Shooters strive for excellence

  • Published
  • By Mike Wallace
  • Skywrighter staff
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB, Ohio --   Airmen from as far away as Keesler AFB, Miss., descended upon Wright-Patterson AFB's Combat Arms Facility Monday to compete for Excellence-in-Competition medals. 

The Air Force-wide event was an elementary level one, which meant that participants would fire M-16A2 rifles at targets 25 meters from the firing line. The total number of medals awarded will go to the top 10 percent highest scorers. 

Targets resembled small, black silhouettes containing a center bulls-eye circle, surrounded by rings having descending point values the further away from the center. A perfect score, meaning 50 hits in the bulls-eye, would be 500. As of Tuesday afternoon, one shooter had scored a 470. 

The facility's noncommissioned-officer-in-charge, Tech. Sgt. Kurt Rice, stressed that participants should "have fun" while they were there. Although acknowledging that the people were in a competition, he said that it was the first time several people had to fire an M-16. 

He also spoke of last week's death of Staff Sgt. Shane L. Miles, an instructor at the facility for two years, and the resulting doubts about holding the competition. Sgt. Rice said the decision was made to continue, and he praised the efforts of volunteers from the 88th Security Forces Squadron who temporarily filled in for the regular combat arms people to make the competition a reality. 

Competitors were there for different reasons. First Lt. Jim Golden of the National Air and Space Intelligence Center said, "It's a chance to shoot an M-16, and I'd like to be able to say I've done it. Officers don't get rifle training unless they're deploying." 

Capt. Brandon Ledbetter of Aeronautical Systems Center said, "I've shot an M-16 four or five times, and I'm looking forward to getting familiar with it again." 

Staff Sgt. Rich Darago from Andrews AFB, Md., said, "I've shot in competitions, but not for two-and-a-half years. I saw this on the Air Force Link and decided to try it." 

Participants in each "leg" first spent an hour-and-a-half in the classroom learning such things as range procedures, how to adjust the rifle's front and rear sights, what the four shooting positions were and safety. Sgt. Rice often punctuated his statements with the phrase, "We're here for you." 

On the indoor range, shooters fired five rounds, saw their targets, made sight adjustments, and fired five more rounds to "zero" their weapons. At that point, they were ready to compete. They fired 10 rounds each in the standing, kneeling and sitting positions in slow fire or in 45 seconds respectively. In the prone position, they fired 20 rounds in rapid fire in 60 seconds. Range volunteers marked the scores, and the leg was over. 

The top scores will be announced after the end of the competition. Those who receive the Excellence-in-Competition medals may wear them on their Air Force service dress uniforms.