The USMC Scarlet team won the prestigious Gold Cup Trophy for the second year in a row in the National Trophy Team Match. Their 1133-37X team total is the highest Gold Cup score since a Marine team won this match in 1984 with 1135-38X. Team members (l. to r.) are Cpl Zachary Benes, Sgt James Ruiz, GySgt Richard Gray and GySgt Brian Zins. CWO2 Billy Ray Williamson was the Team Captain. GySgt Jerry Zingg was the Team Coach.

Major victories in the National Trophy Pistol Matches were claimed by the Marine Corps, Army Reserve Staff Sergeant James Henderson and Army Sergeant First Class Adam Sokolowski. The Matches took place on 11-16 July as part of the National Matches at Camp Perry Ohio. The intense rivalries between the Armed Services teams and equally strong rivalries between civilian teams were once again a highlight of the matches.

The National Trophy Matches feature competitions with service rifles and pistols. In the pistol matches, competitors are required to fire either M1911 .45 cal. pistols or M9/M92 9mm pistols. Firing includes slow fire stages at 50 yards and timed and rapid fire stages at 25 yards.

Staff Sergeant James Henderson, Festus, Missouri, won the President’s Pistol Match for the fourth time and second year in a row.

This year’s National Trophy Pistol Matches actually began on 11 July with a new M9 Pistol EIC Match that concluded the Pistol Small Arms Firing School. This year a modern era record of 376 students attended the school conducted by Army Marksmanship Unit instructors and coaches from other military teams. At the end of the school, everyone fired the M9 Match with military service pistols. The top ten percent of all shooters who had not previously earned EIC credit points (count towards earning the Distinguished Badge) could earn four EIC points. Chicago policeman Nick Pappas won this new match with a 288-7X score. Pappas and 26 other shooters earned their first EIC points in this match.

The National Matches pistol phase continued with NRA championships that took place after the Pistol Small Arms Firing School and M9 Match. SSG Henderson won the NRA National Pistol Championship in a close victory over seven-time National Pistol Champion Brian Zins, U. S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant. The pistol phase concluded with the National Trophy Pistol Matches on 16 July.

SFC Adam Sokolowski from the U. S. Army Marksmanship Unit won the National Trophy Individual Pistol Match with a 292-9X score. He is shown here at the Awards Ceremony where he received a trophy plaque and presentation M1 Garand rifle. The presentation rifle was crafted by Eric Pierce of National Match Armory in Rendon, Texas. The presenter was Brigadier General Matt Kambic, Assistant Adjutant General, Army, Ohio National Guard.

The first of the National Trophy Pistol Matches is the prestigious President’s Pistol Match. In a tradition started by President Theodore Roosevelt, winners of this match receive a letter of congratulations from the President of the United States. The competition between two previous winners of the President’s Match was especially close. Sergeant Robert Park, U. S. Army, who won this match in 2003, finished with a 387-10X total. SSG Henderson, who won this match in 1997, 2002 and 2005, was not to be outdone and finished with a 387-12X. Ties are broken in favor of the shooter with the highest X-count. Henderson set the National Matches record for this match in 2005 with a 389-10X score and has won it more times than any other shooter in history.

The President’s Match has always been popular with service pistol shooters because the top 100 competitors are named to the “President’s Hundred.” Every member of the Hundred receives a certificate and medallion; military shooters can wear President’s Hundred tabs on their uniforms. Special notoriety is attached to placing 100th and 101st in this match. This year, Ashleigh Grosshuesch from Sheboygan, Wisconsin was 100th, just making the Hundred, and CMDR George Bratton, USNR, was 101st, just missing the cut.

In the National Trophy Individual Pistol Match where the Custer Trophy is at stake, former Army Reserve and now civilian shooter Steve Reiter from Tucson, Arizona was going for an unprecedented three in a row, having won this match in 2004 and 2005. This year he posted another excellent score, 288-12X. Reiter’s score topped the early leaderboards, but was bumped back to second when later scores came in and an outstanding 292-9X total was posted by SFC Adam Sokolowski, a member of the U. S. Army Pistol Team. Sokolowski previously won the Custer Trophy as an Army Private in 1999.

The National Trophy Pistol Match is a high pressure match for many shooters because civilians can earn 10 EIC credit points that count towards the 30 they need to earn for the Distinguished Pistol Shot Badge. 31 Non-Distinguished shooters received EIC credit points in the match; six of those shooters ended with 30 or more EIC points and have now earned their Distinguished Pistol Shot Badges. They are:

• Robert Case, Vacaville, California

• Haig Derderian, Racine, Wisconsin

• Keith Heinauer, Whispering Pines, North Carolina

• Jon Milan, Phoenix, Arizona

• Patrick Powell, Columbia, Tennessee

• Ashliegh Grosshuesch, Sheboygan, Wisconsin