Military Shooters Named to U.S. World Cup Team

WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES

03.31.1997

Courtesy Story

Defense.gov         

Eighteen Army and Air Force sharpshooters have been named to the U.S. National World Cup shooting team.

The international World Cup meets, slated in April and May, gives the world's best shooters the chance to fire qualifying scores for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.

Team USA will enter the World Cup events with plenty of Olympic experience. Of the 18 service members selected by USA Shooting -- the national sanctioning body for U.S. competitive shooting -- six were on the 1996 U.S. Olympic team.

The past Olympians are Air Force Maj. Bill Roy of Holloman Air Force Base, N.M.; and Army Marksmanship Unit members Capt. Glenn Dubis, Staff Sgt. Bret Erickson and Sgts. Kenneth Johnson, David Alcoriza and James Graves, all of Fort Benning, Ga.

Shotgun team members will compete in Nicosia, Cypress, April 7-14, then travel to Lonato, Italy, for an international match April 15-20. Roy, Graves, Erickson and Alcoriza head the 10-member military shotgun roster. The other six are Air Force Capt. Dominic Graziola (Fort Hood, Texas), team captain of the Air Force international shooting team; Air Force 2nd Lt. Michael Herman, Buckley Air National Guard Base, Colo.; Army Staff Sgt. Shawn C. Dulohery, 1997 armed forces skeet champion; Army Sgts. Joetta Novinski, 1996 U.S. national trap and double trap champion, and Joseph Buffa, 1996 national skeet champion; and Pfc. Matthew T. DePuydt, a member of the 1996 junior Olympic and world championship teams.

Dubis and Johnson will shoot in international rifle competition. Joining them are Army Staff Sgt. Lance Hopper, 1996 national small-bore free rifle prone champion; and Spc. Troy Bassham, 1996 national four-position shooting champion.

Firing in international pistol competition are Army Capt. Rhonda Bright, 1996 interservice sport pistol champion; Army Staff Sgt. Daryl Szarenski, national free pistol champion for 1996; and Pfc. Travis Jorgenson, winner of the 1996 junior Olympic national air pistol champion.

USA Shooting also selected Spc. Armando Ayala, 1996 men's interservice running target champion.

Bright, Szarenski, Dubis, Jorgenson, Hopper and Ayala will compete at World Cup international pistol and rifle championships in Seoul, South Korea, May 7-14. Hopper, Ayala, Basham and Johnson will represent the United States May 22-25 at the World Cup matches in Munich, Germany, then travel to Milan, Italy, for an international competition May 27 to 31.

Story by Master Sgt. Stephen Barrett, USA, American Forces Press Service

• Date Taken: 03.31.1997
• Date Posted: 07.04.2025 00:41
• Story ID: 530270
• Location: WASHINGTON, US