Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Herschel Talley | Nebraska National Guard Soldiers and Airmen compete in the inaugural Nebraska National...... read more read more
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The Nebraska National Guard Governor’s Marksmanship Skills Competition, formerly the Adjutant General's Shoot, was held at the Greenlief Training Site, near Hastings, Neb., Aug. 2- Aug. 4, 2024.
This year, the annual state level marksmanship competition consisted of 95 competitors divided into four-man teams of Soldiers and Airmen. During the three grueling days, participants conducted 22 different marksmanship tasks with rifles and pistols as teams and individually. The goal was to earn the newly authorized Governor’s Ten tab which is only awarded to the top ten participants with the highest overall score of the individual matches.
Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen was on site to present the tabs to the top ten competitors and was thankful for being allowed to be a part of it.
“The spirit of competition is excellent and encouraging to see here,” said Pillen.
Events were spread over four different firing ranges: the modified record fire (MRF) range, the known distance (KD) range up to 500 meters, the 25-meter zero range and the pistol range. Range variations and weapons gave the competitors a chance to test themselves and their marksmanship skills against others from across the state. Two teammates on each team had to be new to the competition or have not placed in the top 3 in the past 14-years. This allows and encourages each team to bring someone new to the event and enjoy the spirit of competition.
Spc. Emily Augustin, from the Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC) 1-376th Aviation Battalion, participated in the competition for the first-time and despite a couple weapons malfunctions, enjoyed the events. Augustin and her team “1-376th Bravo” even placed third in the Team Covering Fire match.
“Everyone was super nice and it was a really fun time overall,” Augustin said.
“I think this competition is a great experience for Soldiers to get more experience with weapons that they don’t normally shoot.”
Air National Guard Staff Sgt. Ryan Lueck, 155th Security Forces Squadron was also a first-time competitor and along with his team took it in stride.
“I think every aspect of this competition was a challenge,” Lueck said.
“From the weather to the specific ranges, to our competition, there were a lot of unknowns, but we took it in force and overcame the ones that we faced.”
Lueck placed second in the Combat Rifle Excellence in Competition Novice category and said for those thinking about competing in the future to sign up and participate.
“It’s ok to not know everything, it’s ok not to be the best. Just show up and learn,” Lueck said.
Captain Jonathon Lintz from the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 734th Brigade Support Battalion, also agreed with Lueck and helped convince his own Soldiers to join in the competition. Lintz told his Soldiers to learn as much as they could and come back next year and they’ll do even better.
“We told them it was going to be a good time,” Lintz said.
“It is their drill weekend so you either get to shoot ammo that the government pays for or you get stuck at the armory.”
Lintz had participated in the state competition three times before and this time won both the Gary Anderson Excellence in Competition award and State Sergeant Major Combined Arms Individual Championship. He said the competition is a great opportunity for soldiers to practice their marksmanship skills.
“The biggest advantage for soldiers in this competition is the amount of trigger time they get,” Lintz said.
Lintz also added that competitors fire more rounds in the three day competition than in five years of weapons qualifications and by using paper targets, the competitors get direct feedback, so they can learn how to adjust their shot groups.
After the three-day competition was finally complete and the scores were totaled, the awards were given to those that proved themselves throughout the events.
The winners of the Rifle Team Championship was Team “Sour Patch Kids” from Alpha Company, 2-134th Infantry Battalion (Airborne) with Staff Sgt. Bryan Kummer, Spc. Gage Gonzalez, Spc. Samuel Johnson and Spc. Logan Kelley.
The winners of the Service Pistol Team Championship, as well as the Combined Arms Team Championship was Team “Slam Pigs” of the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2-134th Infantry Battalion (Airborne) with Command Sgt. Maj. Steve Brewer, 1st Sgt. Luke Katz, Sgt. Michael Lindgren and Spc. Austin Florentine.
Major Ben Harper, match director, encouraged the top 25 competitors to attend the tryouts for the Nebraska National Guard Marksmanship Team held in April. Those that join the state team can expect to participate in even more competitions throughout the country.
“This is just a taste of what the competition world has to offer,” Harper said to the competitors during the awards ceremony.
“We encourage all to participate and potentially continue to represent the Nebraska National Guard at all shooting levels.”
| Date Taken: | 08.08.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 08.08.2024 11:21 |
| Story ID: | 478102 |
| Location: | HASTINGS, NEBRASKA, US |
| Web Views: | 102 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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