The 2008 CMP National Matches logo features images of five major 2007 champions: (clockwise, starting top left), SGT Kristopher Friend, President’s Rifle; Steve Reiter, President’s Pistol; Robert Elka, O-Class Rimfire Sporter, SSgt Jason Benedict, NTI Rifle and SSG James Henderson, NTI Pistol.

It’s hard to believe that the time to make plans for another National Matches is already here. The Official Program for the CMP National Trophy and CMP Games Matches that will take place this summer at Camp Perry, Ohio, is now posted on the CMP website and the CMP Competitor Tracker system is now open to receive on-line entries. Competitors who want to secure their places in this year’s matches can now do so.

The CMP has released and posted on its web site, Official Programs for the 2008 Pistol and Rifle Small Arms Firing Schools, the 2008 National Trophy Pistol Matches and the 2008 National Trophy Rifle Matches. The on-line entry systems for these matches are now open. On-line entries for the 2008 National Rimfire Sporter Match are open, although official program details for this match that are included in the CMP Guide for Rimfire Sporter will not be available for this match until mid-to late April..

The easiest way to find the programs and the matches you want to enter is to go to the CMP home page at http://www.odcmp.com. Click on either the 2008 National Matches logo icon or the pull-down tab telling you to “Click here for 2008 National Matches Information.”

Once again, the colorful First Shot Ceremony will officially open the matches. This year’s ceremony is on Monday afternoon, 7 July. The 2008 First Shot Speaker is John Sigler, President of the NRA. A live military band, Air National Guard jet fly-by and Army National Guard parachute jump are expected to be features in this program. The ceremony, which takes place at the end of the first day of the Pistol Small Arms Firing School, will be followed by the first of two large “National Matches Visitor Receptions” in the Camp Perry Club House. These receptions are hosted by the Ohio National Guard and Ottawa County Chambers of Commerce.

The official program for the Pistol and Rifle Small Arms Firing Schools is posted at http://www.odcmp.com/NM/safs.htm. The pistol schedule is unchanged from 2007. The Pistol SAFS program again includes the M9 Pistol EIC match that awards 4-point legs to the top 10 percent of competitors who have not previously earned any EIC points. The M9 EIC match will be fired on the second day of the school, on Tuesday morning, 8 July. The Rifle SAFS includes the M16 Rifle EIC Match that will be fired on Sunday morning, 27 July.

The official program for the National Trophy Pistol Matches is posted at http://www.odcmp.com/NM/ pistol.htm. The 2008 Pistol National Trophy events will begin with the 40-shot President’s Pistol Match that starts at 7:30 AM on Sunday, 13 July. It will be followed by the National Trophy Individual Pistol Match and the National Trophy Pistol Team Match. Both are fired with .45 cal. or 9mm service pistols over the 30-shot National Match Course.

Junior attendance was up significantly in the 2007 National Trophy Pistol Matches. The junior events use the same courses of fire as the service pistol events, except that juniors fire.22 cal. pistols. Shooters who are coming to the Nationals are strongly encouraged to consider bringing junior shooters with them. The junior team match is for two-person teams so state associations and clubs should be able to organize junior teams to compete for the Junior Pistol Team Trophy.

A special feature of the 2008 National Matches will be having a new home for the air gun matches that formerly took place in a small air gun range on Commercial Row. The new CMP Competition Center that is now being constructed at Camp Perry just east of Petrarca Range will have 80 firing points equipped with electronic targets. The detailed schedule for the 2008 National Matches Air Gun events has not yet been released, but we know that the traditional re-entry air pistol and air rifle events will be available. We also know that there will be a 60-shot air pistol event with finals on Sunday, 13 July, after the National Trophy Team Match ends. A special 60-shot air rifle match with finals will be fired on the new range on Tuesday, 15 July, the day before shooters report for the NRA Smallbore Rifle Position Matches.

The official program for the National Trophy Rifle Matches and CMP Games Events is posted at http://www.odcmp.com/NM/rifle.htm. The schedule of matches is the same as the schedule that was implemented in 2007 with one change. In 2007, the Springfield and Vintage Military Rifle Matches that took place on Friday of National Trophy Rifle week were filled with waitlists. On the following day on Saturday, we did not have to use Rodriguez Range that afternoon to accommodate all 1400 Garand Match shooters. To open up more opportunities for CMP Games Matches competitors to fire in the Springfield and Vintage Military Rifle Matches, those shooters will now be able to choose from three firing times, Friday AM (Relays 1-4) on Viale Range, Friday PM (Relays 5-8) on Viale Range and Saturday PM (Relays 9-12) on Rodriguez Range. The ninth relay that was fired on Friday on Viale Range will be eliminated to shorten that day, but by opening Rodriguez on Saturday afternoon, the total capacity for these two matches will be increased by 200 competitors.

