CMP Program Manager Dana Bacak-Lynd scans a batch of targets. Over 21,000 targets were received, scanned and scored by the CMP.

CAMP PERRY, OHIO - Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force JROTC rifle teams kicked off an exciting 2008-2009 competition year as their rifle teams took to the range for this year's JROTC postal competitions.

For six years now, the Civilian Marksmanship Program has overseen the scoring of Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force JROTC 3x10 three-position air rifle postal competitions. These annual postals determine which JROTC unit teams and individual cadets advance to compete in their respective service’s JROTC shoulder-to-shoulder Championship.

From those Championships, the best unit teams and individuals representing each service advance to the JROTC National Championship. Last year, for the first time, the Air Force joined in the fall postals with 14 units submitting targets. A record 6,856 cadets and 1,246 JROTC unit teams participated in this year’s postals. That represents an increase of 15 percent over last year’s totals.

Postal targets were fired in October, November and early December, with a target mailing deadline of 5 December. In all, 21,814 targets were scored between the 1st and 18th of December when all scores were posted on the CMP web site. Almost all targets were, in fact, scored with scores posted by the 9th of December.

To handle such a large number of targets, the CMP used its state-of-the-art electronic scoring system called Orion. This system uses Visual Imaging Scoring (VIS) technology to score the 10-bull paper targets that were scanned at 300dpi so that the Orion software could score them. This system was first used to score the 2006 Postals.

The Orion software also allows competitors to not only see their scores on the CMP website, but also to see precise details about each shot, including its x/y coordinates, radial distance from the target center and tenth-ring score. Orion technology makes it possible to download printouts showing facsimiles of each shooter’s shot groups for the three positions. A major advantage of Orion is that all targets are scored according to the same standard to eliminate many scoring variations inherent in human scoring.

New to the CMP results system this year was an on-line team registration program that allowed JROTC units to enter their full teams in advance so that the postal targets could be pre-printed with the names and CMP competitor numbers for every firer. This resulted in another huge reduction in the time required to process this year’s postal targets. Prior to 2006, teams of 20-25 scorers took up to three weeks to score targets. Last year a staff of three to four people scored all targets in two and one-half weeks. This year, Orion and on-line registration in advance made it possible to complete all scoring in just over one week.

Scores for the 2008 Air Force, Army, Marine Corps and Navy Postal Competitions can be found on the CMP web page at http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/matchResultSearch.cgi?designation=AIR.

The top individual precision score in the 2008 JROTC postal was a 296-22X total fired by Lynnise Johnson of Patch High School Army JROTC in Germany. The top sporter score was a 284-12X fired by Yvonne Swiontek of Zion Benton HS NJROTC in Illinois. The overall top team scores were an 1166-73X precision total fired by Patch HS AJROTC in Germany and a 1095-36X sporter team score fired by West Ashley HS NJROTC in South Carolina. To see all of these scores including the top scores in each of the three service individual and team competitions, visit http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/matchResultSearch.cgi?designation=AIR.

Score data and shot group print-outs like the ones shown here for the top sporter and precision class shooters may be downloaded from the CMP website. To obtain a score data sheet, open an individual results list for one of the services and then click on the “Aggregate” total that is shown in red for the shooter whose scores you wish to see. A PDF file with the shot data and a facsimile of each position’s shot group will download.

The postal competitions will be followed by a JROTC Service Air Rifle Championship. All Service Championships will be held at Camp Perry, Ohio. The Army JROTC Service Championship will be on 12-14 February 2009. The Marine Corps JROTC Service Championship will be on 18-21 February 2009. The Navy JROTC Service Championship will be on 26-28 February 2009. The Air Force JROTC Championship will be on 19-21 February 2009.

Those championships will not only select the top teams in each JROTC command, but they will also identify the teams that will represent each service in the National JROTC Air Rifle Championship at Fort Benning, Georgia on 25-28 March 2009.

The initial list of qualifiers for the 2009 JROTC Service Championships is posted at http://www.odcmp.com/3P/jrotcinvites.htm.