GRAFENWOEHR, Germany – The 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team welcomed 100 firers to a pistol competition featuring a 30-yard slow fire and an excellence-in-competition match March 9.
U.S. Soldiers assigned to units across the U.S. Army Garrison-Bavaria footprint, including the 2nd Cavalry Regiment and 7th Army Training Command, joined the 56th SBCT at this inaugural competition.
The 56th SBCT forwarded the names of the top 10% of eligible match participants to the National Guard Marksmanship Training Center to validate the scores and offer career points toward the U.S. Army’s 30-point requirement for the Distinguished Pistol Shot Badge.
The day’s events were broken into 10 relays, each with 10 firers. The first match was the 30-yard standing slow fire in 2 minutes. Next, the excellence-in-competition consisted of the 30-yard standing in 60 seconds, 25-yard standing to kneeling to prone in 45 seconds, 20-yard standing in 20 seconds, and 15-yard standing in 15 seconds. U.S. Soldiers worked in pairs; while one Soldier fired, the other Soldier oversaw safety protocol, ensured the weapon was clear after each iteration and scored the firer’s targets.
As a first-time competitor, U.S. Army Spc. Tyler Webb, a computer/detection systems repairer with the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, Regimental Support Squadron, said he gained a new perspective on the match’s operations.
“We practice safety [at a qualification range], but the way we handle safety out here, everybody’s a safety. ... Everybody’s a shooter,” said Webb. “We all just take care of each other.”
U.S. Army Maj. Ian Swisher, match director, explained that a Soldier must consistently demonstrate a high level of marksmanship achievement at unit or state, regional and national levels to earn the badge.
“You can’t do it in a year,” said Swisher. “You can’t go and shoot 10 state or unit level matches in one year and go distinguished. The program is designed to make competitors compete at a high level standard over several years.”
But competitions are more than percentages and scores; they provide Soldiers with hands-on training to improve marksmanship beyond requirements.
“There’s a difference between going out and qualifying with your weapon like we do on an annual basis and competing,” said Swisher. “Qualifying with your rifle, in my mind, [is] the bare minimum standard for marksmanship. What I hope leaders take away from the competition is that [competition is] a tool for promoting interest in training, improving our skills and techniques, furthering development of marksmanship at the unit level and, most importantly, increasing our lethality through advanced individual skills.”
This inaugural event brought together Soldiers assigned to different home units with varying U.S. Army backgrounds, careers and marksmanship experience.
For Swisher, the competition was a success. He talked with dozens of competitors about their techniques, marksmanship goals and interest in starting competitions in their units.