% of finishers in rifle and pistol competitions. Schrot hoped to see the number of participants in the competition continue to grow.
Schrot added that the match was also a great way to introduce younger generations to competitive marksmanship. National level events like the annual Winston P. Wilson Rifle and Pistol Championship in Arkansas, usually hosts 300-500 competitors from across the country and have requirements where half of participating 4-person teams must be composed of shooters who have never participated before.
Members of the current Marksmanship Team not only staffed this year’s competition, but many also competed in the match. Although this led to an exhausting week for staff, the competitive environment helped prepare the team for national level matches.
This year's competition was also notable since two members of Michigan’s Marksmanship Team were awarded Distinguished Shooter Badges, obtaining them for both Rifle and Pistol and becoming double distinguished. The Distinguished Rifleman and Distinguished Pistol badges are worn on the Army Service uniform in place of one or two of the three allowed qualification badges and can only be awarded after earning enough points by participating in a national level match.
Just over 500 competitors have been recognized as double distinguished since the program began in 1884. The two members from the Michigan National Guard recognized as double distinguished are:

Staff Sergeant Kendall Miller-Mather.
Sergeant 1st Class Jacob Schrot
Congratulations to the entire 2023 Governor’s Twenty marksmen. These are the top 20 percent:

SFC Jacob Schrot
SSG Kendall Miller-Mather
SSG Matthew Kreiner
SGT Branden Brown
SGT Juan Manuel Cox-Gomez
CPT Marshall Halas
MSgt Andrew Hart
SPC Joshua Saha
MSgt Christopher Reed
SGT Cody Rambo
SSgt Zachary Norris
SGT Joshua Wiegand
MSG Kenneth Boyd
SGT Dustin Houghton
TSgt Michael O’neil
SGT Austin Falkenstine
SGT Thomas Sheill
SSG Carson Cooper
SFC Steven Ophoff
MSgt Aaron Palmerton
SFC Kevin Harty
SSgt Bob Devisser
SSgt Connor Ringling
MSG Johnathan Adrian

• Date Taken: 10.19.2023
• Date Posted: 10.23.2023 18:11
• Story ID: 456116
• Location: GRAYLING, MI, US