Story and photo by Sgt. 1st Class Michel Sauret
DARIEN, Ill. – The Army Reserve will host its first ever Small Arms Championship at Camp Robinson, Arkansas, from September 21-26.
The championship is open to all Army Reserve Soldiers and will consist of 11 matches covering pistol, small rifle and light machine gun marksmanship.
The event is designed to promote marksmanship skills across the Reserve force and award the top shooters who come to compete. Combat matches empower Soldiers to concentrate solely on marksmanship training under competitive conditions.
Soldiers will fire the M16 and M4 rifles at distances from 25 yards to 500 yards using iron sights. They will fire the M9 pistols at distances from 10 to 35 yards. They will finish the competition with firing the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon and the M240B Light Machine Gun.
Some of the competition events will require running and physical endurance.
A maximum of 160 Soldiers will be allowed to compete, forming teams of four firing members each.
The competition is hosted and organized by the Army Reserve Marksmanship Program (ARMP), which consists of marksmen who have earned medals in nation-wide and international competitions, with two Soldiers eligible to compete in the 2016 Olympics.
ARMP represents the forefront of small arms skills in the Reserve. The program is officially approved to provide subject matter experts on the weapons all Soldier use.
Soldiers who are interested in registering for the championship can do so here:
https://ct.thecmp.org/app/v1/index.php?do=matchRegistrationLogin
For more information visit the 416th TEC
Firearm User Network 
Larry R. Smith
Jul 18, 2014 @ 17:33:58
Sounds like a great program. What is being done to ensure that Commanders support the soldiers who want to attend? As marksmanship coordinator in the old 120 ARCOM and earlier in the 2ND Army I would go to budget meetings and find that marksmanship was the next to last item in the budget, right above, “Other”. If all Commanders don’t support the program then it falls apart.
LikeLike
John M. Buol Jr.
Jul 18, 2014 @ 17:46:31
You have, unfortunately, pointed out a flaw that continues to exist. While Army regulation (AR 350-66 and AR 140-1, Chapter 7) supports and authorizes these programs, it never requires it.
Official Army policy is that competition, attendance and preparation for, is classified as training just as Annual Training for Reservists and FTXs are. Commanders are not required to use it, just that they are authorized to.
This gets frustrating when ignorant commanders assume such things aren’t proper (most Army and Marine personnel are novices with firearms and some are just scared of them) so it’s always easier to just say no. Worse, Chief of the Army Reserve is required by written regulation to promote marksmanship, to include distributing a newsletter called Army Reserve Marksman, and refuses to do so.
LikeLike
Larry R. Smith
Jul 18, 2014 @ 17:58:57
What a shame! Nothing has changed yet commanders wonder why their soldiers cannot shoot/qualify. I used to attend matches and training on my own dime for points only but eventually I made it to the USAR Pistol Team and that it worth sleeping on the floor in someone else’s hotel room, eating MRE’s/sardines/peanut butter, and reloading ammo.
LikeLike