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The 2003 National Trophy Matches: Competitions Exemplify Roosevelt's 100-Year-Old Dream
From the First Shot Ceremony on July 14th to the Centennial Celebration on August 9th, the 2003 National Trophy Pistol and Rifle Matches lived up to everything that President Theodore Roosevelt must have envisioned in 1903 when he made this statement in his last message to Congress,

“The great body of our citizens shoot less as time goes on. We should encourage rifle practice among schoolboys, and indeed among all classes, as well as in the military services by every means in our power. Thus, and not otherwise, may we be able to assist in preserving peace in the world…the first step – in the direction of preparation to avert war if possible, and to be fit for war if it should come – is to teach men to shoot!”

USMC Pistol Team member Sgt Robert Park won the 2003 President’s 100 Pistol Match. Sgt Park will receive a congratulatory letter from President Bush for his achievement.
The 2003 National Matches were the biggest since 1990. Over 3800 Marines, Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and civilians, young and old, men and women, competed in this year’s National Trophy matches or participated in its Small Arms Firing Schools and clinics. Hundreds more competed in the NRA National Championships that are also part of the National Matches. Their efforts to learn new skills in the schools and clinics or to demonstrate their marksmanship skills in the competitions surely exemplified what President Roosevelt intended when he spoke of encouraging rifle practice.

In the National Trophy Pistol Matches, United States Marine pistol shooters won the two major trophies and missed winning the “big team match,” the National Trophy Pistol Team Match by just one point. Sgt. Robert Park earned top honors and a letter of congratulations from President Bush by topping the President’s Match with his score of 381-15X.

Gy. Sgt. Brian Zins, USMC, won the General Custer Trophy with a score of 289-10X in the National Trophy Individual Pistol Match.
A new rule that allowed junior shooters to fire .22 caliber pistols in the National Trophy Pistol Matches saw an encouraging increase in junior participation. The top junior in the President’s Match was Christopher Jones of Battle Ground, Washington, who fired a 366-6X a .22 caliber pistol.

In the National Trophy Individual Pistol Match, another Marine finished at the top of the leader board. Gy. Sgt. Brian Zins earned the right to have his name inscribed on the General Custer Trophy by firing the winning score of 289-10X. Zins also won the NRA National Pistol Championship earlier in the week.

Heather Deppe is congratulated by Col. Walter Walsh, USMC (Ret.) for her performance in the National Trophy Individual Pistol Match. Deppe won the Junior Pistol Trophy with her score of 270-1X.
The Women’s Trophy for the high score with a service pistol in the National Trophy Individual Match was awarded to Judy Tant of East Lansing, Michigan. She fired a score of 273-5X. The top junior firing the newly permitted .22 caliber pistol was 12-year-old Heather Deppe from San Antonio, Texas. Her score of 270-1X took the CMP Junior Pistol Trophy.

 

The United States Army Marksmanship Unit Blue Team, accepts their plaques as winners of the Gold Cup Trophy in the National Trophy Team Pistol Match. The USAMU Blue Team edged out the USMC Scarlet Team by one point to win this coveted award at the 2003 National Trophy Pistol Matches.
While the Marines dominated the two individual events in the National Trophy Pistol Matches, the U. S. Army Marksmanship Unit Blue Team out dueled the Marines to win the National Trophy Pistol Team Match to win the coveted Gold Cup Trophy. Their score of 1115-32X bested the second place USMC Scarlet team by just one point! The Junior Pistol Team Trophy was awarded to the Michigan Rifle and Pistol Association Team juniors for their score of 512-6X. Sgt Robert Park of the USMC earned the Military Police Corps Trophy as the top individual shooter in the National Trophy Team Pistol Match with his score of 287-11X.

Stanton Noon accepts a presentation M1 Garand Award Rifle from J.B Hudson, Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army, after winning the President’s 100 Match. Noon was the first civilian to win the President’s 100 since Gary Anderson, current Director of Civilian Marksmanship, won that match in 1976.
In the National Trophy Rifle Matches, competition was just as fierce as in the Pistol Matches. In a surprise performance, a civilian shooter from New York won the President’s Rifle Match to become the first civilian since 1976 to win this prestigious match. Stanton Noon from Lockport, New York topped the President’s 100 list with his score of 297-10X. The last civilian to win this event was Gary Anderson, current Director of Civilian Marksmanship, who won this match three times in the 1970s. Mr. Noon also won the Alice Bull Trophy as the top shooter in the aggregate of the President’s 100 Match and the National Trophy Individual Match with his score of 787-27X.

