Army JROTC Rifle Safety and Marksmanship Training is BACK!

Post by **pilkguns** » Sat Jan 08, 2005 3:21 pm

"Today is definitely GOOD FRIDAY in that the TRADOC commander just gave us approval to resume our Safety and Marksmanship Training. Having said that the moratorium is still on for all schools until they have met 100% of the prerequisite requirements and have been inspected by the Chain of Command, CMP or NRA."

The good news is that we still have a marksmanship program. The bad news (for some) is that JROTC marksmanship will be with .177 caliber air rifles only -- no more Army JROTC smallbore. And as usual (for all) the devil is in the details.

HQ Cadet Command will publish a detailed MOI next week. Meanwhile, here is a summary of the prerequisites for resuming marksmanship training and my vision of how we will meet those prerequisites.

1. All cadets participating in JROTC marksmanship must complete LET Unit 7, lessons 1 and 2, and score 100% on a written examination (to be published).

2. All cadets participating in JROTC marksmanship must sign a "safety pledge".

3. Units must execute a prescribed Memorandum of Understanding with the host school. (Sample to be provided in a subsequent e-mail.)

4. Units must adopt a prescribed standardized range SOP. (To be provided in a subsequent e-mail.)

5. Units must adopt prescribed range operating procedures. (To be provided in a subsequent e-mail.)

6. Ranges must comply with prescribed range layout standards. (To be provided in a subsequent e-mail.)

7. Instructors must be familiar with all requirements, standards, and range procedures and score 100% on an on-line examination. Examinations will be taken on the JROTC Portal (like JSOCC DL) and a certificate of completion printed and maintained on file. (Details to be published.)

8. Instructors must have attended either a) the NRA/CMP/USA Shooting two-day Rifle Coach School, b) the CMP three-day Instructor Training Course, or c) the one-day CMP/JROTC Marksmanship Instructor Course.
a. The two-day NRA/CMP/USAS coach school is the course I offered as follow-on training for selected individuals ICW with our annual instructors' conference in Reno. (Attached is a roster of those instructors who attended courses I sponsored in 2002, 2003, and 2004. This roster serves as documentation for those individuals.) The course is jointly sponsored by the three organizations and taught by members of the NRA's National Coach Development Staff (NCDS) headed by Howard Moody. To schedule a class or find one already scheduled in your area contact Mr. Moody at NRA Headquarters hmoody@nrahq.org (703) 267-1401. JROTC Instructors who are current NCDS members [e.g. 1SG (Ret) Pete Carrion - 12th Bde] have obviously met this requirement.
b. The three-day CMP ITC is conducted annually at Camp Perry, OH for individuals who will be running CMP youth shooting camps. I am not aware of any instructors in Western Region who have attended this training.
c. The one-day CMP/JROTC marksmanship instructor course is currently under development. Selected individuals will be trained and designated as course "master trainers" who will then be empowered to conduct the prescribed training and award certificates of completion. The first master trainer course and scrub of the POI is tentatively scheduled for mid-February. Eventually the course will be added as a one-day follow-on to JSOCC .
d. Other courses and certifications (e.g. NRA Range Safety Officer Course, Range OIC/RSO certifications from Army installations) do not meet this requirement.

9. Units must be physically inspected by USACC chain of command or designated CMP, NRA, or USA Shooting representatives to validate compliance with all the above requirements and the inspection verified by the brigade HQ.

I will forward the various documents as they are finalized so that units can get started on meeting the prerequisites. Some of them (LET Unit 7 training, safety pledges, MOUs, SOPs) can be accomplished at the unit level and should be done immediately. Others (exams, inspections) require outside involvement and will take a bit longer. For those instructors who have not already met the training requirement (item 8 above) that will probably be the greatest challenge. I will disseminate any information I receive on training opportunities that will allow more of our instructors to become fully certified to conduct unit marksmanship.

The Army JROTC Postal Competition will be resumed at a date to be determined, allowing units who can meet the requirements above to fire the course and submit targets. There will not be sufficient time to conduct region championship shoulder-to-shoulder matches this year to select Army teams and individuals for the JROTC National Championship. Therefore we intend to conduct a second-round "witnessed" postal match for those teams and individuals finishing in the top 20%, as we did two years ago.

Units that have Army .22 caliber rifles will receive guidance on turn-in procedures. USACC Log Branch is working on a plan to turn the rifles directly over to CMP, for re-issue to schools interested in conducting smallbore marksmanship as a school activity not under the auspices of Army JROTC. Property accountability and strict compliance with procedures will be essential to insuring these valuable rifles get back into the right hands and don't end up as scrap in some DRMO bone yard.

If you have questions, please feel free to call me at the number listed below, or on my cell phone at (360) 923-5327.

Mr. Ashley W. Garman
Chief, High School Division
HQ Western Region, USACC
Fort Lewis, WA 98433-9500
(253) 967-3102

WRC · Post by **WRC** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 12:31 pm

I'm happy for the good news, but saddened that smallbore rifle will disappear. I certainly hope that those rifles turned back in will not only be offered to schools, but any left over will be offered to existing CMP clubs for junior programs.

mikeschroeder · Post by **mikeschroeder** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 10:45 am

HI

Flame away, but for some reason I have EXTREME trouble digesting the concept that Armed Forces Reserve Officer Training Corp members aren't supposed to have real guns. Isn't this what they will use with they go to foreign countries, meet new and interesting people and kill them?

O.K. the last sentence is from a VERY old ARMY T-shirt, but still.....

Mike

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 7:00 pm

mikeschroeder wrote:HI

Flame away, but for some reason I have EXTREME trouble digesting the concept that Armed Forces Reserve Officer Training Corp members aren't supposed to have real guns.

Marksmanship training for ROTC/JROTC units has been optional since 1983. As a result the great majority of schools dropped their programs. They should just be thankful they still have the option now.

SRichieR · Post by **SRichieR** » Fri Jan 21, 2005 9:17 pm

I really hate to see the .22 programs cancelled! However, there are youth programs out there, like ours, that would put the rifles to good use training kids in firearms safety and marksmanship. I hope these rifles will be made available through the CMP for youth programs. Never let them go to waste.