World Military Shooting Championships -- USA wins 2 medals

[Guest]

orld Military Shooting Championships -- Team USA wins 2 medals in 1st day at CISM in Sweden

By Paula J. Randall
U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, Accessions Support Brigade

BODEN, Sweden - Soldiers of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, of Fort Benning, Ga., won two medals on the first day of competition at the Conseil International du Sport Militaire - called CISM - at the Rodberget Shooting Centre.

The first CISM Gold Medal was awarded to USA's Women's Rifle Team. In the Women's 50-Meter Sport Rifle Prone Team Match, the Gold Medal went to Sgt. Kelly A. Dove and Spc. Nicole M. Cooper of the Army Marksmanship Unit and Army Reservist Lt. Col. Rhonda L. Bright, formerly of the USAMU. Bright scored 596 points, Dove shot 593 points and Cooper got a 587; a perfect score is 600; top scores are 590 to 595. In this match, the women fired 60 shots in 1½ hours at a target with a bull's eye smaller than a dime. Germany took the Silver Medal and Norway the Bronze.

Three-time Olympian and former CISM Champion Sgt. 1st Class Jason A. Parker took the Silver Medal in the Men's 300-Meter Three Position Standard Rifle Slow Fire Individual Match Sept. 16. This match consisted of 20 shots in each position (standing, kneeling and prone) over 2 hours and 15 minutes at a target whose bull's eye is 10 centimeters wide shot from more than three football fields away. A perfect score is 600 points; top scores are in the mid-580s.

In the Men's 300-Meter Three Position Standard Rifle Team Match, Austria set a new military world record and won the Gold Medal. The Silver Medal went to Norway and Switzerland got the Bronze.

The Men's 25-Meter .32-Caliber Center Fire Pistol (Precision Course) and Women's 25-Meter .22-Caliber Center Fire Pistol (Precision Course) Team matches were also fired Sept. 16.

The rest of the competition schedule is as follows:

Sept. 17: Men's 300-Meter Standard Rifle Three Position Individual Match; Women's 50-Meter Sport Rifle Prone Individual Match; Men's 25-Meter .32-Caliber Center Fire Pistol (Rapid Fire Course) Team Match; and Women's 25-Meter .22-Caliber Center Fire Pistol (Rapid Fire Course) Team Match.

Sept. 18: Men's 25-Meter .32-Caliber Center Fire Pistol Individual Match; Women's 25-Meter .22-Caliber Center Fire Pistol Individual Match; Men's 300-Meter Military Rapid Fire Rifle Training; Women's 50-Meter Sport Rifle Three Position Training; Men's 25-Meter Military Rapid Fire .32-Caliber Pistol Training; and Women's 25-Meter Military Rapid Fire .22-Caliber Pistol Training.

Sept. 19: Men's 300-Meter Military Rapid Fire Rifle Team Match; Women's 50-Meter Sport Rifle Three Position Team Match; Women's 25-Meter Military Rapid Fire .22-Caliber Pistol Team Match; and Men's 25-Meter Military Rapid Fire .32-Caliber Pistol Team Match.

Sept. 20: Women's 50-Meter Sport Rifle Three Position Individual Match; Men's 300-Meter Military Rapid Fire Rifle Individual Match; Women's 25-Meter Military Rapid Fire .22-Caliber Pistol Individual Match; Men's 25-Meter Military Rapid Fire .32-Caliber Pistol Individual Match; and Closing Ceremony.

The team will leave Sweden Sept. 21 and return to Fort Benning Sept. 22.

Fourteen servicemembers of the U.S. Military Shooting Team left Sept. 12 for Sweden where they are competing in CISM. Team USA is competing against 550 shooters from 45 countries from around the world.

Ten shooters from the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit as well as two Army Reservists, one Navy Reservist and one Marine, are representing the United States at the 43rd World Military Shooting Championships.

The U.S. Team shooters are: Men's Rifle Team -Parker, 1996 Olympian Sgt. 1st Class Eric A. Uptagrafft, and Staff Sgts. Armando R. Ayala and Shane M. Barnhart, all of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit; Women's Rifle Team - Dove, Cooper, and Bright; Men's Pistol Team - Sgt. 1st Class Thomas A. Rose and Staff Sgts. Robert S. Park II and John C. Ennis and Sgt. Michael S. Gasser of the Army Marksmanship Unit; and Women's Pistol Team - Marine Corps Capt. Janine Mills, four-time Olympian Army Reservist Staff Sgt. Elizabeth A. Callahan and Navy Reserve Petty Officer 1st Class Sandra Uptagrafft.

Traveling with the U.S. Shooting Team from the Army Marksmanship Unit are: Michael J. Behnke, team captain; two-time Olympian Sgt. 1st Class Thomas A. Tamas, rifle coach; 1988 Olympian Ray Arredondo and Glenn Sulser, pistol coaches; Richard N. Hawkins, jury member; and USAMU Commander Lt. Col. Frank Muggeo, chief of mission; three-time Olympian retired Lt. Col. Lones W. Wigger Jr., a shooter in the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame, is also accompanied the team as a jury member.

(The USAMU's mission is to raise the standard of marksmanship proficiency and combat readiness throughout the Army by sharing knowledge gained from competing and winning in national/ international competitions, research and development and advanced training programs while enhancing the Army's recruiting effort through an active public information and public relations program. For more information on the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, contact the Public Affairs Office at (706) 545-5436, Paula.Randall@usaac.army.mil or www.USAMU.com.)

-30-


UNCLASSIFIED////