Students in the CMP GSM Master Instructor course practiced marksmanship teaching techniques in course dry fire sessions.

The largest CMP Military Rifle Master Instructor Course so far took place at CMP South in Anniston, Alabama on 10-11 February. 41 students from 13 states attended the two-day training course designed to train and certify Master Instructors to teach CMP-sanctioned Garand-Springfield-Military Rifle Clinics at their home clubs and ranges. Course students came from as far away as Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Large student delegations represented the Aurora Sportsmen’s Club, Aurora, Illinois; the River Bend Gun Club, Roswell, Georgia and the Revolutionary War Veterans Association, Ramseur, North Carolina.

The 15-hour course gives prospective rifle clinic leaders instruction in how to teach gun safety, range operations, the use of military rifles, basic marksmanship techniques, firing positions, the John C. Garand Match course of fire and match operations. Course attendees receive an instructor’s notebook and a CD with a complete set of instructional slides for them to use in teaching rifle clinics at their home ranges clubs. Master Instructor students also have opportunities to practice teaching techniques for the firing positions during dry-fire practice sessions. During breaks and a Saturday evening reception, they also spent time at the new CMP Store located at Anniston.

The Anniston course is the sixth in a newly developed series of CMP Military Rifle Master Instructor Courses that were inaugurated in April 2006. The first four courses were conducted at CMP North in Camp Perry, Ohio, headquarters for the CMP program staff. The fifth course was taught at Camp Pendleton, California in conjunction with the Western CMP Games that took place there in November 2006. To date, 129 Military Rifle or GSM Master Instructors have been certified by the CMP. Many of them have already begun to organize and teach sanctioned clinics at their home clubs.

The chief instructor for the Anniston course was the Director of Civilian Marksmanship, Gary Anderson. Mark Johnson and John McLean of the CMP South staff were assistant instructors. The next CMP Military Rifle Master Instructor Course will take place at Camp Perry, Ohio on 21-22 April. Anyone interested in attending that course can find the official program for upcoming Master Instructor courses and downloadable entry forms on the CMP website at http://www.odcmp.com/Competitions/GSMClinic.htm.

41 new CMP Garand-Springfield-Military Rifle Master Instructors were certified at the course completed at CMP South, Anniston, Alabama, on 10-11 February.