Teams displayed their flags on the firing line during the National Trophy Team Rifle Match. A total of 81 teams competed in the match.

The team’s strength at the 600-yard-line comes from their training, including pair firing exercises that build communication and confidence. The quantity of training the team goes through each season helps them collect a tremendous amount of data they can use to quickly find their zeros in any condition, which is always important in the temperamental conditions at Camp Perry.

The 2010 NTT was closely contested going in the last stage, with only a couple of points separating the top five teams, but at the 600-yard-line the AMU finally pulled ahead to finish with a 2920-100.

The winning NTT team was comprised of Team Captain SSG Walter Craig, Team Coach SFC Emil Praslick III and firing members SSG Brandon Green, SGT Sherri Gallagher, SPC Augustus Dunfey, SFC Grant Singley, SFC Lance Dement and SGT Tryel Cooper. The USAMU Praslick edged out the civilian team California Rifle and Pistol Association-Coalinga, who finished with a 2910-84.
 

The USAMU NTIT Team dominated the Infantry Match with a score of 1329. Lt. Jeff Roney, U.S. Navy Team Officer in Charge, presented the award plaques.

The NTIT is a fast paced six-person team event. What makes it unique is that scoring is based on how many hits a team can score on a bank of eight silhouette targets at distances of 600, 500, 300 and 200 yards during 50-second firing periods. Each team is given 384 rounds, and more points can be earned per hit at the greater distances. This emphasizes on extremely fast and accurate firing and is why the match is often referred to as the “rattle battle”.

To win the 2010 NTIT, the AMU got off to a phenomenal start at 600-yards with a 948. That was more than 300 points ahead of anyone else at the 600 for the entire match. The team finished with a 1329 for the win with California Rifle and Pistol Association-Coalinga on the AMU’s heels for the second day in a row with a 1278. In third place were last year’s surprise overall winners, California Grizzlies O’Connell Juniors with a 1268.

The winning USAMU Micholick team was lead by Team Captain SSG Joel Micholick, Team Coach SSG Daniel Peters and the firing team of SGT Tyrel Cooper, SSG Walter Craig, SFC Lance Dement, SSG Brandon Green, SFC Grant Singley and SFC Kyle Ward.

“Our strategy is always the same, we come out here each year to try to set a National Record,” said SFC Dement, “If this were a poker game, we would put all our chips on the table. There is no holding back, especially in the Infantry Match. You don’t want to play it safe and rely on other teams making mistakes. Sometimes this can bite you, but more times than not our game plan has paid off.”

The AMU certainly held nothing back this year and they will be carrying home the hardware to prove it. To see complete results from the 2010 National Trophy Rifle Matches please visit http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/report_matchResult.cgi?matchID=5690.  Photos from the events can be found at http://cmp1.zenfolio.com/.