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FORT BENNING, Ga. - A Soldier of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit beat 72 of the military's best shooters to win the coveted Interservice Pistol Champion title June 12.

Out of 73 military shooters competing in the 49th annual Interservice Pistol Championship Matches, Staff Sgt. James M. Henderson won the overall Interservice Pistol Championship June 12. Staff Sgt.
Robert S. Park II of the Army Marksmanship Unit was second overall and USAMU's Staff Sgt. Adam E. Sokolowski, who was forced to shoot the entire match with his left hand due to a right wrist injury, took third place.

The USAMU Service Pistol Gray Team won the overall Interservice Pistol Team Championship; shooters were Sokolowski, Staff Sgt. Lyman P.
Grover, Staff Sgt. Jason R. Sargent and Sgt. Sean P. Watson. The USAMU Blue Team of Henderson, Park, Sgt. 1st Class Eric G. Daniels and Sgt.
Michael S. Gasser took second place in the Interservice Team Championship. The U.S. Marine Corps Scarlet Team finished in third place; shooters were Chief Warrant Officer 4 James Fraley, Staff Sgt.
Jordan Kramp, Sgt. Curtis Powelson and Cpl. Ben Footer.

The Interservice Championship is an aggregate of the .22-Caliber, Center Fire, .45-Caliber and Service Pistol Championships, which were fired June 9 to 12.

Park finished second only to Henderson in the Service Pistol Championship June 12 while Sgt. Timothy M. Barber of the USAMU took third place. The USAMU Service Pistol Blue Team of Henderson, Park, Barber and Gasser won the Service Pistol Team Championship. The USAMU Gray Team took second place and the U.S. Marine Corps Team was third.

Henderson won the 2700 Interservice Championship June 11 with a
total score of 2,669 points out of a possible 2,700 points. Park took
second place with a score of 2,653 points and Daniels finished third with 2,644.
The 2700 Aggregate Championships is an aggregate of the .22-Caliber, Center Fire and .45-Caliber championships, which were shot June 9 to 11.


Henderson won the .45-Caliber Championship June 11; Park was second and Staff Sgt. William Walker of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve was third. The USAMU Gray Team of Sokolowski, Grover, Sargent and Watson won the .45-Caliber Team Championship. The U.S. Marine Corps Scarlet Team was second and the U.S. Navy Reserve Team got third.

Powelson won the Excellence in Competition Match June 11 followed by Marine Sgt. Thomas Kozic in second place and Army National Guard Sgt. Christopher Price in third.

Henderson won the Center Fire Pistol Interservice Championship June 10 by eight points over Sokolowski and by 12 points over Park who finished third. The USAMU Blue Team of Henderson, Park, Daniels and Gasser won the Center Fire Team Championship. The USAMU Gray Team took second place and the U.S. Navy Reserve Team finished third.

Daniels won the .22-Caliber Individual Interservice Championship June 9. Park and Henderson were tied just one point behind Daniels. The USAMU Blue Team of Daniels, Park, Henderson and Gasser won the .22-Caliber Team Interservice Championship. The USAMU Gray Team was second and the South Carolina Team got third.

Henderson won the National Rifle Association Warm-up Aggregate by winning the Center Fire, .45-Caliber and Service Pistol matches and taking second place in the .22-Caliber match June 7 and 8. Park, who was second overall, won the .22-Caliber match, took second place in the Service Pistol match and finished third in the Center Fire competition.
Daniels was third in the overall aggregate and finished third in the Service Pistol match.

Sokolowski took second place in the Center Fire competition, Grover and Sgt. 1st Class Gregory S. Wilson were second and third in the .45-Caliber match and Gasser placed third in the .22-Caliber competition. The NRA Warm-Up matches were open to military and civilian competitors.

There are 73 military personnel and 13 teams competing in the Interservice Pistol Championships this year. The USAMU and the U.S.
Army Reserve have two teams each and the U.S. Marine Corps and Marine Corps Reserve have five teams; other teams competing are the U.S. Navy, U.S. Navy Reserve, U.S. Air Force and the South Carolina Army National Guard.
The USAMU is hosting the 49th annual Interservice Pistol Championship Matches, which started June 6 at Phillips Range and concludes June 13, at Phillips and Parks ranges. Awards will be presented to winners and
second- and third-place finishers in all individual and team matches.

For more information, contact the USAMU chief of competitions at
(706) 545-6252 or Michael.Behnke@usaac.army.mil.
Media are invited to cover the matches and ceremonies but should coordinate with the Public Affairs Office before coming to post. Call
(706) 545-5436 or e-mail paula.randall@usaac.army.mil for more information.

The schedule of events is as follows:

June 13
* 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. - Combat Pistol Individual Match
* 1 to 2:30 p.m. - Combat Pistol Team Match
* 6 p.m. - Awards Banquet, Columbus Trade and Convention Center
(Iron Works)

For Interservice Pistol results see the Civilian Marksmanship Program website at http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/report_m ... tchID=3486.

