Photo By 1st Lt. Kyler Hood | Awardees at the Annual Red Thunder Marksmanship Competition on August 17, 2023 on...... read more read more
ZARQA, JORDAN—Lt. Col. Benjamin Nicholls from the 45th Field Artillery Brigade sees talent and partnership in the annual Red Thunder Marksmanship Competition at Range Five that ended on August 17, 2023.
“We got sharpshooters, we got marksman, we got snipers, and we got pistol champions within our ranks here. This is the best of all the maneuver forces and combat personnel across all of Jordan along with the United States’ forces best, and whoever wins this competition, this is the best of the best,” Nicholls said.
A total of 18 teams competed including Jordanian and U.S. forces. The five-day event featured Excellence in Competition pistol shooting and Anti Body Armor pistol shooting. For the rifle competition, contestants competed in Special Zero and Reflexive Fire shooting events.
Command Sgt. Maj. Gary Nix from the 45th FAB also emphasized how the Jordanian armed forces are “pure professionals” and highlighted a change in this year’s competition.
“One of the things we changed is we tried to make it pure marksmanship skills. I mean, we basically went back to iron sights, you know, what we call our kit, but iron sights instead of sighting devices or anything else, so it's all about sight alignment…making sure that you're on target. That's what brings out the pure skill set instead of like say last year they were allowed to use optics and everything else,” said Nix.
The competition ended on Thursday with a commander shoot between U.S. and Jordanian leaders followed by an award ceremony. Afterwards, top scorers from the week provided a shooting demonstration and lecture to teach best shooting practices.
Capt. Saif Al-Johar from Jordan’s Special Royal Guard Command stated his appreciation for being invited to the competition and his takeaway from the experience.
“That’s what it’s all about: the cooperation, the experience, the training. And that’s, I think, what Jordanian and American cooperation is all about,” Al-Johar said.
Staff Sgt. Zakaria Albtoush from Jordan’s Royal Guard won first place in Rifle Reflexive Fire shooting.
Staff Sgt. Abdallah Jaradat from Jordan’s Southern Regional Command won first place in the Rifle Special Zero.
Staff Sgt. Abdelrahman Alazzam from Jordan’s Royal Guard won first place in Pistol Anti Body Armor shooting.
A Staff Sgt. from Jordan’s King Abdullah II Special Forces Group won first place in Pistol EIC.
Staff Sgt. Abdallah Jaradat from Jordan’s Southern Regional Command won first place in the overall individual rifle score.
Staff Sgt. Abdelrahman Alazzam from Jordan’s Royal Guard won first place in the overall pistol score.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II Special Forces Group won first place in the overall team rifle score.
Jordan’s Royal Guard won first place in the overall team pistol score.
Staff Sgt. Shiman Alzughailat in the Jordanian military earned the individual grand champion title.
Jordan’s Royal Guard earned the team champion title.
| Date Taken: | 08.17.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 09.14.2023 10:15 |
| Story ID: | 453404 |
| Location: | ZARQA, JO |
| Web Views: | 159 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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