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News from the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit By Paula J. Randall Pagán U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit Public Affairs Office Final Pan-Am Games Team Selected--7 Soldiers Make Team FORT BENNING, Ga. - The 28-person U.S. Shooting Team that will compete in the Pan-American Games this summer has been selected and nine soldiers from the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit made the team. The USAMU soldiers leave Fort Benning July 27 for Tampa, Fla., for Pan-Am processing before heading to the competition in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit hosted the final competition to select the U.S. Team to compete in the Pan-American Games this summer. The matches were sponsored by USA Shooting, the national governing body for Olympic shooting sports in the United States. The Pan-American Games will be conducted in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, August 2 to 9. The Pan-Am Games are an Olympic-style multi-sport competition for countries in the Western Hemisphere and are conducted every four years. Shooting is one of the larger sports on the Pan-Am Games program. Not only can shooters win medals and set world records at the Pan-American Games, but the Pan-Am Games will be the last chance for shooters from the Western Hemisphere to win quota slots for their countries to compete in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. Members of the U.S. Pan-Am Shooting Team and their competition dates are: Rifle: * SFC Thomas Tamas, USAMU, Free Rifle Prone, Aug. 7. * SSG Jason Parker, USAMU, Three Position Free Rifle, Aug. 9. * SPC Shane Barnhart, USAMU, Men's Air Rifle, Aug. 2 and 4. * SPC Mary Elsass, USAMU, Women's Air Rifle, Aug. 2 and 3. * SPC Hattie Johnson, USAMU, Sport Rifle, Aug. 6. * Lt. JG. Eric Uptagrafft, USNR, Longmont, CO, Three Position Free Rifle, Aug. 9. * SSG Ken Johnson (ex-USAMU), Crawfordville, FL, Free Rifle Prone, Aug. 7. * Melissa Mulloy, Colorado Springs, Colo., Women's Air Rifle, Aug. 2 and 3. * Sarah Blakeslee, Vancouver, Wash., Sport Rifle, Sport Rifle, Aug. 6. * Brad Wheeldon, Eubank, Ky., Men's Air Rifle, Aug. 2 and 4. Pistol: * SFC Daryl Szarenski, USAMU, Free Pistol, Aug. 5. * PO3 Sandra Uptagrafft, USNR, Longmont, Colo., Sport Pistol, Aug. 8. * CPT John McNally (ex-USAMU), Heath, Texas, Rapid Fire Pistol, Aug. 6 and 7. * John Bickar, Colorado Springs, Rapid Fire Pistol and Men's Air Pistol, Aug. 2 and 6 to 7. * Janine Bowman, Rowlett, Texas, Women's Air & Sport Pistol, Aug. 8. * Rebecca Snyder, Colorado Springs, Women's Air Pistol, Aug. 3. * Jason Turner, Rochester, N.Y., Men's Air Pistol and Free Pistol, Aug. 5. Shotgun: * SFC Shawn Dulohery, USAMU, Men's Skeet, Aug. 8. * SSG William H. Keever, USAMU, Men's Double Trap, Aug. 6. * Jeffrey Holguin, Colorado Springs, Men's Double Trap, Aug. 6. * Lance Bade, Colorado Springs, Men's Trap, Aug. 2 and 3. * Chris Kiernan, Colorado Springs, Men's Trap, Aug. 2 and 3. * Collyn Loper, Indian Springs, Ala., Women's Trap, Aug. 4. * Brandie Neal, Colorado Springs, Women's Skeet, Aug. 7. * Kimberly Rhode, El Monte, Calif., Women's Double Trap, Aug. 5. * Randy Sotowa. Arcadia, Calif., Men's Skeet, Aug. 8. Running Target: * SSG Armando Ayala, USAMU, 10-Meter 30+30 Running Target, Aug. 7 and 8. * Bill Johnson, Woodville, Miss., 10-Meter 30+30 Running Target, Aug. 7 and 8. Coaching Staff: * MAJ Dave Johnson, USAR, National Rifle Team Coach. * Erich Buljung (USAMU retired), National Pistol Team Coach. * Lloyd Woodhouse (USAF retired), National Shotgun Team Coach. * Sergey Luzov, National Running Target Team Coach The following personnel won positions on the 2003 USA Pan-American Games, but gave up their slots to fellow U.S. National Team shooters: * MAJ Michael Anti, Prone Rifle * SSG Jason Parker, Men's Air Rifle * SFC Daryl Szarenski, Air Pistol * SSG Elizabeth Callahan, USAR, Sport and Women's Air Pistol * Jamie Beyerle, Sport and Women's Air Rifle * Glenn Eller, Men's Double Trap * Emily Caruso, Fairfield, CT, Women's Air Rifle. The U.S. Shooting Team that will compete in the 2003 Pan-American Games in Santo Domingo in early August was selected in matches earlier this year. Seven soldiers from the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit made the team and two were chosen as alternates. The U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit hosted the final competition to select the U.S. Team. USA Shooting, national governing body for Olympic shooting in the U. S., sponsored the trials. Two USAMU Rifle Shooters Compete in World Palma Matches FORT BENNING, Ga. - Two USAMU soldiers are representing the United States in England on the U.S. Palma World Championship Team this month. At the Palma Team Trials in 2001 at Camp Butner, N.C., two USAMU service rifle shooters and two Marine Reservists shot their way onto the 18-person U.S. Team that will compete in the Palma World Championships of International Long-Range Rifle Shooting, which is taking place at Bisley, England, in July 5 to 27. |
| SSG
Emil Praslick III, USAMU; U.S. Marine Reservist Maj. John Hoham of Indiana;
U.S. Marine Reservist Staff Sgt. David Karcher of Louisiana and SGT
Robert Mango, USAMU, all qualified for the U. S. Team that is competing
at Bisley. The first Palma Trophy Match was held in 1876 at the Creedmoor Range on Long Island, NY. The U.S. Team won that year and since then has won 13 of the 25 Palma competitions. |
