CAMP PERRY, OHIO – Pistol and highpower rifle shooters may not realize it, but there’s a dedicated crew of approximately 60 junior target workers who toil from May through mid-August each year, providing virtually all target-related services for competitors during the NRA National Rifle and Pistol Championships and CMP National Trophy Matches and Games Events.
|
|
Members of the NRA target crew prepare and pasted more than 5,000 Rimfire Sporter Match targets prior to the 2010 National Matches.
|
Employed by the NRA and working in conjunction with the Civilian Marksmanship Program and the Ohio National Guard, the summer range crew supplies most of the labor needed to set up, change and eventually dismantle the pistol and rifle ranges for thousands of shooters.
|
|
Workers apply a fresh coat of paint to pistol benches prior to the beginning of the 2010 matches.
|
From painting, surveying firing points, positioning pistol benches and preparing targets, these high school and college students who live primarily in the Port Clinton and Oak Harbor area, dedicate a big chunk of their summer to the National Matches.
|
|
At 78, Joe DeCosta says the secret of his success is surrounding himself with good people.
|
Led by NRA Range Engineer Joe DeCosta, Assistant Range Engineer Ralph Reichman and Range Supervisor Jen Rich, the crew is broken into two main groups – target pasting and everything else that’s target-related.
The younger members of the team, at ages 14 and 15, are assigned to target pasting duties and are limited to maximum of 40 working hours per week. Those 16 years of age and over handle jobs that require considerable physical labor and operation of motorized equipment. They are also permitted to work overtime.
|
|
Erica Lipstraw, a University of Toledo student, served as foreman of the target crew during this year’s matches.
|
Foreman Erica Lipstraw, 20, of Oak Harbor, supervised a crew of 29 workers who pasted more than 5,000 CMP Rimfire Sporter Match targets prior to the matches in July. Lipstraw said many members of the crew have been pasting targets each summer for three to four years.
DeCosta, 78, who just completed his 27th National Matches at Camp Perry, said the range crew is a story of family participation.
|
|
Katie Perry is one of six family members and three generations who have served on the Camp Perry range crew over the years.
|
“I hate to say this, but hiring is almost a closed house. Once I get a family, like Katie Perry – she’s the last of six family members who have worked for us every year. I worked with many of these kids’ fathers years ago – they have a great work ethic,” he said.
As a former competitor, DeCosta and his crew know what the shooters need and expect from the target crew, he said. “We do our best to give them the best targets and best service we can – that’s what I would want as a shooter.”
DeCosta has been a familiar face on the ranges of Camp Perry since 1969 as a Marine Corps shooter. He earned his Distinguished Pistol badge in 1972 and followed with a Distinguished Rifleman’s badge the following year.
“Even though the work is hard and the kids are out here pasting targets in the hot sun all the time, they seem to be having fun,” he said. It’s not unusual for some workers to begin working overtime three or four days into their seven-day workweek.
|
|
The 2010 NRA target crew gathered at their season-ending picnic for a final photograph prior to returning to school and other fall activities.
|
The range crew celebrated another successful year with a season-ending picnic on Friday, 20 August. Though many of the crew had already departed for family vacations or back-to-school prep, those who remained enjoyed a steak dinner and recreation as part of the celebration.
“My job over the years has been very easy,” DeCosta said. “Like I learned in the Marine Corps, if you surround yourself with good people, you’re going to be successful,” he added.
|
|
Ralph Reichman, Assistant Range Engineer, Christie Sewell, CMP North General Manager and Joe DeCosta, Range Engineer celebrated their partnership in another successful National Matches.
|
“It’s a pleasure now working with the CMP, together we work hard to get things done up here,” DeCosta said.
NEXT ARTICLE
|
