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  • 标题:Army Reserve marksmen win big - Kudos - army reserve shooters measure up to their active army counterparts - Brief Article
  • 作者:Col. Michael Pollock
  • 期刊名称:Army Reserve Magazine
  • 印刷版ISSN:0004-2579
  • 出版年度:2001
  • 卷号:Fall 2001
  • 出版社:U.S. Army Reserve

Army Reserve marksmen win big - Kudos - army reserve shooters measure up to their active army counterparts - Brief Article

Col. Michael Pollock

If anyone ever asks how the Army Reserve measures up against the active component, he only needs to look as far as the shooting sports. Reserve shooters proved to be full equal members of the Total Army by dominating many aspects of their sport in 2000, bringing visibility and prestige to the Army Reserve in the process.

The Army Reserve Combat Team did well in both national and international competition. Staff Sgt. Sean Hartswick finished second overall at the Armed Forces Skill at Arms Match. At the Interservice Skills at Arms Competition, the team of Capt. Chris Hensen, Master Sgt. Curtis Demuth, Sgt. 1st Class Hubert Townsend, Sgt. T.J. Conners, with team captain Maj. Pat Sperlongano and coach Sgt. 1st Class Len Lorentzen, won second overall. At the Canadian Forces Small Arms Championships in Ottawa, Maj. Harry Russell took every first place award given in pistol competition and the pistol team took second overall.

Service Rifle Team members did well on both an individual as well as a team basis. Staff Sgt. Mike LaRuffa won the Pennsylvania Service Rifle Championship, and Master Sgt. Robert Payne was the State Champion in North Carolina. At the Interservice Matches, the national championships for military shooters, the Army Reserve team took third in the Commanding General, MCCDC Team Match. In individual competition, top honors went to Master Sgt. Doug Morrison, who outshot all other competitors including the active-duty Army, Navy, Marine, and Air Force shooters, to win the overall Interservice Individual Rifle Championship, a feat rarely accomplished by a reserve competitor.

At the National Matches at Camp Perry, Ohio, Morrison was the match winner in the Members Trophy Match, and took third place in the Army Cup Match. Sgt. 1st Class Warren Clark was the High Army Reserve Shooter in the National Service Rifle Championship. The Army Reserve's Kesler team took 10th place overall in the RNDC Trophy Team Match and second in the High Master category in the Enlisted Man's Team Trophy Match. Team members were Master Sgt. Morrison, Maj. Jay Williams, Staff Sgt. Dwight Barth, and Sgt. 1st Class Jack Pardy. Team Captain was Master Sgt. Peter Del Ponte and the coach was Master Sgt. John Kesler.

The two most prestigious team matches at Camp Perry are the National Trophy Infantry Team Match and the National Rifle Team Match. These are the Super Bowl of service rifle shooting and almost always go a military team, and usually an active-duty team. In the IT match, the team of Clark, Pardy, LaRuffa, Morrison, Sgt. 1st Class Leonard Lorentzen, and Sgt. 1st Class Scott Anzivino, coached by Kesler and captained by Sgt. Major Neal Dickey, finished in fourth place. In the National Trophy Team Match, Army Reserve Kesler, this time consisting of Morrison, Pardy, Barth, Williams, LaRuffa, and Sgt. 1st Class Doug Withus, battled to a third-place finish, just six points behind the first-place team.

Not to be outdone, the Pistol Team dominated their competitors. At the Interservice Matches the Army Reserve Black Team of Sgt. James Henderson, Master Sgt. Steven Reiter, Master Sgt. Robert McIlhaney, and Spc. Fritz Ficke, won the .22 Caliber, .45 Caliber, Service Pistol, and Team Aggregate Championships and took third in Center Fire Team Competition. The Army Reserve Red Team of Sgt. James Radford, Sgt. 1st Class Robert Kolesar, Sgt. 1st Class Lloyd Stevens, and Sgt. 1st Class David Jones was second in the .22 Team Championship.

In the individual competitions, the Army Reserve shooters won almost every award given. Sgt. 1st Class Melvin Makin, Sgt. 1st Class Frank Goza, Master Sgt. Lowell Merrill, and Maj. Jay Williams joined the members of the Black and Red teams to win twelve of the fifteen awards given in .22 Caliber matches, ten each in center fire and .45 caliber, and seven in service pistol. Henderson won the overall .22 caliber Championship. MSG Reiter won the Warm-up Match, the overall Center Fire, .45 Caliber, and Service Pistol Championships, and was the Grand Aggregate Individual Pistol Champion, giving the Army Reserve the top individual honors in both rifle and pistol at the 2000 Interservice matches. At the National Pistol Championships at Camp Perry, Army Reserve Black won the .45 Caliber Team Championship. MSG Reiter won the President's Match, and, for the fifth time since 1991, won the overall National Pistol Championship.

To put it in perspective, winning at this level of competition is the equivalent of winning an NCAA Championship. Like all Reservists, these shooters hold down a civilian job in their everyday lives and must work overtime to sharpen their shooting skills as well as their Army Reserve skills.

COPYRIGHT 2001 U.S. Army Reserve
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group

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