Photo By Maj. Wayne Clyne | Sgt. Trahern Fox (left), Sgt. Kevin Martin (center), and Spc. John Adamson (right)...... read more read more
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CAMP ROBINSON, Ark. — The sweltering Arkansas sun baked the soaked soil at Camp Robinson, and the moisture rose into a thick, humid haze. Sgt. Trahern Fox, Sgt. Kevin Martin, and Spc. John Adamson stepped onto the range; every stride felt like walking on a soaked sponge, and the oppressive 80 percent humidity enveloped them like a sauna.
The trio of Oregon National Guard scouts remained laser-focused amid the swampy conditions. They were all first-time competitors at the Winston P. Wilson Small Arms Championship - the National Guard's most prestigious and grueling rifle and pistol marksmanship event.
Originally a four-man team from the 1st Battalion, 186th Infantry Regiment's scout sniper section in Ashland, their fourth shooter had an unfortunate last-minute family emergency that prevented him from attending. It derailed their chances at the coveted team championship, but the three Oregonians were undeterred in their goal of personal growth.
The competition was established in 1971 by the then-Chief of the National Guard Bureau, Maj. Gen. Winston P. Wilson. The annual championship promotes sustained combat marksmanship mastery with individual weapons. It challenges the nation's top Guard sharpshooters across dayslong, battle-focused courses involving rifle and pistol ranges.
After an overhaul in 2007, which implemented new strenuous, reality-based courses, the Winston P. Wilson event became one of the Army and Air National Guard's most intense tests of individual marksmanship skills. Camp Robinson's National Guard Marksmanship Training Center hosts the annual event, where the nation's elite convene yearly to improve their shooting prowess.
"It's a cool, humbling experience to shoot with some of the best in the country and test your abilities against them," said Martin, a detective with the Medford Police Department balancing his civilian career with National Guard service. "You learn a lot about yourself as a shooter - where you need to improve and where you're succeeding."
For the citizen soldiers juggling jobs, families, and military obligations, the championship presented a rare opportunity for focused immersion in honing critical shooting skills. As part of the infantry battalion's reconnaissance element, their scout sniper section's long-range shooting proficiency is vital for gaining intelligence ahead of combat operations.
The scouts' ability to observe and precisely engage enemy targets from exceptional distances could mean the difference between success or failure for their battalion's missions. This ability allows the infantry to fix and destroy the enemy with surgically applied fire and maneuver based on their reconnaissance.
Fox, a network engineer for a California tech company, relished the freedom to devote himself entirely to sharpening his marksmanship skills without distractions.
"There's a lot more coordination and complexity that eventually when you wrap your head around it, it's actually really good skills refinement," Fox said. "Lots of consistent, deliberate trigger time too - back-to-back days drilling the fundamentals that you just don't get at home station."
Adamson, a 12-year police officer working drug cases in Medford, joined the unit only four years ago. He joined seeking training like this and welcomed the chance to elevate his skills against the nation's most elite shooters.
"These are the best marksmen in the country," said the 34-year-old. "If you think you're a decent rifle or pistol shooter, and you go against these guys, they'll show you there's a lot you can improve on. It's incredibly humbling."
According to Martin, a prior combat-deployed trained sniper, injecting stressors to simulate combat conditions was a core premise. Dynamic drills involving moving targets, obstacle negotiation, and skewed shooting positions and environments, all under grueling time constraints, created intense pressure to replicate scouting a hostile objective.
"With ranges designed around realistic combat scenarios, they induce that same sense of urgency as when you're experiencing the stressors of a hostile environment," Martin explained. "time restraints and competition are the best ways to induce stress into a shooter. And you have both of those things here."
The Oregonians' fatigues told the story as the orchestra of ringing steel and dust-kicking impacts grew louder with each passing range. Their sweat-soaked uniforms and sunburned skin showed that these warriors were honing their combat effectiveness through a challenging course.
When finalized, their scores would memorialize new shooting milestones with rifles and pistols. But the trio's greatest prize was incalculable - fortified skills to elevate their scout sniper section's operational lethality.
The ability to leverage high-level marksmanship from exceptional distances, gleaned through the National Guard's premier shooting crucible, could prove invaluable in combat. Overmatch against any future foe; their heightened ability to shoot and move will pave the way for defeating any enemy.
While disappointed to lose their fourth shooter, the Oregonians focused on the invaluable skills they'd absorbed. The Marksmanship Training Center's rifle and pistol experience will burn bright when passed from Camp Robinson's ranges to their scout sniper section's training.
| Date Taken: | 05.03.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 05.03.2024 11:27 |
| Story ID: | 470236 |
| Location: | CAMP JOSEPH T ROBINSON, ARKANSAS, US |
| Web Views: | 129 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Oregon Infantry Scouts Sharpen Battlefield Edge at Shooting Competition, by MAJ Wayne Clyne, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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