Photo By Dustin Senger | Rashid Hamad, Qatar military special forces, departs the firing line during a skeet...... read more read more
DOHA, Qatar — Several years had passed since the soldier fired a shotgun. Despite that, U.S. Army Spc. Michael Simmons from Marietta, Ga., seized an opportunity to compete against Olympic-caliber marksmen at the Al Duhail shooting club in Doha, Qatar, Feb. 15-16.
Simmons, 23, is one of 11 U.S. service members participating in Qatar armed forces marksmanship events. They include center-fire pistol, 300-meter rifle, rapid pistol, rapid rifle, as well as trap and skeet shooting.
"The Qataris are really friendly; they taught us proper shooting stances and gave us breathing pointers," said Simmons, who works swing shifts as a psychological operations analyst at Camp As Sayliyah, Qatar.
He has become accustomed to late duty hours since deploying a month ago. Regardless, he readily interrupted his daily rhythm for early morning skeet shooting with the Qatar military.
"I like to shoot ... I never shot in a competition before," said Simmons, who hadn't fired a shotgun since hunting white-tailed deer along the outskirts of Atlanta over four years ago.
Over 7,000 miles away from the Georgia wilderness, Simmons fired a Browning 12-guage over-under shotgun while skeet shooting in Arabia. He shot at eight different firing positions in a semi-circle area, along with five Qatar military members. Targets were thrown from two trap houses located at opposing ends.
The first day, Simmons hit 23 out of 50 targets.
Rashid Hamad, Qatar military special forces, dominated the firing line as the only shooter to strike all 50 — "he shot perfect every time," said Simmons.
Hamad, 22, is an internationally-recognized marksman. At the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, he shot skeet as a member of the Qatar national team. He hopes to participate in the upcoming 2012 London Olympics. Hamad is quick to recognize the accomplishments of U.S. shooter Vincent Hancock, a 2008 Olympic gold medalist in skeet shooting.
The next morning, Simmons shot 13 out of 25 targets. Hamad missed two.
Simmons is an impressive shotgun shooter, but he needs more practice, said Hamad.
U.S. service members have participated in the Qatar armed forces sports competitions since 2004 as the only non-Qatar military participants. They compete with Qatar special forces, military police, land forces, air force, navy, logistics and maintenance. U.S.-Qatar sports integration has included basketball, soccer, table tennis, cross-country, military runs and marksmanship.
| Date Taken: | 02.16.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 02.16.2010 11:02 |
| Story ID: | 45419 |
| Location: | DOHA, QA |
| Web Views: | 771 |
| Downloads: | 565 |
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