Photo By Lt. Col. Michelle Lunato | Staff Sgt. Jarrod McGaffic, a marksmanship instructor/competitive shooter for the U.S....... read more read more
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Each year, the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit Service Rifle Team competes at the annual Civilian Marksmanship Program’s National Matches in Camp Perry, Ohio, and this year stayed consistent with the tradition—several match wins were collected.
However, before the trophies could add up, the USAMU Service Rifle Team kicked off the National Rifle Matches by leading the annual CMP Rifle Small Arms Firing School. This two-day class that was attended by nearly 300 people from across the United Sates teaches marksmen of all levels everything from the basic fundamentals to the complexity of reading wind.
To run classroom instruction and range operations for this many people, the USMAU Service Rifle Team leads were supported by CMP staff and servicemembers from the Army National Guard, Army Reserve, Marine Corps, Navy, Coast Guard and Air Force. It’s truly a joint effort to accomplish, according to CMP staff.
Once the SAFS was complete, all the marksmen put on their game faces for nearly two weeks of competition. Each of the USAMU Service Rifle Team Soldiers are all marksmanship instructors/competitive shooters who are stationed out of Fort Benning, Georgia.
In the CMP Games portion the National Matches, Staff Sgt. Verne Conant from Billerica, Massachusetts had a strong performance in the Service Rifle Category of the CMP 2400 Aggregate series by placing second overall with at 2377-125x, beating out 330 other service rifle competitors and even passing up the top match rifle score of 2375-110x.
Sgt. 1st Class Erin O’Neill, a Fort Wayne, Indiana native, claimed the High Woman title with her 2370-102x, which made her seventh overall.
USAMU Greenwood seized the CMP Four-Man Team Match over 40 other teams when they laid down a solid score of 1971-77x. This team included Conant, O’Neill, Staff Sgt. Jarrod McGaffic and Staff Sgt. Jacob Blackburn as team members. Sgt. Forrest Greenwood served as the coach while O’Neill the team captain.
Conant led the team in the Four-Man Team Individual Category with his score of 495-24x, making him third overall out of 188 competitors in total.
In the prestigious President’s 100 Match, Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Crody, a Cotopaxi, Colorado native, earned third place, beating out 844 other competitors with a score of 387-15x. Though Crody was seeking first place of course, he was happy to earn his personal best President’s 100 placement in his final season with the Home of Champions. And the fact that the first place win was earned by USAMU alumna, Staff Sgt. Amanda Elsenboss who now shoots for the Army National Guard, made for even more camaraderie. (Elsenboss became the first woman to ever win the President’s 100 in the history of the match!)
The next match on the schedule was the National Trophy Individual Match, where 789 competitors vied for the Daniel Boone Trophy. Six of the top ten spots were filled by USAMU Soldiers, but it was McGaffic who claimed the win with an impressive 500-24x. This wasn’t just a big win for the West Milton, Ohio native, but it set a new national record, beating out the 2017 record of 499-30x by USAMU teammate Sgt. 1st Class Brandon Green from Bogalusa, Louisiana.
In the same match, O’Neill set the women’s record with her score of 497-22x, earning her the Women’s Rifle Trophy and beating out 785 other competitors with her fourth place finish behind teammate, Staff Sgt. Ben Cleland’s 497-27x. Cleland’s third-place finish earned him the 25th Infantry Division Trophy as the top scoring Infantryman.
Cleland and Green then teamed up and seized the win in the Hearst Doubles Match with a combined score of 589-22x, beating out 260 other teams from across the United States. Cleland’s personal score of 297-11x earned this Swanton, Ohio native the Hearst Doubles Individual Champion title.
The coveted Dogs of War Trophy goes to the winning team of the National Trophy Team Match. This historical six-man rifle team match has been in existence at the National Matches since 1903. And the team of USAMU Greenwood claimed it’s second consecutive win with their combined score of 2960-128x, beating out 24 other teams. (At last year’s National Matches, USAMU Greenwood set the current national record of 2971-155x.)
This year’s win by USAMU Greenwood made it the 39th time the Home of Champions has won the Dogs of War Trophy since they were established in 1956, 66 years ago. Team members were: Cleland, Green, McGaffic, O’Neill, Staff Sgt. David Bahten, and Sgt. Shane Butler. Greenwood and Sgt. 1st Class Alexander Deal were the coach and captain, respectively.
Cleland’s personal score of 498-32x in the National Trophy Team Match was the highest overall and earned him the Pershing Trophy, as well as the Rattlesnake Trophy for being the highest rifle score by a Soldier.
Cleland’s strong performance in these three matches earned him two more trophies: the U.S. Forces Command Trophy and the Mountain Man Trophy. The U.S. Forces Command Trophy is given to the active Army competitor with the highest aggregate score in the National Trophy Individual Match and the National Trophy Team Match. Cleland’s aggregate was 995-59x. The Mountain Man Trophy is given to the competitor with the highest overall aggregate in the President’s 100 Match, the National Trophy Individual Match and the National Trophy Team Match. Cleland earned his first Mountain Man Trophy with an aggregate of 1288-71x, beating out 897 other marksmen.
And wrapping up the National Matches in style, USAMU Greenwood claimed a second consecutive win in the Infantry Trophy Team Match with their score of 1344, beating out 19 other teams. Team members were Butler, Bahten, Cleland, Conant, Crody and Green. Greenwood and Deal served as the coach and captain respectively. This historic match has been part of the National Rifle Matches since 1922 and the USAMU has won the title 32 times since its unit creation in 1956.
| Date Taken: | 09.21.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 09.21.2022 16:47 |
| Story ID: | 429807 |
| Location: | CAMP PERRY, OHIO, US |
| Hometown: | BOGALUSA, LOUISIANA, US |
| Hometown: | FORT WAYNE, INDIANA, US |
| Hometown: | SWANTON, OHIO, US |
| Hometown: | WEST MILTON, OHIO, US |
| Web Views: | 325 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Army Soldiers Continue Winning Tradition at National Rifle Matches in Ohio, by LTC Michelle Lunato, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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