(Formed in 1956 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to raise the standards of marksmanship throughout the U.S. Army, the Army Marksmanship Unit is assigned to the Accessions Support Brigade of the U.S. Army Accessions Command. The Marksmanship Unit trains its Soldiers to win competitions and enhances combat readiness through train-the-trainer clinics, research and development. 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. The Civilian Marksmanship Program is a federally-chartered, non-profit corporation dedicated to firearm safety and marksmanship training and to the promotion of marksmanship competition for citizens of the United States. For more information on the CMP and its programs, contact Christine Elder, (419) 635-2141, ext. 1111 or celder@odcmp.com.)

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Is there any one who still believes that a shooter does not think while shooting? His left hand is not trained the same way his right is. Only the mind is the same. Think through the shot plan and then execute the plan .and you will shoot well grasshopper. Dam, I'm proud of these guys! Great shooting Team Bill Horton

Glad to hear Adam Sokolowski is finally getting the hang of this game!

<insert appropriate TIC emoticon here>

My awards from interservice are among my most prized possessions- the level of intensity of competition doesn't get much tougher than that.

I think the third formal competition I ever shot was the Interservice match . . . at the time, I didn't even know I was "trying out" for a service team!

Grampas Catfish House north of Camp Robinson . . . etc etc.

Back in the 1960s when you legged out Bill where were the interservice matches held? They must be among the longest running continuous BE matches in North America- right up there with 100 years of Camp Perry, correct?

Memory fails me at the moment. I seem to remember that the first interservice match was in 1960. I believe it was about the third match held at Lackland AFB in San Antonio that stands out as most memorable for me. I was shooting on the Fourth Army team with Major K.P. Dunn , James McNally and, Henry Weinbrecht in the team matches. Henry's 22 went full auto on the first shot of the 50 yard slow fire and we lost 40 points in a hurry. We kept focused and won two of the remaining team matches against All Army the Air Force team with Frank Green ,TD Smith,and Arny Vitarbo and The Marines With Col Bill Mc Millan. And the Navy team .What a glorious day of shooting. Blankenship won the individual as he was awfully hard to beat in a 2700 during that time. Henry, Now deceased was the modern pentathlon olympic coach until the team was disbanded. Thanks for the memories Steve.

For those who might find it of interest, there is some history listed on the AF Team site on the Highlights in History for the USAF Competitive Shooting Teams page, to include articles by Charles Petty and Arnold Vitarbo. Of note, in the Charles Petty article, he mentions that Franklin Green had to swap hands due to an injury, and shot comparable scores. Not actually mentioned was that Green had to shoot those scores to hold on to his spot on the AF Blue Team.

Also, on that page is a media file of a newsreel done about the 1961 InterService Matches at Lackland AFB. The narrator does mis-name Capt Franklin Green as Capt Frederick Green, but the video is pretty interesting and is highlighted by the AF win of the .45 Team Match. A direct link to the newsreel is here. Or, you can find it in the chronological listing for 1961.

Bill - any remote possibility the camera caught you out of that 600+ field of competitors?(smile)

(Darn! 600+ competitors, and now, 73 are all that show...)

Take Care,
Ed Hall
Air Force Shooting Homepage
Bullseye (and International) Competition Things

Reference Ed's comment about the camera, I dont remember seeing anything but a front sight the whole day. We flat got serious after the 22 adventure. By the way, Travis Strahan was our gunsmith and he was very good back then and has only improved over the years. Those matches were the most fun one could emagine. Gen Curtice Le May was credited with starting them whether he was really responsible or not. Good Shooting Bill Horton

2650 Plus wrote:Memory fails me at the moment. I seem to remember that the first interservice match was in 1960. I believe it was about the third match held at Lackland AFB in San Antonio that stands out as most memorable for me. I was shooting on the Fourth Army team with Major K.P. Dunn , James McNally and, Henry Weinbrecht in the team matches. Henry's 22 went full auto on the first shot of the 50 yard slow fire and we lost 40 points in a hurry. We kept focused and won two of the remaining team matches against All Army the Air Force team with Frank Green ,TD Smith,and Arny Vitarbo and The Marines With Col Bill Mc Millan. And the Navy team .What a glorious day of shooting. Blankenship won the individual as he was awfully hard to beat in a 2700 during that time. Henry, Now deceased was the modern pentathlon olympic coach until the team was disbanded. Thanks for the memories Steve.

Dear 2650 Plus, I am writing because I am looking for Henry Weinbrecht. His parents came from our village in Germany, and I know his relatives are interested in his family. Is his wife still alive? What about his children? We found his picture on "Military Marksmanship Association". It would be good to hear from you. My e-mail is hedu0208@aol.com
Greetings from "good old Germany", Elisabeth (from Woessingen/Baden)