Sea Cadet Air Rifle Camp

By Sommer Wood, CMP Writer

Sea Cadet marksmanship students watch a kneeling position demonstration by Gary Anderson, the CMP Director.

A return to the basics was in store for the 2005 CMP three position summer camp program as the first marksmanship camp for the Navy’s Sea Cadets was held at Camp Perry at the end of June. Marksmanship has never been offered before in the Sea Cadet program so the two week camp was the first exposure to three position sporter air rifle for the 60 cadets participating.

The first week of instruction for the cadets was under the guidance of CMP Director Gary Anderson. The training focused on safety and an introduction to shooting positions. At the end of the week cadets participated in a two position match that included a safety test. The cadets were successful with both, the majority qualifying for marksmanship ribbons.

The cadets participated in a summer biathlon relay race during the camp’s second week.

In week two Dan Durben, CMP three position rifle camp director led the instruction which had a greater focus on positions and an introduction to mental training. The cadets participated in several competitions through out the week, including a biathlon in which running and shooting events were combined for a team race.

A 10 meter air rifle range was set up in Camp Perry’s Petrarca Range.

The camp successfully ended with a 3x20 EIC match in which six cadets earned their first three-position air rifle EIC credit points towards the Junior Distinguished Badge. By the end of the camp, all 60 of the cadets had earned marksmanship qualification awards, with 25 of them qualifying expert. As these cadets return to their units they can share the marksmanship knowledge they acquired with other cadets in their units and help foster the growth of marksmanship within the Sea Cadet Program.

Results from the Sea Cadet Match can be viewed on the CMP web site at http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/ report_eventAward.cgi?matchID=927&eventID=1&awardID=4. Pictures from the Camp can also be viewed on the CMP Events Photos web page at http://www.odcmp.com/Photos/05/Index.htm