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Thank you for this excellent e-newsletter. The links and information are great.
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I greatly enjoy the USAMU shooting tips in the newsletter and also being able to find them on-line.
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EXCELLENT BRIEF UNDERSTANDABLE ARTICLE ON SITTING RAPID POSITION, BEING CLOSE TO 60 THIS IS MY WORST POSITION AND ANY HELP I CAN GET IS GREATLY APPRECIATED!
GOOD ARTICLE; MARTY
SFC Singley:
It has been a while, but I sent CMP a request for a TFS article on possible means by which us "centrally endowed" (read that as 'fat') shooters might work ourselves into a useable sitting position. Spring is coming and I will be trying to get ready for matches. Your article has been copied and I will read it and work on trying the options you have provided. Thanks very much for your individual military service to our Nation and for your personal efforts to help other shooters improve our skills.
Melvin C.
Really enjoyed the M1 for Vets article. Its really good to read something that was done for wounded vets. The match must have been a real wingding. Too cold for me. There is alot of history 1903 Springfield and the M1 . I had to sleep with my o3 for baning the butt on the deck in boot camp. Anyway thanks again for the story.
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I enjoy the TFS. In fact, occasionally I like to print some of the articles to be able to review them in the future.
James L. M.
Whenever we come back in from the field it’s always a good day when “The First Shot” is in. I drill the guys in the fundamentals – many of which I learned and fine tuned at CMP matches – and it comes back in spades out here when it really counts!
Dean H.
LTC - US Army
Security Advisor
Kabul/Afghanistan
Finally caught up with the October '06 story: A Rifle For Shifty. It was simply one of the best things I've read. As someone who had two uncles in combat in WWII, one air corps and one infantry, I will forever believe those men were heroes of the first echelon. Anything any of us can do for any of them is simply the least we can do.
Steve R.
Birmingham, Alabama
The article about Bill Krilling was very good, a great shooter, coach and a gentlemen to boot!
Ruth S.
Thanksfor the great stories and tips. Even old dogs can learn new tricks. This is great for keeping the CMP active.
Tim H., AZ


Printable Version

Navy JROTC Cadets Learn Marksmanship At Camp Perry

By Wendy Sedlacek, CMP Journalism Intern


All cadets attended Power Point lectures given by CMP Director Gary Anderson. These short presentations were used to present the basic information the cadets were then expected to apply during their firing sessions on the range.

June 11-15 was a big week at Camp Perry for more than 150 Navy JROTC cadets from high schools in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and West Virginia. The cadets were selected to attend for a NJROTC Basic Leadership Training Course at Camp Perry, Ohio. Their intensive training program during the week included drill and ceremonies, a leadership challenge course, rubber raft training, physical fitness testing, orienteering and air rifle marksmanship. The marksmanship program was provided by the CMP using a temporary 40-point air rifle range set up on Camp Perry’s Petrarca Range.

CMP Volunteers from left to right: William Corgnell, Ray Harvey, Ray Vaughn, Grant Lewis, Clint Lovell, Keith Custard, Rob Sherer, and Dan Hoey. These volunteers did a fantastic job and all of their hard work is very much appreciated. Not pictured: Michelle Woods

All cadets participated in daily two-hour marksmanship sessions that were conducted by a team of CMP Master Instructors who were led by CMP Director Gary Anderson. The CMP volunteers came to Camp Perry from as far away as Florida and Rhode Island. They all have had extensive training as CMP Master Instructors as well as many other types of experience as rifle competitors, coaches, instructors and range officers. The volunteer instructors for the NJROTC Basic Leadership Course were William Corgnell, Florida; Keith Custard, Pennsylvania; Dan Hoey, Maryland; Ray Harvey, Tennessee; Grant Lewis, Virginia; Clint Lovell, Rhode Island; Rob Sherer, Ohio; Ray Vaughn, Maryland and Michelle Woods, Ohio. The NJROTC BLT Commander was Capt. Tom Lennon, Senior Naval Science Instructor at Franklin Heights High School in Columbus, Ohio.

CMP Master Instructor Rob Sherer discusses proper sight picture with a Navy JROTC cadet during the NJROTC Area 3 Basic Leadership Course that took place at Camp Perry, Ohio on 11-15 June.

Everyday the cadets woke up at the break of dawn and began their days with physical training shortly after 5:00 A.M. The cadets were divided into eight platoons. Every two hours during each of the four training days, two platoons arrived at the air rifle range for marksmanship training. On the first day the cadets received a safety presentation and then were required to take, and pass, a detailed safety examination. Once the examination was passed they were permitted to move on to the exciting part, shooting rifles.

In addition to safety and range procedures, the first day’s instruction covered basic techniques for firing the shot, sight alignment, breath control, trigger control and sight picture. Initial firing was done in the supported position, with firing first on blank targets and then on bull’s-eye targets. By the second day the cadets moved on to the standing position. Everyone was eager to learn, which meant it was not only exciting for the CMP instructors, but also for the cadets because they mastered the material so quickly.

NJROTC Cadet Savanna Shinault, concentrates on firing a shot in the supported rifle position. Shinault hit five bulls-eyes in a row.

After short instructional sessions, the cadets followed a range firing sequence that began with dry and live firing on blank targets followed by dry and live firing on bull’s-eye targets. Initial firing was on the BMC target, although by the third day, all cadets were shooting small enough groups to warrant advancing to the AR-10 target for their supported position firing. One platoon of cadets were rifle team members in their home schools; they received instruction in the standing and kneeling positions and did their range firing on the AR-10 competition target. All cadets were very responsive to the instructional program and worked hard on applying what they were taught even during dry fire sessions. And anytime there was a question about anything, it only took a couple of seconds and a CMP instructor was at their side to assist.

By the third day, each group of cadets fired in one-shot “Schützenfest” competitions in the standing position to determine the day’s “Top Gun” for their group. Cadets who fired tens stayed in the competition until just one was left. The shoot-offs were extremely intense and close for every group and it was difficult to determine winners.

At the end of each shooting round, cadets were encouraged to examine their targets to see where their bullets ended up. Here CMP coach Ray Vaughn is discussing the shot group of one of his cadets.

On the fourth and final day of marksmanship training, all cadets participated in a 20-shot competition where they aimed at their final targets to test the skills they learned earlier in the week. Most cadets fired 10 shots on the AR-10 target from the supported position and 10-shots on the BMC target from the standing position. Advanced cadets fired 10-shots kneeling and 10-shots standing on AR-10 targets. Individual winners in each group received awards at the Basic Leadership Course graduation. Every cadet who completed the four-day CMP marksmanship training course and competition received a Certificate of Achievement. Platoon marksmanship rankings based on the average competition scores for all cadets in each platoon were factored into the selection of an honor platoon for the course.

CMP Director Gary Anderson said, “It is amazing how much marksmanship training can be accomplished in just eight hours, but this was an outstanding group of young people. The CMP is always happy to work with JROTC cadets because they are organized, disciplined and motivated. It makes achieving our objectives of teaching gun safety and basic marksmanship skills easy. We had a great week working with these NJROTC cadets.”

 

 

CMP Master Instructor William Corgnell stands near a young cadet to coach him in applying proper shot technique.

 

After cadets finished shooting their targets CMP coaches met with them to give positive feedback. Pictured here is Capt. Ray Harvey (r.) with a group of attentive cadets.



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