Dozens of competitors from Alaska, Arkansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota and Wyoming came together for a time of learning, camaraderie and competition during the 2019 Marksmanship Advisory Council Region 6 (MAC 6) Marksmanship Championships hosted here July 26 to 28.
The MAC matches are battle-focused marksmanship sustainment exercises, designed to validate and sustain perishable marksmanship skills essential to mobilization readiness and success.
The North Dakota National Guard’s Alpha Team took home top honors as combined arms team aggregate champions as well as overall honors for team rifle and team pistol championships.
Additionally, North Dakota swept individual honors, with North Dakota Army National Guard Sgt. Tyler Goldade taking overall and individual rifle trophies, and North Dakota Air National Guard Senior Airman Gavin Rook taking first place in individual pistol.
Montana Army National Guard Spc. Dennis Garcia, an infantryman with 1st Battalion, 163rd Cavalry Regiment, said match events tested M16 rifle and M9 pistol skills under a wide range of circumstances at ranges from 15 to 500 meters.
“You really get to work on the fundamentals,” Garcia said. “You get to learn a lot from other competitors shooting with you. When you get more experience, you increase your lethality. Any time behind a weapon is a good time to increase your skill.”
Garcia said nonstandard events like offhand pistol shooting really stretched his capabilities and served notice on what he needs to work on at home station.
“The diversity of events is good because you’re running and you’re using different firing positions like kneeling, standing and prone,” he said. “That’s a good thing because you have to apply recoil-management techniques and find the best position for stability.
“You’re drawing your pistol, you’re reloading your pistol, you’re reloading your rifle, so building those mechanics and getting that muscle memory established is very valuable,” Garcia continued. “Here, the pressure is on, and you’re under the clock.”
Alaska Air National Guard Tech. Sgt. Shawn Carter, 212th Rescue Squadron Combat Arms Training and Maintenance instructor, said he relishes the opportunity to test his skills against other marksmen.
“I really enjoy competing,” he said. “No. 1 because it’s fun, and No. 2 because it raises my abilities as a shooter. There’s nothing like being timed and being challenged by other shooters and seeing what you’re made of.”
The most important aspect of the competition, Carter said, is to improve survivability and lethality on the battlefield.
“As it’s been explained to me, the theory behind these events is to make you a better warrior, make you effective on the battlefield in real-world combat situations,” he said.
Combined Arms Team Aggregate Champions:
North Dakota (Alpha)
Staff Sgt. Cody Dewandeler; Staff Sgt. Daniel Wieland; Sgt. Tyler Goldade; Senior Airman Gavin Rook
Combined Arms Individual Aggregate Champion:
Sgt. Tyler Goldade, North Dakota Army National Guard
Combined Arms Team Rifle Champions:
North Dakota (Alpha)
Staff Sgt. Cody Dewandeler; Staff Sgt. Daniel Wieland; Sgt. Tyler Goldade; Senior Airman Gavin Rook
Combined Arms Team Pistol Champions:
North Dakota (Alpha)
Staff Sgt. Cody Dewandeler; Staff Sgt. Daniel Wieland; Sgt. Tyler Goldade; Senior Airman Gavin Rook
Combat Rifle Individual Aggregate Champion:
Sgt. Tyler Goldade, North Dakota Army National Guard
Combat Pistol individual Aggregate Champion:
Senior Airman Gavin Rook, North Dakota Air National Guard
About Us:
Established in 1968, the National Guard Marksmanship Training Center (NGMTC) is the National Guard Bureau’s (NGB) center for managing marksmanship training courses and competitive marksmanship programs. It serves all 54 states and territories and is located on Robinson Maneuver Training Center in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The NGMTC is headquarters for the “All Guard” service rifle, service pistol, multi-gun, and international combat teams. The NGMTC is also home to the annual Winston P. Wilson National Championships, where guardsmen may earn the NGB Chief’s 50 Marksmanship Badge. For more information call 501-212-4531/4549, visit us at https://ngmtc.wordpress.com or www.facebook.com/NGMTC.