 SGT Emil Praslick III and SGT Robert Mango, USAMU, are competing in Bisley, England, this month as members of the U. S. Team in the Palma World Championship matches. |
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The Palma Trophy Match is shot in three stages of slow fire in the prone position using an iron-sighted .308 caliber rifles that fire 155-grain bullets. Competitors aim for targets with a 20-inch bull's eye at distances of 800, 900 and 1,000 yards. "This was the first time I ever tried out for the team and I was really impressed with the high caliber of talent among the people who tried out," Praslick said. "As a service rifle shooter, this was the only form of international competition open to me and I wanted to make the team so I could represent both the Army and the United States in international competition. "The match is very challenging, especially in changing wind conditions," Praslick continued. "Shooting the 155 grain bullet makes it very difficult to shoot long range, because every one mph of wind will move the bullet 10 inches off your mark at 1,000 yards. You just have to concentrate and not make mistakes. This is definitely a shooter skills match that demands a lot of tactics and strategy." SGT Mango said, "This was my first time trying out for the Palma Team and I'm happy to have made it. One thing that helped was getting a lot of good wind-reading training from our Service Rifle Team. I'm looking forward to competing. I've been wanting to do it for a long time USAMU Soldiers Win Competitions FORT BENNING, Ga. - Soldiers from the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit have scored more recent major victories. Some of their accomplishments include: |
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Interservice Trap Championships, Fort Benning, June. USAMU
shotgun shooter SSG Joseph Buffa took second place and SPC Mark Weeks
placed third in the Double Trap Championships. PFC Matthew Wallace took
first place in the 100-Target Trap Match, second in the 300-Target Trap
Match and third place in the 200-Target Trap Match. SGT Richard Hadden
won second in the 200-Target Trap Match and third in the 100- and 300-Target
matches. * USA Shooting National Pistol Championships, Fort Benning, June. USAMU international pistol shooter SFC Daryl Szarenski won the Gold Medal in the Free Pistol National Championship and SSG Adam Holloway the Bronze. Szarenski also took the Silver Medal in Air Pistol and SPC John Ennis the Bronze. * USA Shooting National Rifle Championships, Fort Benning, June. USAMU international rifle shooter SSG Jason Parker won a Gold Medal in Men's Air Rifle while SPC Hattie Johnson won the Silver Medal in Women's Air Rifle. Johnson also won a Bronze Medal in Women's Sport Rifle. |
 USAMU shooter, SSG Jason Parker set a world record in men’s air rifle in the Munich World Cup in early June and won the National Championship in that event in late June. |
| MAJ Mike Anti won
the Gold Medal in Men's Prone Rifle while Parker won Gold in the Men's
Three-Position Rifle Championship and Anti place second. * USA Shooting National Running Target Championships, Fort Benning, June. USAMU running target shooter SSG Armando Ayala won Gold Medals in the 50-Meter Running Target Mixed and the 10-Meter event. SSG Lance Dement placed second in the 50-Meter Mixed Championship and third in the 50-Meter 30+30 Championship. * U.S. Practical Shooting Association Area 5 Championship, Polo, Illinois, June. USAMU action pistol shooter SGT Maxient Michel won the Area 5 Limited 10 Division and Military Division Championships. SGT Gregory Wilson finished first in his class and took second in the Military Division. * Interservice Pistol Championships, Camp Robinson, Arkansas, June. The USAMU Service Pistol Team of SFC Roger Jacobson, SSG Aaron Hampton, SSG Thomas Rose, SGT Adam Sokolowski and SPC Sean Watson won the Team Match Grand Aggregate and was named 2003 Interservice Team Champion. Sokolowski placed third out of 73 shooters in the Individual Championship with a score of 3,503 as well as third in the three-gun aggregate with a score of 2,647 points out of 2,700. * NRA Open Conventional Pistol Indoor National Championship. The NRA announced in June that SSG Thomas Rose beat 1,351 competitors to win the NRA Open Conventional Pistol Indoor National Championship. Sectional Matches for this championship are fired in February and March. Rose shot in March and becomes the first soldier to win this championship since 1986.
* Frank Bickar Memorial Regional Bull's Eye Match, Canton, Ohio, July 11 to 13. SFC Roger Jacobson took third place in the overall Grand Aggregate The USAMU Team of Jacobson, Rose, Sokolowski and SPC Sean Watson finished in second place in the Service Pistol Team Match and the .45-Caliber Team Match. (Formed in 1956 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to raise the standards of marksmanship throughout the U.S. Army, the Army Marksmanship Unit is assigned to the Accessions Support Brigade, U.S. Army Accessions Command, of Fort Monroe, Va. The Marksmanship Unit trains its soldiers to win competitions and enhances combat readiness through train-the-trainer clinics, research and development. The world-class soldier-athletes of the USAMU also promote the Army and assist recruiters in attracting young Americans to enlist in the Army. For more information on the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, contact the Public Affairs Office at (706) 545-5436, |
