FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo., - A Missouri National Guard member is the winner of two of the U.S. Army’s top awards for marksmanship, a feat rarely achieved during the last 100 years.
After winning the Army Distinguished Rifleman Badge six months ago, Staff Sgt. James T. Phelps was recently awarded the Army Distinguished Pistol Shot Badge in a ceremony here.
Since its creation in 1903, only 1,709 Distinguished Pistol Shot Badges have been awarded, which amounts to only two percent of the Soldiers who have attempted to achieve it. Gen. John J. “Black Jack” Pershing, commander of all U.S. forces during World War I, is among those who have won the badge.
Even more impressive is the fact that Phelps is one of only 375 Soldiers to win both the pistol and rifleman badges in the past 107 years, the period in which both awards have existed.
“This is a rare honor for the U.S. Army’s top marksman,” said Col. Wendul G. Hagler, chief of staff of the Missouri Guard, who presented the pistol badge to Phelps. “The Distinguished Pistol Shot Badge is the most coveted shooting award in the United States for individual excellence in marksmanship. This is an outstanding accomplishment by Sgt. Phelps.”
Soldiers are awarded the pistol shot badge after earning 30 Excellence in Competition points, or “legs” in a series of specific marksmanship competitions conducted throughout the year. In each competition, Soldiers fire the standard Army issue M-9 pistol.
“Beginners start out at the state competition and shoot both rifles and pistols,” Phelps said. “Then you have regional and national level matches at different locations and among those is the Excellence in Competition matches. Those are the matches where you can earn leg points with the goal of earning 30.
"Only the top 10-percent of shooters get leg points and you can only get a certain number of points in each competition. The higher the level of the competition, the more points you can earn toward the badge.”
Like many other Soldiers, Phelps began shooting as a youngster while hunting with his father.
“My dad taught me how to shoot a rifle, but I didn’t begin competitive shooting until I joined the Army,” he said. “And there’s a world of difference between shooting a deer rifle and shooting a pistol in competition.”
And while Phelps loves to compete, he is not above learning from other competitors and passing that knowledge along.
“I love shooting but the camaraderie with the other Soldiers and between the units is great,” he said. “You get to network with other shooters and learn from them. And in turn, I love to pass along what I’ve learned to other Soldiers, because ultimately, it’s not about the competition, it’s about battlefield survival. The better marksman you are, the better Soldier you are.”
Phelps is a military police officer with the 3175th Military Police Company, headquartered in Warrenton, Mo., and has served in the Missouri National Guard for 12 years.