2007 JROTC Postals Deliver Again - For ten years the Civilian Marksmanship Program has overseen the scoring of Navy, Army and Marine Corps JROTC 3x10 three-position air rifle postal competitions. These annual postals now determine which JROTC unit teams and individual cadets advance to compete in their respective service’s Eastern or Western JROTC shoulder-to-shoulder championships. From those Region Championships, the best unit teams and individuals representing each service advance to the JROTC National Championships. This year, for the first time, the Air Force joined in the fall postals with 14 units submitting targets. Altogether, 5,974 cadets and 1,101 JROTC unit teams participated in this year’s postals.

A Plea for Improved Scoring - Ten-meter air rifle targets and 50-foot smallbore targets are very difficult to score accurately because the scoring rings and 10-dots are small and easy to misjudge. It is not surprising then that many match sponsors and coaches score these targets inaccurately, with a result that scores given are usually higher than scores fired. This article seeks to challenge everyone who scores targets to place greater emphasis on learning how to score accurately to assure that paper target scoring becomes significantly better than it is now.

Straight to the Rear - By SPC Tyrel Cooper - Trigger control is one of the two main principles of shooting that we teach. You can have the best position in the world with perfect sight alignment, but if you have bad trigger control, you have wasted all that effort that you put into your position and sight alignment.

Ground Breaking for New Camp Perry Indoor Range - On Friday, 14 December, Brigadier General Jack E. Lee, Deputy Commander, Joint Force Headquarters (Ohio), OH ARNG, joined Civilian Marksmanship Program Director Gary Anderson, and COL James Chisman, OH ARNG, Fort Ohio Installations Commander, in a ground breaking ceremony at Camp Perry for a new indoor range and marksmanship training facility. The Civilian Marksmanship Program is partnering with the Ohio National Guard in constructing the facility, which will provide expanded electronic skills training for National Guardsmen and an 80-point air gun range for CMP training and competition programs. Construction is starting this month and is scheduled for completion in June 2008.

Avid National Match Competitor Elected to U. S. Congress - Political office is not new territory for U. S. Congressman-Elect Bob Latta (R-Ohio). In fact, Latta has over 17 years of experience serving in various offices in his home county and in the Ohio State Senate and House of Representatives. Bob Latta, a dedicated gun enthusiast and outdoorsman, has almost as many years of experience as a National Matches competitor. On 11 December 2007 a special election was held in Ohio to fill the seat of Rep. Paul E Gillmor (R), who passed away in September after a fall in his home. Latta, who was serving his fourth term in the Ohio House of Representatives at the time of the special election, won the election by a 57-43 margin and is now taking over the same Ohio 5th Congressional District Seat that his father, Del Latta (R), held from 1958 until 1988.

CMP Competitions Update - Two recent CMP activities highlight how the CMP’s shooting competition season is never really over. CMP staff finished conducting the 2007 Western CMP Games Matches at Phoenix on 23 October. Eight days later, on 31 October, the CMP was involved in the Fall National Matches Planning Conference where representatives of the NRA, Ohio National Guard, USAR, Army Marksmanship Unit and USMC Shooting Teams met to evaluate the 2007 National Matches and make plans for the 2008 National Matches. The CMP staff went from that meeting into meetings to finalize details for the 2008 JROTC Championships in February and March and the Eastern CMP Games Matches in May. The purpose of this article is to bring you up to date on recent developments that will be of interest to competitive shooters who participate in this continuous cycle of CMP Championships.

2007 Creedmoor Cup Matches - The 2007 Creedmoor Cup Matches and Clinic were held 24-28 October at the Ben Avery Shooting Facility which is located just north of Phoenix, AZ. This was a new location for the Creedmoor Cup, which is held in conjunction with the CMP Western Games. The Ben Avery Range has a long history of hosting major events including the 1970 World Shooting Championship and several National Championships. The range also has the distinction of being the largest public shooting facility in the country since the Arizona Game and Fish Department took over the operations of the complex. Camp Pendleton, CA hosted the event for the past four years, but the change of venue proved to be fortuitous because the wildfires ravaged southern California that same week and would have lead to the cancellation of the Matches.

Strapping In - By SPC Calvin Roberts - There are countless ways to set up a highpower rifle sling. However, there is no one way to properly assemble this crucial shooting tool. This article is not intended to walk you step by step through the “proper sling assembly process”. I am simply going to provide several tips and tricks to try out and keep in mind for your next trip to the range. The best way to learn the proper sling configuration is to talk with several experienced competitors and have them show you how they attach and use their sling. Then experiment with what you have seen to find out what works best for you.

Postal Round for the 2008 US Army Junior Open Air Rifle Championship Begins - The State Championship Postal Competition for the 2nd Annual US Army Junior Open Air Rifle Championships is now open for participants to begin ordering and submitting targets. The event consists of a Three-Position Air Rifle Match for the Sporter Air Rifle Class and an International Standing Air Rifle Match for the Precision Air Rifle Class. Teams and individuals have from 15 November 2007 until 15 March 2008 to enter the postal phase of the competition. This event is open to all school-age juniors, junior clubs, school teams, 4-H clubs, JROTC Units or other organizations with eligible junior members.