The National Trophy Pistol Matches are the nation’s national championship in service pistol shooting. Competitors in these matches must use U. S. military pistols, either the M1911 .45 cal. or M9 9mm or their civilian equivalents, while firing from one-handed standing positions at bulls-eye targets placed at 50 and 25 yards. These matches have a long tradition that dates back to 1891 when the Distinguished Pistol Shot Badge was established by the Department of War and even earlier to when military pistol competitions first began in this country. The National Trophy Pistol Matches were inaugurated by Congress and the Department of War, but are now governed by the CMP. These service pistol matches are an important part of the National Matches that are currently taking place at Camp Perry, Ohio.

There are three major individual trophies that are awarded in these matches each year, the President’s Pistol Trophy that is awarded to the winning competitor in the President’s Match, the Custer Trophy that is awarded to the overall winner in the National Trophy Individual Pistol Match and the Military Police Corps Trophy that is awarded to the competitor with the highest overall individual score in the National Trophy Pistol Team Match. In the last ten years, three shooters, SSG James Henderson of the U. S. Army, Steve Reiter, a civilian from Arizona, and GySgt Brian Zins, USMC, have dominated the winners lists for these key matches. 2007 was no exception, Reiter won the President’s Pistol Match, Henderson won the National Trophy Individual Match and Zins won the Military Police Corps Match.

Sunday, 15 July, was National Trophy Pistol day at Camp Perry, Ohio. The day started bright and early with the first event, the President’s Match. The 40-shot President’s Pistol Match began in 1981 and has become especially important because the winner not only places his name on the President’s Pistol Trophy that is permanently displayed at Camp Perry, but he also receives a congratulatory letter from the President of the United States. The top 100 competitors in this match are designated as members of the prestigious President’s 100. The winner is also rewarded with a presentation M1 Garand rifle that was prepared by the National Match Armory in Rendon, Texas. The President’s Pistol Match consists of 20 shots slow-fire at 50 yards, 10 shots timed-fire at 25 yards, and 10 shots rapid-fire at 25 yards.

Taking first place for this match was 65-year-old Steve Reiter, a former USAR shooter who now lives in Tucson, AZ. Reiter’s score of 386-15X just edged the great Marine champion Brian Zins, who fired a 386-11X. Henderson was third at 380-13X. They were the only three shooters in this difficult match to score 380 or higher. The 100th place shooter fired a score of 349-5 to establish the cut-off score for the President’s 100.

The Junior President’s Pistol match, where competitors use .22 cal. pistols, was fired concurrently with the President’s Pistol Match, where open competitors fired service pistols. The winner in the Junior President’s Pistol match was 15-year-old Joseph Totts from Mogadore, OH, who scored 369-14X. Coming in second was 16-year-old Heather Deppe of Colorado Springs, CO, who fired 365-15X. Deppe won this match two years ago, but she did not compete in the National Trophy Matches in 2006 because she represented the USA Shooting Team in the World Junior Championships in Zagreb, Croatia. Deppe is a resident of Texas, but is temporarily located in Colorado Springs where she is training at the Olympic Training Center.

The National Trophy Individual Pistol Match and the Junior NTI Match followed the President’s Pistol Match. The NTI is an Excellence-in-Competition match in which the top 10 percent of all Non-Distinguished competitors, military and civilian, earn EIC points that count towards earning the Distinguished Pistol Shot Badge. In this match, competitors fire the “National Match Course,” which is 10 shots slow-fire at 50 yards, 10 shots timed-fire at 25 yards and 10 shots rapid-fire at 25 yards. Taking first place was SSG James Henderson with an aggregate score of 293-10X. Henderson, who fired with the USAR team, joined the Active Army after the 2006 National Matches and now is a member of the U. S. Army Marksmanship Unit Service Pistol Team at Fort Benning, Georgia. Henderson won the Custer Trophy and a presentation M1 rifle that also was gunsmithed by Eric Pierce of National Match Armory. Following Henderson in second was Zins with a score of 291-7X and SSG Adam Sokolowski of Fort Benning, GA, with 290-10X. Sokolowski won this match in 2006.

