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USAMU soldiers win competitions

U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit Public Affairs Office

Shooters of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit of Fort Benning, Ga., have scored several recent major victories. The following results are some of their accomplishments:

NRA 2002 Indoor Rifle Championships - The NRA National Indoor Championships are fired in a series of "sectional matches" during the winter months in various locations throughout the country. Winners are determined by combining all sectional scores into a single national ranking that was released in July. Staff Sgt. Jason Parker won the 2002 Men's National Four-Position Smallbore Rifle Championship and Spc. Karyn Manges won the 2002 Women's National Four-Position Smallbore Rifle Championship. The USAMU Team of Parker, Manges, Spc. Trevor Gathman and retired Capt. Glenn Dubis won the National Four-Position Smallbore Rifle Team Championship. Maj. Michael Anti won the 2002 NRA National Open Conventional Three-Position Smallbore Rifle Championship and the NRA Open International Three-Position Smallbore Rifle Championship. The USAMU Team of Anti, Dubis, Parker and SFC Thomas Tamas won the National Open Conventional Three-Position Smallbore Rifle Team Championship and the team of Anti, Gathman, Dubis and Parker won the National Open International Three-Position Smallbore Rifle Team Championship.

Interservice Trap Championships, Fort Benning, Ga., July 25 to 28 - USAMU shotgun shooter Sgt. William Keever won the Men's Double Trap Interservice Championship and set a new interservice record. SFC James Graves took second place and SFC Brett E. Erickson was third. Staff Sgt. Joetta R. Dement was the winner in the Women's Double Trap Interservice Championship. Erickson won the Men's Interservice Trap Championship; Graves took second place. SFC Theresa E. DeWitt won the Women's Interservice Trap Championship and Dement was second.

NRA National Smallbore Rifle Prone Championships, Camp Perry, Ohio, July 22 to 26 - International rifle shooter Spc. Shane Barnhart took second place in the National Smallbore Prone Championship and the Prone Metallic Sight Championship. Barnhart also defeated 315 competitors to win the 50-Meter Metallic Sight Match and the 50-Yard Metallic Sight Match and finished second in the 100-Yard Metallic Sight Match. The USAMU Team, coached by Spc. Karyn E. Manges, and consisting of Barnhart, Gathman, Staff Sgt. Timothy Manges and Spc. Hattie Ponti won the Metallic Sight Team Match, and the USAMU Team, coached by Ponti, took second place in the Any Sight Team Match.


Spc. Shane M. Barnhart

U.S. Practical Shooting Association Factory Gun Nationals, Quincy, Ill., July 20 to 23 - Action shooter Staff Sgt. Julie Goloski won the Women's Shoot Off; she also took first place in the Military Division and placed second in the Women's Division.

NRA National Smallbore Rifle Three Position Championships, Camp Perry, Ohio, July 19 to 21 - Competing against 344 other Smallbore position shooters, Barnhart won the NRA 2002 National Smallbore Rifle Three Position Championship. Barnhart had second place finishes in the Any Sight Championship, the Metallic Sight Standing Match and the Any Sight Standing Match, as well as thirds in the Metallic Sight Championship and the Any Sight Prone Match. Gathman won the Metallic Sight Prone Match and took second in the Metallic Sight Championship and the Metallic Sight Kneeling Match. The USAMU Team of Barnhart, Gathman, Ponti, Tim Manges and Ponti, coached by K. Manges, won the Metallic Sight Team Match; the same team, coached by Spc. Grant E. Mecozzi, finished second in the Any Sight Team Match.

(Formed in 1956 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to raise the standards of marksmanship throughout the U.S. Army, the Army Marksmanship Unit has been a part of the U. S. Army Recruiting Command since October 1999. The Marksmanship Unit trains its soldiers to win competitions and enhances combat readiness through train-the-trainer clinics, research and development. The world-class soldier-athletes of the USAMU also promote the Army and assist recruiters in attracting young Americans to enlist in the Army. For more information on the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, contact the Public Affairs Office at (706) 545-5436, paula.pagan@usarec.army.mil or http://www.usarec.army.mil/hq/amu/.)