Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Julius Clayton | Raton, New Mexico--The U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit’s (USAMU)Action Shooting Team...... read more read more
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RELEASE No. 20180820-01 August 20, 2018
Rocky Mountain High for USAMU Soldiers
By Sgt. 1 st Class Julius Clayton
RATON, N.M. – High in the mountains of New Mexico, in a historic little town on the Colorado border where the Santa Fe Trail and the Santa Fe Railroad meet, Soldiers from to the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU) claimed wins in three of five classifications at the 2018 Rocky Mountain 3-Gun Championship Aug. 9-12.
Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Horner of Suffolk, Virginia claimed the Tactical Ops
Limited Scope title; Staff Sgt. Tyler Payne of Princeton, Minnesota brought home the Heavy Metal Scope (He-man) championship; Pvt. Nate Staskiewicz from Omaha, Nebraska, in his first Rocky Mountain 3-Gun as a member of the USAMU, won the Limited Iron Sights 1 st Place medal; and Sgt. 1 st Class Joel Turner of Belton, South Carolina placed a strong second place finish in Open Class.
Horner, Payne, and Staskiewicz received individual gold medals for their
shooting divisions, Tactical Ops Limited Scope, Heavy Metal (He-man) Scope and Limited Irons, respectively. Turner won a silver medal in the Open division after taking home the gold last year.
“I competed here two years ago before I joined the Army and the USAMU and the increase in my performance since I joined are remarkable and I am just very honored and grateful to be a Soldier,” Staskiewicz said. “It is really awesome to win my classification and show the world what the marksmen at the USAMU are able to do with all the equipment and coaching provided by the Army.”
The Rocky Mountain 3-Gun World Championship is set in the natural
terrain of mountains, riverbeds and rock formations in northern New Mexico. The area provides plenty of wide-open space to fire rifles and pistols at long-range targets and to fire shotguns at moving aerial targets.
Horner said the type of shooting required in this match ties directly into
training Soldiers. “The rifle, which is all speed, up close and accuracy at the long ranges, closely replicates what Soldiers are currently seeing downrange,” he said.
Payne said everything he learns on a course of fire like the Rocky Mountain 3-Gun Championship can be applied to operational situations.
“Our sport especially—action shooting—resembles the combat environment
because (Soldiers) shoot on the move, shoot around barricades and shoot from many alternate positions,” he said.
The competition consisted of five different shooting divisions and nine
different target stages, contested over three days with each competitor shooting three stages a day.
Horner, competing in his last Rocky Mountain 3-Gun as a USAMU member, said, “Our goal is to always win each match we compete in. With what the Army provides us, we should not expect anything less from ourselves.”
He noted that the team was excited to win the team match and those
individual classification titles and that they learned many valuable lessons that they can carry forward to their next competition. “I am of the belief that by competing in a match like the Rocky Mountain 3-Gun, with its high elevation, rocky terrain and desert-like atmosphere it allows us to gain knowledge about how our weapons systems work in these conditions, which can be applied to the whole Army, specifically for Soldiers who are deployed and in similar terrain and environments.”
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The U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit wins national and international shooting
competitions, supports Army marketing engagements, and advances small arms lethality to demonstrate Army marksmanship capability, connect America to its Army and enhance marksmanship effectiveness in combat. USAMU is part of the U.S. Army Marketing Engagement Brigade and Army Marketing and Research Group.
| Date Taken: | 08.21.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 08.21.2018 17:44 |
| Story ID: | 289732 |
| Location: | RATON, GEORGIA, US |
| Hometown: | BELTON, SOUTH CAROLINA, US |
| Hometown: | COLUMBUS, GEORGIA, US |
| Hometown: | FORT MOORE, GEORGIA, US |
| Hometown: | OMAHA, NEBRASKA, US |
| Hometown: | PRINCETON, MINNESOTA, US |
| Hometown: | SUFFOLK, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 69 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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