Training Courses Teach Rifle Counselors on Rifle Instruction

By Ashley Brugnone, CMP Writer/Editor

Camp Kanata in Wake Forest, NC, conducted a course to students on how best to train others to shoot.

The Camp Riflery programs have become some of the most popular activities during the summer months for young shooters. There, boys and girls are shown how to master gun handling and safety, marksmanship skills and Olympic Target shooting. Additionally, in order to give campers the best training possible, the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) also trains camp counselors themselves on how best to accurately teach others how to become proper marksmen and women.

Four students were certified as instructors during the course at Camp Kanata.

Instructor Training Courses (ITC) are two-day training sessions that show potential camp instructors the fundamentals of demonstrating gun safety and discipline.

During the sessions, participants are examined with hands-on training work, using BB guns, and also given a written final exam. Only those who pass are given instructor certification. At the conclusion of the course, instructors are certified to teach rifle target, BB gun, air rifle and smallbore shooting, since all are fundamentally the same.

A total of 26 camps conducted around the country in 2013 through the months of May and June prepared counselors to improve the skills of future shooters. Bill Dunn, one of CMP’s master instructors, recently reported on camps he directed in North Carolina. Positive remarks were recorded at each camp.

CMP’s Camp Kanata Riflery Training Program in Wake Forest, North Carolina, conducted by master instructor Bill Dunn, trained four students during the two-day session, May 29-30. The camp was designed for daily commuters, since it was held during the school year and participants could not get an excused absence to attend.

All of the students who attended were right eye dominant and fired with .22 rifles with aperture sights. Positioning utilized during the camp included prone, sitting and kneeling, with prone being the primary position. The price and scarcity of ammunition posed a problem, but there managed to be enough for the camp goers.

Camp Seafarer in Arapahoe, NC, trained four new instructors, including two females who were both left-eye dominant.

Camp Kanata sees a combined volume of over 2,100 campers a season, according to the camp counselors. The Riflery Training results in reaching 840 youth campers, who directly reflect the mission and ideals of CMP.

Dunn also taught a Camp Riflery Course at Camp Seafarer, in Arapahoe, North Carolina.  Two females, who were both left-eye dominant, and two males, both right-eye dominant, attended the training class at Seafarer. Camp was conducted on a covered rifle range with BB guns and .22 rifles.

Camp Kanata sees over 2,100 campers a season, according to the counselors.

Camp Seagull, also in Arapahoe, North Carolina, placed more emphasis on “land based” activities, with a definite improvement in their Camp Riflery Program from last year, including upgraded .22 rifles.   

The two camps attract over 3,700 campers per season combined, with over 100 youths certified as Pro Marksman from Camp Seagull. Several hours have also been added to the days during the Instructors Training course to ensure the maximum amount of preparation and coordination techniques in teaching others the attributes of riflery.

Camp Seafarer, along with Camp Seagull in the same location, attracts over 3,700 campers a season. Additionally, over 100 youth are certified as Pro Marksman at the Camp.

Bill Dunn has conducted Camp Kanata for the last three years and for the last eight years at Camp Seagull and Camp Seafarer. It is because of master instructors like Dunn and well-trained counselors from ITC courses that Camp Riflery continues to keep an outstanding safety record year after year.
 
For more information on the ITC program, or if interested in hosting an ITC, visit http://www.thecmp.org/Training/ITC.htm. Find more about Camp Riflery at http://www.thecmp.org/Training/CRProgram.htm.

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