Station Marines take aim at marksmanship excellence

Story by Lance Cpl. Aaron Diamant

Marines from across the station are scheduled to compete in a marksmanship competition to find the best shots here Feb. 1-12, 2010.

The Competition In Arms Program is designed to teach shooters more detailed, fine-tuned marksmanship and to then apply those skills, said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Allen Young, station range officer.

The program also makes better marksmanship instructors and improves station Marines' knowledge of the basic marksmanship principles. Marines who participate in the program can then take what they have learned back to their individual duty sections and teach their newly acquired skills to others.

During the first Competition In Arms Program, which began in 1901, the Marine Corps team finished in 6th place of 11 teams. This awakened the Corps to the fact that their marksmanship skills were not as good as once believed.

"Whether you shoot well or not, everyone will learn from our classes and live-fire exercises, and be able to improve their scores," said Allen.

While this is a learning experience, it is still a competition to find the station's best shooters.

The program, which is open to all active-duty Marines, is used to determine who will be on the station shooting team and represent the station in matches throughout the coming year.

"Marines are known for being competitive," said Allen. "I'm competitive in everything I do."

Allen, who started shooting competitively with the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego team in 2002, has received numerous competition medals and awards. Allen is also a distinguished pistol shooter and is close to becoming a distinguished rifle shooter.

Allen's vast knowledge and experience in the competitive shooting world is passed on throughout the course of fire. A portion of the program takes place in the classroom, going the through basics of marksmanship, with many of the classes being taught by Allen.

"This is fine-tuning for competition to be the best possible shooter," said Allen. "Shooting is 70 percent mental and 30 percent physical. I can't say that enough because it's so important. Everyone gets the same classes, what's between the ears makes the difference. You have to pay attention to your mental and physical routine. You can't let anything get in the way of that well-aimed shot."

Competitors will shoot both the M-16 service rifle and M-9 pistol.

The course of fire for the rifle consists of 20 rounds fired from the standing position at the 200-yard line within 20 minutes and 10 rounds fired from the standing to sitting position at the 200-yard line within 60 seconds. The shooters then move to the 300-yard line and fire 10 rounds from the standing to prone position within 60 seconds. At the 500-yard line, competitors have 20 minutes to fire 20 rounds from the prone position.

The pistol competition differs greatly from a normal pistol qualification shoot. All shooting is performed from the 25-yard line with only one hand. Competitors fire 10 rounds in 10 minutes, two strings of five rounds with 20 seconds for each string for timed fire, and two strings of five rounds with 10 seconds for each string for rapid fire.

Just being a good shot in the course of fire might not be enough to make the team.

"I'm looking for Marines that have a general understanding of the basics, have a positive attitude and demonstrate teamwork," said Allen. "We are a team. Just because you are good at something doesn't mean you shouldn't help the rest of the team with it."