The President’s Rifle Match shoot-off among the top 20 competitors that was added in 2007 will continue. The top 100 competitors in the first 30 shots make the President’s 100, but the top 20 of those shooters carry their 30-shot totals forward to a fourth and final stage. Reactions to this innovation last year were mixed, but the overall consensus among all who participated or watched was positive. Having a final stage assures that the shooters who contend for first place all finish the match together on the same range at the same time, shooting under the same conditions. Show-casing the top shooters in this match in a highly visible, high-pressure shoot-off is designed to bring excitement and attention to service rifle shooting.

The 2007 President’s Rifle Final scores were shown live on the CMP website and became the single most-watched event ever posted there. The shoot-off also gave several hundred of the other 1300 or so competitors in this match a chance to see the country’s best shooters perform. We heard from several of the finalists; some liked it, a few had not really read the program and were not prepared last year, some offered suggestions to improve the final that will be implemented this year. All agreed that ending a competition with a shoot-off definitely made winning the President’s Match more difficult and supremely challenging. Some saw that change as a threat, but others relished the opportunity to take on a challenge to rise to new heights. For the CMP, the President’s final is a means of bringing more attention to service rifle shooting and service rifle shooters and by doing that to increase its ability to attract support and new shooters.

Shooters who attend the 2008 Rifle SAFS and USMC Junior Highpower Rifle School must arrive on Friday, 25 July to check in. USMC Clinic classroom instruction actually begins that afternoon. The Rifle SAFS takes place on Saturday and Sunday, 26-27 July. The school ends on 27 July with the firing of the M16 EIC match.

Competitors who compete in the National Trophy Rifle Matches that start with the President’s Rifle Match on Monday, 28 July, should plan to arrive on 26 or 27 July to check in. For those who want to confirm Camp Perry zeros, service rifle squadded practice will begin at 11:00 AM on 27 July. The practice session will include a ten-minute firing period at 600 yards. The long check-in lines that might be encountered at National Matches In-Processing on the morning before the Sunday squadded practice can be avoided by checking in on 26 July if you arrive on that date.

The President’s and National Trophy Individual Rifle Matches will be fired on Monday and Tuesday, 28-29 July. Six relays of competitors will be randomly squadded in these matches.

The traditional Whistler Boy Junior Highpower Team Match will be fired on Wednesday, 30 August. The Hearst Doubles Match, a two-person team match where both team members will fire 10 shots standing at 200, 10 shots rapid fire at 300, 10 shots slow at 600 will be fired at the same time as the Whistler Boy Junior Match. Teams will pair fire the 200 and 600-yard stages. Team members can coach each other, but they may not have another person coach them. The Hearst Doubles Match is both an important service rifle trophy match in its own right, but also an excellent tune-up for the next day’s National Trophy Team Match.

The current National Trophy Rifle Matches schedule gives service rifle competitors an unbroken six or seven-day series of competitions that begin with the Marine Corps Clinic for juniors and the Rifle Small Arms Firing School on Saturday and Sunday or the Squadded Practice on Sunday, the President’s Match on Monday, the National Trophy Individual Match on Tuesday, the Hearst Doubles Match on Wednesday, the National Trophy Team Match on Thursday and the Infantry Trophy Match on Friday.

The CMP Games Matches at the end of National Trophy week offer a full three-day series of events beginning with the M1 Carbine Match on Thursday. 31 July. The Springfield and Vintage Military Rifle Matches on Friday, 1 August and the John C. Garand Match on Saturday, 2 August follow the Carbine Match. The range configuration and schedule that will be used in 2008 should assure that all shooters who want to compete in all four of these popular and fast-growing matches will be able to fire. The CMP Games Matches at the end of National Trophy week offer a full three-day series of events beginning with the M1 Carbine Match on Thursday. 31 July. The Springfield and Vintage Military Rifle Matches on Friday, 1 August and the John C. Garand Match on Saturday, 2 August follow the Carbine Match. The range configuration and schedule that will be used in 2008 should assure that all shooters who want to compete in all four of these popular and fast-growing matches will be able to fire.

In 2007, 4,123 different competitors entered one or more CMP National Matches events that include the Pistol and Rifle Small Arms Firing Schools, the National Trophy Pistol Matches, the National Rimfire Sporter Match, the National Trophy Rifle Matches and the National CMP Games events. If early demand for Camp Perry housing and the first surge of CMP National Matches Entries are any indication, this number could be even higher in 2008.

Enter any of the CMP events in the National Matches by going to the CMP home page at http://www.odcmp.com. Click on either the 2008 National Matches logo icon or the pull-down tab telling you to “Click here for 2008 National Matches Information.” From there select the programs you want to download or the entry forms you want to complete.

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