“That’s the benefit of entering a program like this,” says Susan Jones who made the trip from Manhattan in the heart of New York City. Jones is a .22 caliber pistol competitor who is also looking to become a pistol coach and was looking forward to a coaching clinic at Camp Perry during the National Matches to help meet that goal.

“Many times you learn from your students,” Jones said. A Women’s Wilderness Experience veteran, Jones said she enjoys teaching because it’s a mutually-rewarding process.

Her military coach at SAFS, SSG Jeremy Hartwell, a National Guardsman from Nebraska, helped Jones improve her shooting hand stability with a forearm strengthening exercise, she said. “It made a remarkable difference,” she added.

Jones attended SAFS with her friend Michael Brygider, 51, of Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. It was his first SAFS course and second trip to Camp Perry, Brygider said.
 

Brygider’s wit and lightheartedness made him a hit on the firing line. A photographer by trade, he drew laughs when he pulled out his own custom-made shooting glasses shade which masks his left eye during shooting. The shade features photographs of his left eye from two different angles (see photo above).

“I’m a fan of the sport and I’m getting reacquainted with competitive shooting after 20 to 25 years off,” he said.

I enjoy shooting because of the precision that’s required,” he added. Brygider said he learned a few new tips and also used the SAFS program to help him prepare for pistol week at the National Matches.

“When you want to learn something new, go to the pros I’ve always said. They don’t get much better than these,” he said.

 

Dr. Gary Waltz participated in SAFS Pistol for the first time this year and walked away with a greater understanding of the challenges involved in pistol marksmanship.

Dr. Gary Waltz, 57, of Lyndhurst, Ohio, attended this year’s SAFS for the first time and is totally new to the sport of pistol shooting. Having recently trained for and receiving his conceal-carry permit, he was looking for additional pistol training.

“I’m a history buff, particularly World War II and an avid reader of J.D. Salinger’s work,” he said. “One of history’s characters I’ve always admired was Annie Oakley – there’s something about the poise and grace she brought to shooting,” he added.

Dr. Waltz said he was highly impressed by the training offered by the military at SAFS. “I didn’t know very much at all about shooting a pistol and our military instructor had me continuously improving.”

Christopher La Chance and his father Ray participated in SAFS Pistol for the first time and are looking forward to returning to Camp Perry for SAFS Rifle at month end.

Ray La Chance, 47, and his son Christopher, 14, of New York enrolled in the SAFS program for the first time this year as well.

“I’m very interested in shooting sports and support of our Second Amendment rights,” Ray said. He said he plans to return for SAFS for Rifle at the end of August and plans to bring Christopher back along with his daughter.

Christopher La Chance said the AR15 is his favorite gun to shoot and is looking forward to coming back for Rifle SAFS where he has an opportunity to learn the fundamentals of marksmanship from USAMU instructors.

In addition to USAMU instruction, a successful SAFS program relies on assistance from all military service branches.

USAMU, in conjunction with CMP and assisted by Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard coaches, conducts the Small Arms Firing Schools each year during the National Matches. The auditorium was conducted by USAMU’s SSG Adam Sokolowski. The classroom instruction was followed with a session on the range; then the shooters completed the day by firing a practice match and the EIC match.

By consolidating SAFS to one day, it enabled CMP to run a Service Pistol Warm-Up Match on Tuesday. In addition, the USAMU conducted an Advanced Small Arms Firing School which was attended by nearly 100 experienced shooters.

SFC Jason St. John of the USAMU stamps scorecards at the conclusion of the SAFS Basic pistol class at Camp Perry’s Hough Auditorium.

"Our original program covered five basic areas including familiarity with the M9 Service Pistol, Introduction to Fundamentals, Introduction to Competition, Mental Management and Training Plans,” said SFC Jason St. John.

More than 400 students attended the SAFS Pistol course which began with safety and fundamental marksmanship instruction in the classroom.

"The mandate of the Small Arms Firing School is to introduce the civilian population the military sidearm, in our case, the M9 Service Pistol. So for the basic program we decided to cut off the competition and mental management side of it, and kept to familiarity, fundamentals and training plans. That gave us an additional 45 minutes to include an actual hands-on training session before students even fired," SFC St. John said. "It is essentially an extension of the fundamentals class."

On the range students fired Beretta M9 ball guns at 25-yard targets. The course of fire during the range training included a slow-fire stage of 10-rounds in five minutes, a timed-fire stage of two-strings of five-rounds in 20 seconds each and a rapid-fire stage of two-strings of five-rounds in 10 seconds each.

SFC St. John said the hands-on segment allowed students to gain familiarity with safety and firing functions of the M9 prior to firing on the range. Combining the hands-on portion of the program with practice firing, then immediately moving to the EIC match, added continuity to the program.

New and returning shooters received outstanding instruction on the firing line during SAFS Pistol leading up to an EIC introductory leg points match.

"Students got immediate feedback from their coaches after practice firing and were able to take that knowledge directly to the line for the introductory EIC match. Now they have it all at one time with the same gun and the same instructor, then they roll right into their match."

"In the advanced course, we wanted to do everything we could to give back to the competitive public. We wanted to tell the advanced students what we focus on to get our shooters to the next level," SFC St. John explained.

The advanced course centered on four basic areas: Equipment, Fundamentals, Training Plans and Mental Preparedness.

SSG Adam Sokolowski, lead USAMU classroom instructor at the SAFS Pistol Basic program, shared some of his experiences with interested students during breaks.

All participants in the Pistol SAFS were awarded an M9 EIC pin, a SAFS T-shirt and certificate of completion, and some earned EIC credits toward their Distinguished Pistol Badge as part of the EIC Match.

For complete results of the SAFS M9 EIC competition, log onto http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/report_matchResult.cgi?matchID=5688.  To view photos from the Pistol SAFS, log onto http://cmp1.zenfolio.com/.