2006 JROTC National Air Rifle Championship - For 124 individual JROTC cadets and 23 Army, Marine Corps, and Navy JROTC teams March Madness took on a whole new meaning as they went shoulder-to-shoulder in the JROTC National Air Rifle Championship at Fort Benning, Georgia, 23-25 March. Like the teams competing in the NCAA Basketball Tournament, the road to the Championship was grueling for all those who advanced to the final round. The field began with 5,358 competitors and 974 teams, competing in their respective JROTC Service Postal Matches which concluded in December. From these Postals each Service advanced their top Sporter and Precision teams and at-large individuals to JROTC Region Championships. These competitors qualified by brigades/area commands, districts or areas to JROTC Eastern and Western Region Competitions held in February at Fort Benning (Eastern) and the Olympic Training Center in Colorado (Western).

On Track - Many sporting events offer real time tracking of scores over the internet. Fans who cannot watch the event live or on television can still track their team with a simple click of their mouse. Did you know this can also be done for CMP shooting events? This has been made possible by CMP’s innovative system called Competitor Tracker, which provides live feeds on the internet as scores are entered into the system.

CMP Releases 2006 Competition Rules - The 2006 10th Edition of the CMP Competition Rules has now been approved by the CMP Rules Committee and is posted on the CMP web site. The new rules contain very few changes concerning traditional service pistol and service rifle shooting, but they provide rules for new events that will be included in the 2006 National Matches and one new event that is in the CMP Western Games program.

CMP Honors Junior Shooting Leader - Martin Edmondson, Manager of Youth Development at USA Shooting, is retiring this month from a position where he served as one of the most active and most respected youth shooting sports leaders in the United States. Edmondson, who will turn 62 this month, decided after completing a military career followed by twelve years as the National Running Target Coach and the past six years as USA Shooting’s junior shooting leader, that he wanted to have time to spend with his wife Helga and to fulfill many plans that the long hours of a shooting sports organization staff member rendered impossible. The Edmondsons now plan to spend the next several months traveling through the U. S. and Canada. In the future, he also plans to continue being involved with youth shooting programs as a volunteer. 

2006 Western JROTC Air Rifle Championship - After a successful Eastern Region Championship, all that was left to set the stage for the 2006 National JROTC Air Rifle Championship was the Western Region Championship held at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado on February 23rd-25th. 256 individuals and 52 teams representing different Army, Marine Corps and Navy JROTC units went shoulder-to-shoulder to determine who would win Region Championship titles for their services and who would advance to the JROTC National Championship.

Become a Garand-Springfield–Military Rifle Clinic Master Instructor - Shooters and instructors who would like to become trained to conduct Garand Clinics in their clubs or communities will soon have an opportunity to participate in a special Master Instructor training workshop offered by the CMP at Camp Perry, Ohio on 8-9 April. This workshop is part of a new program the CMP is inaugurating to train and certify Master Instructors to teach Garand-Springfield-Military Rifle Clinics (G-S-M Clinics) at clubs and ranges near their homes.

2006 CMP National Matches Plans New M9 Pistol EIC Match Added - The CMP is now finalizing its National Matches Program and CMP Competition Rules for the 2006 competition season. This is the first of a series of announcements to be released during the month of March regarding the 2006 rules and National Trophy Pistol and Rifle Matches programs.  This year’s service pistol rules and National Matches CMP pistol program will be very similar to 2005, except that there is a new pistol event that will be part of the National Trophy Pistol Matches. This summer, a new M9 Pistol EIC Match will be fired in conjunction with the Pistol Small Arms Firing School. The new pistol event is patterned after the very successful M16 Rifle EIC Match that was introduced in 2004.

More Than Just a Rifle - CMP customers have many reasons why they purchase MI Garands. Some customers are competitors who hope to find the perfect match grade rifle, others are collectors in search of the perfect restoration project, but the one thing most of our customers have in common is a desire to own a piece of history.

Viale Pits Construction Continues on Schedule - Nearly 70 percent of construction on the new Viale Range berm and pits is complete and the project is still on course for its June completion deadline. Pylons are in place, concrete has been poured, and dirt is being replaced to backfill the berm. Reconstruction began last September on Viale Range’s badly degraded berm and pits. Also the target carriers which been in place since the range was first established in 1907 are being updated. The project is scheduled to be completed prior to the start of the 2006 National Matches.