Photo By Sgt. Yamil Casarreal | U.S. Marine Corps Col. Randall Hoffman, Commanding Officer of MCRD Parris Island...... read more read more
Subscribe
As the sun rose over Viale Range, Members of the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island’s shooting team competed in the Hearst Doubles Team Match at the 2018 Civilian Marksmanship Program National Matches July 31 at Camp Perry, Ohio.
The National Matches mark the culmination of the shooting season for service members and civilian competitors from all over the world, said U.S. Marine Corps Col. Randall Hoffman, commanding officer of Weapons and Field Training Battalion at Parris Island. Hoffman said the Marine Corps was represented by MCRD Parris Island and MCRD San Diego teams, The Marine Corps Rifle team out of Quantico, Va., and various Marine Corps Reserve teams.
The day’s matches consisted of firing at the 200, 300 and 600 yard line, with competitors shooting both the match M16 service rifle and the M1 Garand.
At 200 yards, competitors fired ten rounds in the standing position and then progressed to firing in the prone at the 300 and 600 yards for a total of 300 possible points.
Teams of two Marines coach each other through the prone portion of the match, in what they call ‘pair fire,’ directing their team mates’ line of fire or correcting deficiencies within the 20-minute timespan they are allotted to shoot.
“Everything we learn shooting-wise is based off the fundamentals of this competition,” said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Saul Cardenas, the shooting team’s officer-in-charge.
Marines are selected for the National Matches through a process of three competitions, said Gunnery Sgt. Donald McClester, staff noncommissioned officer-in-charge of the Marine Corps Rifle Team. First they must compete in an intramural competition and then move on to division matches before qualifying at the Marine Corps Championship.
During the shooting season, the team practices shooting every day in addition to their daily work day on Parris Island. Many of the Marines on Parris Island’s team are Combat Marksmanship Coaches or Primary Marksmanship Instructors, and once they are done with the season at the end of the summer, they will return and share what they’ve learned with recruits and their drill instructors.
“The changing weather conditions today were a new factor we overcame,” said Sgt. Thomas Colyard, noncommissioned officer-in-charge of MCRD Parris Island’s shooting team. “The team held to their averages and put up some good scores. Col. Hoffman came up in time to shoot on one of our M1 Garand teams. In all, it was a good day.”
The team will continue to compete in various individual and team matches throughout the week.
| Date Taken: | 07.31.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 07.31.2018 18:13 |
| Story ID: | 286614 |
| Location: | PORT CLINTON, OHIO, US |
| Web Views: | 418 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Parris Island Shooting Team Takes on Hearst Doubles Match at National Championship, by SSgt Dana Beesley, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
