Making Team USA is a Mission of the USAMU

Photo By Lt. Col. Michelle Lunato | U.S. Army Sergeants Sagen Maddalena (left center) and Ivan Roe (right center) will represent the Nation at the Summer Olympics in Paris, France in five separate events: Women's and Men's 10m Air Rifle, Women's and Men's 50m Three-Position Rifle and Mixed Team 10m Air Rifle. U.S. Army Staff Sergeants Rachel Tozier (left) and Will Hinton (right) will represent the Nation at the Summer Olympics in Paris, France in International Trap. This will be the first Olympics for Roe, a Manhattan, Montana native, and the second for Maddalena, a Groveland, California native. This is be the first Olympics for Tozier, a Pattonsburg, Missouri native, and Hinton, a Dacula, Georgia native. All Soldiers are marksmanship instructors/competitive shooters for the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit's International Rifle Team, which is stationed at Fort Moore, Georgia.  

FORT MOORE, GEORGIA, UNITED STATES

06.26.2024

Story by Lt. Col. Michelle Lunato 

U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit

Competing in the Olympics is something most people only dream about. For Soldiers at the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, it’s part of the job.

Soldiers from the ‘Home of Champions’ have earned coveted spots on Team USA for every Olympics since 1952. And other than the United States’ boycott of the 1980 Moscow Games, those 77 U.S. Army Soldiers have represented the Nation in shooting sports events, with some going to multiple Olympics. To date, USAMU Soldiers have added 26 Olympic Medals to Team USA’s medal count.

Sgt. Maj. Huelet Joe Benner won the unit’s first medal, a Gold Medal in Slow Fire Free Pistol at the 1952 Helsinki, Finland Olympics. Technically, this was before the USAMU was established. However, Benner’s unit was officially renamed the USAMU in 1956. Therefore, it’s counted as the first.

Many would say that Benner’s Olympic Medal even helped cement the USAMU into creation. Back then, Soviet athletes dominated the international shooting events. As the U.S. Army was known to have the personnel and facilities to develop a competitive shooting program, President Eisenhower directed the unit’s creation. The mission then was almost exclusively to win competitions and raise the level of marksmanship throughout the Army.

The USAMU quickly established itself as a powerhouse in shooting sports, earning 14 Olympic Medals and 59 individual and team championships between 1960 and 1976. Soldiers in the unit then, set the standards of excellence that Soldiers of today still strive for.

At the 1964 Tokyo, Japan Olympics, USAMU Soldiers won six individual medals. Capt. Tommy Pool, 1st Lt. William Morris and Sgt. 1st Class Martin Gunnarsson all won Bronze Medals in the Prone Rifle, International Trap and 300m Three-Position Rifle events, respectively. 2nd Lt. Gary Anderson claimed the Gold Medal over Gunnarsson in the 300m Three-Position Rifle event while 1st Lt. Lones Wigger Jr. won both a Silver and Gold Medal in the Prone Rifle and 50m Three-Position Rifle events, respectively.

At the 1968 Mexico City, Mexico Olympics, Anderson won his second Gold Medal in 300m Three-Position Rifle while 1st Lt. John ‘Jack’ Writer secured the Silver Medal in 50m Three-Position Rifle, with just a one point difference behind the German Gold Medalist.

At the 1972 Munich, Germany Olympics, Maj. Wigger won the Gold Medal in 300m Three-Position Rifle while Capt. Lanny Bassham won the Silver Medal in 50m Three-Position Rifle. After painfully missing the Gold Medal by one point, Writer came back to these Olympic Games with intensity. Not only did this Soldier win the Gold Medal in 50m Three-Position Rifle, he set the World Record with his 1166-point score. Today, Writer still serves with the USAMU as a civilian in the Custom Firearms Shop and shows visitors his Olympic medals.

At the 1976 Montreal, Canada Olympics, the USAMU team brought home three medals, and made more historic achievements. Sgt. Don Haldeman won the Gold Medal in International Trap over Portugal and Italy. At that time, women did not have their own events, so Maj. Margaret Murdock was given permission to compete alongside 56 men from 34 nations in the 50m Three-Position Rifle event. This female Soldier and her USAMU teammate, Bassham, led the pack shooting the same score of 1162 points. After review of all the targets, Bassham was awarded the Gold Medal and Murdock the Silver Medal, making her the first woman to win an Olympic medal in shooting.

After the United States’ boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics, the USAMU continued is history of excellence with U.S. Army Soldiers earning spots on Team USA at each following Olympic quad. Four USAMU Soldiers medaled at the 1984 Los Angeles, California Olympics. The 1988 Seoul, South Korea, 2000 Sydney, Australia and 2004 Athens, Greece Olympics added three more medals to the Team USA (and USAMU) count. The following four Olympic Summer Games the USAMU Shotgun Team directly contributed the addition of four Gold Medals.

This year, four U.S. Army Soldiers from the Home of Champions will represent the Nation on Team USA at the Summer Olympics and another at the Paralympic Games in Paris, France. That will bring the total of Olympians from the USAMU to 82.

Sergeants Ivan Roe and Sagen Maddalena will seek medals in five events: Men’s and Women’s 50m Three-Position Rifle (or Smallbore), Men’s and Women’s 10m Air Rifle and Mixed Team 10m Air Rifle. Staff Sgt. Rachel Tozier and Will Hinton will seek medals in two events: Men’s and Women’s International Trap. That seven opportunities for medals for Team USA, just from USAMU Soldiers. This will be the first Olympics for Roe, Tozier and Hinton, but the second for Maddalena, who placed 5th in Women’s 50m Smallbore at the 2020 Tokyo Games.

At the Paris Paralympics, Staff Sgt. Kevin Nguyen will hunt for Gold in the R6 Mixed 50m Prone Rifle event. This will be Nguyen’s second Paralympic Games. He placed 36th in R3 Mixed 10m Prone Air Rifle and 20th in R6 Mixed 50m Prone Rifle at the 2020 Paralympic Games.

The exact process of earning a prestigious spot on Team USA varies each quad. Sometimes different factors are added to scores from Olympic Trials, but other times it’s just the performance at Olympic Trials that has deemed who makes the team. Regardless of the steps though, USAMU Soldiers compete year round alongside the top American athletes, in hopes of earning Olympic berth. With the USAMU being such a strong program in the shooting sports, inevitably, some of the civilian competitors vying for Olympic berth are USAMU alumni themselves.

With Olympic Trials over and five USAMU Soldiers named to the Olympic and Paralympic Teams, the hopes are high that more medals will be added to the historic U.S. Army unit’s legacy.

The 2024 Olympic Opening Ceremonies kick off on July 26 and Roe and Maddalena will have their first opportunity to medal on July 27 in the Mixed Team 10m Air Rifle event.

• Date Taken: 06.26.2024
• Date Posted: 06.26.2024 13:45
• Story ID: 474910
• Location: FORT MOORE, GEORGIA, US
• Hometown: DACULA, GEORGIA, US
• Hometown: GROVELAND, CALIFORNIA, US
• Hometown: MANHATTAN, MONTANA, US
• Hometown: PATTONSBURG, MISSOURI, US
• Hometown: WESTMINSTER, CALIFORNIA, US