Navy Reservist John Brubaker Needs Tiebreaker to Win Points-Eligible M16 EIC Match & Stuart DeMotte Wins Overall Aggregate Category

CAMP PERRY, OHIO – For some, it’s a points race to finish inside the top 10 percent of all eligible non-Distinguished shooters in the match and for others it’s a warm-up for more M16/AR15 platform events that follow in the National Matches highpower schedule. For the rest of the 657 participants in this year’s M16 EIC Rifle Match, it’s an opportunity to fire a four-stage match on the big range at Camp Perry and take home some memories.

PO1 John Brubaker, U.S. Navy Reserve, of Sanford, FL, fired an aggregate score of 386-12X to win first place in the M16 EIC Match. Brubaker was among the top 10 percent of eligible shooters who earned four introductory points of 30 required to earn a Distinguished Rifle shooter’s badge. Brubaker is pictured above with CMP Board Chairman Judith Legerski.

PO1 John Brubaker, 44, U.S. Navy Reserve, of Sanford, FL, was the highest-scoring shooter in the points-eligible Excellence-In-Competition (EIC) match, firing an aggregate score of 386-12X out of 400 possible. Brubaker and 642 others in the eligible category fired prone slow-fire, prone rapid-fire, sitting rapid-fire and standing slow-fire stages at 200 yards on Viale Range.

Brubaker finished second to the overall match winner, Stuart DeMotte, 25, of Kagel Canyon, CA, who fired an aggregate score of 390 with 12X. DeMotte and others in the overall category have already received EIC points or are Distinguished Rifle shooters and were not eligible for additional points. Eligible shooters who finished in the top 10 percent of their group earned four introductory points. A shooter must accumulate 30 points to earn a Distinguished Rifle badge, also called “going Distinguished.”

Stuart DeMotte, of Kagel Canyon, CA, fired an aggregate score of 390-12X to win the overall M16 EIC Match. Shown in this file photo with CMP Board member Bill Willoughby, DeMotte said “I saved all my spare change to make the trip to Camp Perry.”

Brubaker needed every one of his center shots to hold off second place finisher Michael Boehk, 44, of Rochester Hills, MI, (386-11X) and PO1 Emory Brown, 39, USNR, Dunn, NC, (386-7X). Brubaker fired 100-4X, 99-4X, 95-2X and 92-2X in the four stages, respectively. Boehk fired 100-5X, 100-5X, 93-0X and 93-1X. Brown’s box score read 99-1X, 100-4X, 98-2X and 89-0X.

In the overall category, it was DeMotte at 390-12X, Brubaker, Boehk and Ron Villanueva, 47, of Parma Heights, OH, who slid in ahead of Brown in the tiebreaker with a 386-9X. Villanueva fired a series of 99-4X, 99-2X, 99-3X and 89-0X.

Competitors file into Camp Perry’s Hough Auditorium for the classroom portion of the Small Arms Firing School for rifle. Basic shooters received safety, firearm function and range operations instruction prior to hands-on instruction and Advanced shooters received more detailed instruction prior to joining the line later.

The M16 EIC Rifle Match follows the Small Arms Firing School for rifle each year, which students the opportunity to test their new-found skills on the firing line. The school is conducted by the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit and sponsored by the CMP. Curriculum is broken into basic and advanced sections, providing new and veteran shooters an opportunity to learn new information about shooting in competition and add to their knowledge.

Both courses commence in Hough Auditorium where all shooters are provided with gun safety, range safety and firearm familiarity instruction, plus the important aspects of sight alignment and the science of striking a target in an effective manner.

Instructors from military service and certified civilian coaches worked with SAFS attendees to help them with the basics of marksmanship leading up to the M16 EIC Match that was fired at the course’s conclusion.

Basic SAFS students then depart for the range for group instruction on the firing line with USAMU and other U.S. Military service rifle coaches and certified CMP instructors. Advanced SAFS students remain behind to learn more complex topics such as reading wind, calculating minutes of angle, mental conditioning and competition skills, to name a few.

Advanced class students rejoin the basic class on the firing line where they participate in live-fire practice in each of the three shooting positions. On Day 2, all participants assemble to fire the M16 EIC Rifle Match. All rifles used in the class and ammunition is provided to the shooters by the CMP, which provides a level playing field.

M16 EIC Match shooters fired four stages in the match including prone slow-fire, prone rapid-fire, sitting rapid-fire and standing. Scores from the four stages are combined for an aggregate total to determine place finishes.

This year’s class required five relays of more than 130 shooters each who fired the practice session and match, giving all shooters an opportunity to familiarize themselves with range commands and scoring targets in the Viale Range pits.

For complete results of the 2012 M16 EIC Rifle Match, log onto http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/report_matchResult.cgi?matchID=7982. To view and download photos from the 2012 National Matches and CMP Games, log onto http://cmp1.zenfolio.com/.

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