The order of finish was reversed in the Junior NTI Match. This time Heather Deppe took first place with a score of 276-5X, just two points off of her own National Matches record, while Totts was second with 273-3X.

The Gold Cup Trophy, which is awarded to the winner of the National Trophy Team Match, is one of the most famous team championship trophies in American marksmanship. The 2007 Gold Cup Trophy went to US Army Blue with an aggregate score of 1126-33X. Their team captain was SFC Jason St. John and the team coach was SSG Lyman Grover. Team members were SSG James Henderson, SGT Robert Park II, SSG Adam Sokolowski and SGT Michael Gasser. Gasser was the Army Blue Team’s “new shooter.” Each National Trophy Team is required to have one team member who has never fired in this match before who is designated as their new shooter.

Coming in second was the 2006 Gold Cup winner, the USMC Scarlet team, with a score of 1112-28X. Captain of team was CWO3 James Fraley; their team coach was GySgt Jerry Zingg. Firing members were GySgt Brian Zins, Sgt Adam Pepper, Sgt Matthew Walsh and GySgt Jerry Zingg. Third place went to the Arizona State Rifle & Pistol Association team with a score of 1098-26X. The Arizona team captain was Mario Stajner and team coach was William Weldon. Members of the team were Steve Reiter, Donald Kling, John Zurek and Jon Milan. For their overall third place effort the Arizona team won another prestigious trophy, the Oglethorpe Trophy, that is presented to the top civilian state or club team in the National Trophy Team Match. This trophy match was closely contested between teams from Arizona, Ohio, Virginia and New Jersey.

The top individual scores in this match were fired by Zins, who had a 294-12X to win the Military Police Corps Trophy, and Henderson, who was second with a 293-13X total. In the three overall individual matches, Zins, Henderson and Reiter exchanged places to finish 1-2-3 in the President’s Pistol Match and 1-2-4 in the other two events.

The National Civilian Pistol Team is comprised of the four highest-scoring individual civilian competitors and the captain and coach of the winning Oglethorpe Trophy team. All team members receive Elihu Root gold medals. 2007 members of this prestigious team were Steve Reiter, who shot a 287-7X; Cecil Rhodes of Clayton, NC, with a score of 286-10X; Matthew Buckman of Lovettsville, VA, who scored 285-11X, and Kevin Kelly of Euclid, OH, who shot 284-5X.

Two-person teams using .22 cal. smallbore pistols fire the National Trophy Junior Team Match. Heather Deppe and Rebecca Jennings, who fired as the Texas State Junior Blue Team, won this trophy with a 566-14X total over the Ohio Rifle & Pistol Associations Juniors who totaled 536-12X. The number of junior competitors in the 2007 National Trophy Pistol Matches was more than double that of any previous year. A total of 44 juniors participated in the Pistol Small Arms Firing School or the Pistol National Trophy Matches or both.

Following the matches, the CMP hosted a reception for all competitors prior to the National Trophy Pistol Awards ceremony, which took place at the Camp Perry Post Theater. 23 pistol trophies in the CMP’s National Trophy collection were presented by guest presenters that included Major General A. J. Feucht, the Ohio Assistant Adjutant General, Air. Included among the trophies was one new trophy. The Rose Krelstein Trophy, which was donated by Double Distinguished pistol and rifle shooter Ron Krelstein from Memphis, Tennessee, was presented for the first time during this ceremony. The “Rose Trophy” is awarded to the high woman in an aggregate of scores in the President’s and National Trophy Individual Pistol Matches. Marine Captain Janine Mills, who placed 10th overall in the President’s Pistol Match with 373-3X, totaled 645-6X in this new aggregate to become the first to place her name on this trophy won.

In closing the Award Ceremony, CMP Director Gary Anderson thanked the Ohio National Guard and NRA for their support in conducting the matches. He also noted the increased numbers of competitors in the 2007 CMP pistol matches and the significantly increased junior participation. Anderson said, “the 2007 National Trophy Pistol Matches set records for the numbers of Pistol Small Arms Firing School students and junior pistol shooters. Overall pistol participation was up 11 percent.”

Complete results from the 2007 National Trophy Pistol Matches can be found on the CMP web site at http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/report_matchResult.cgi?matchID=2112.