Sgt Jerome Bostick, USMC, was the 2003 winner of the National Trophy Individual Rifle Match. Sgt Bostick accepts a plaque depicting the Daniel Boone Trophy from J.B. Hudson, Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army. Bostick won more honors than any other shooter in the 2003 National Rifle Matches.
Sgt Jerome Bostick, USMC, will have his name inscribed on the Daniel Boone Trophy for shooting 496-24X in the National Trophy Individual Match and winning that match. SSgt Julia Watson of the USMC earned the Women’s Trophy in that match with her score of 490-18X while Curt Leister of Verona, Wisconsin was the high scoring junior. He won Golden Eagle Trophy for his score of 491-13X.

 

The 2003 winners of the Whistler Boy Trophy were the juniors from the Connecticut State Rifle and Revolver Association Blue Team with a score of 974-21x.


The Whistler Boy Junior Highpower Team Match was won by the Connecticut State Rifle and Revolver Association Blue team who edged out the second place Oregon State Shooting MRPC with a score of 974-21X.

In a reversal of the pistol team results, the USMC Wilson Team won the National Trophy Rifle Team Match, arguably the most important team competition in American marksmanship, with their score of 2920-103X. In heated competition, the USMC team edged the closest Army team by a scant three points.
USMC Team Wilson celebrates winning the National Trophy Rifle Team Event, “Dogs of War” National Trophy by holding up their award plaques.
The All Guard team Morgan was not far behind with a score of 2911-92X – a score good enough to win the Hilton Trophy as the top Reserve Component Team the National Trophy Team Match. The Pershing Trophy, awarded to the highest scoring competitor, civilian or military, in the National Trophy Team Match was earned by CW4 Ron Fleishhacker of the US Army with his score of 494-17X. A Deneke Trophy medallion and Compass Lake AR-15 competition rifle were awarded to the highest overall scoring junior in National Trophy Matches. Samuel Freeman of Hendersonville, North Carolina won those awards with his aggregate score of 1269-43X.

The juniors and coaches from the Michigan Rifle and Pistol Association team accept their award as the highest scoring junior team in the National Infantry Trophy Team Match. The Michigan juniors led the pack most of the day to the delight of many.
The USMC Team Wilson holds up their plaques after winning the National Trophy Infantry Team Match. The USMC Weapons Training Battalion and its teams were the biggest winners in the National Trophy Rifle Matches in 2003.
A pleasant surprise greeted the shooters early in the National Trophy Infantry Team Match. The team of Michigan Juniors led the match for a good part of the day with their score of 1083. They ultimately won the Junior Infantry Team Trophy. By the day’s end, the USMC Wilson Team bested all other teams, including a strong U. S. Army team, to earn the Infantry Trophy and complete a very successful National Matches for the USMC Pistol and Rifle Teams.

In the popular CMP Games with their Springfield and John C. Garand Matches, 2003 brought record numbers of competitors to Camp Perry. Nearly 1400 competitors stepped to the line to fire the John C. Garand Match on August 9th, the day of the CMP Centennial Celebration. This year’s winner of the John C. Garand Trophy that is awarded for the high score with an M1 Garand Rifle was Christopher Roberts of Charlotte, North Carolina with a score of 290-12X. Jeff Matthews was the top junior in the Garand Match with his score of 276-6X while the overall winner was Kenneth Melendy of Park Ridge, Illinois who shot a 291-12X in the Garand match while firing a 1903 Springfield rifle. In the Springfield Match, Arland Anderson of Las Vegas, Nevada won top honors with a Springfield rifle with his score of 288-3X while the top shooter with a Vintage Foreign Military Rifle Match was Mark Looney of Springfield, Ohio with his score of 285-5X. The top junior in the Springfield Match was Dustin Lucy, Zion, Illinois, who shot a 276-6X.
Alan Cors (r.), a member of the CMP Board of Directors, presents Arland Anderson, the winner of the 2003 Springfield/Military Rifle Match, with his award plaque. Mr. Anderson was the highest scoring competitor with a 1903 Springfield rifle.


The 2003 National Matches were an affirmation not just of President Theodore Roosevelt’s idea of teaching American citizens to shoot, but also of the continued and growing popularity of service rifle and pistol shooting in the United States and of the outstanding skills of the military and civilian shooters who practice this extremely challenging form of target practice. The 2003 matches were a fitting capstone for a century of marksmanship excellence and a foundation for a future century of marksmanship.