With the war in Iraq barely a week old, Fort Benning, Georgia, the home of United States Army Infantry, was abuzz with activity beginning on Thursday, 27 March and continuing on to Sunday, 30 March.  The soldiers, sailors and Marines risking their lives in Iraq were foremost on the minds of every person on the base.  However, many people on base also had future soldiers, sailors and Marines on their minds.  March 27 was the kickoff of the First Annual JROTC National Air Rifle Championships – a competition sponsored by the CMP - that was to pit the best shooting teams from the U.S. Army JROTC, the U.S. Navy JROTC and the U.S. Marine Corps JROTC in shoulder-to-shoulder competition to determine the best of the best JROTC sporter and precision three-position air rifle teams and individuals in the country.

    A JROTC championship became a reality last year when representatives of the three JROTC Cadet Commands met with CMP representatives and decided to go ahead with the championship.  The Cadet Commands invited the CMP to administer the competition.  The competition started with established Navy and Marine Corps JROTC postals that allow all units with rifle programs a chance to participate.  The Army Cadet Command agreed to sponsor a similar postal.  These postal competitions were the first or preliminary round of the championship.  The course of fire for the first round was a three-position, 3x10 event.  1,171 unit teams and over 5,400 individual JROTC cadets fired these postals during the months of December and January.  

Ian Beach from Winnsboro (Louisiana) HS AJROTC took first place honors in the Sporter Class Individual Championship with a score of 1,152.0.

James Tickle from Stockbridge (Georgia) HS NJROTC placed first in the Precision Class Individual Championship with a score of 1,267.0, just edging Leah Wilcox of Shelby County (Kentucky) HS MCJROTC by 1.6 points.

    A second qualifying round was then fired by the top teams in the postal match.  The Navy held a shoulder-to-shoulder Championship in February, that determined the six JROTC teams they would send to Fort Benning.  The Army and Marine Corps teams fired a second 3X20 postal match with witnesses designated by the CMP.  The top three sporter and three precision teams from each branch were invited to Fort Benning, for a total of eighteen teams.  

    Unfortunately the situation in Iraq and the “Code Orange” security level made it impossible for teams from two qualifying schools, Asheville High School from North Carolina and Elizabeth High School from New Jersey, to attend.  Their school boards had policies in effect that did not allow them to travel out of state during a time of national emergency.  Fortunately, the two next highest ranking teams were able to attend and all eighteen slots were filled.  The competition at Fort Benning featured teams from twelve states, as well as one Army JROTC team representing Würzburg American High School in Germany.

    The Opening Ceremony for the championship was held at Fort Benning and saw Colonel Robert Hoidahl, Commander of the United States Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU) welcome all competitors.  Colonel Hoidahl commended the JROTC shooters for their marksmanship achievements and for advancing to this high level of competition.  The Championship was then officially opened by J. B. Hudson,  the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army.  Mr. Hudson has closely followed the development of CMP youth programs and fired the ceremonial first shot for the 2002 National Matches at Camp Perry.  He expressed his excitement at being able to attend the competition, wished the shooters good luck and declared the competition “open”.  

    The competition took place over three days at the Pool Range facility on Fort Benning.  This range boasts electronic targets and is one of only two ranges in the country that have this state of the art equipment.   

    Competition was fierce between the three branches and eighteen teams.  The rivalry that exists between the services made this a real “high pressure” match.  There were also many notable rivalries within each branch that added to the spirit of competition.  The Marine Corps JROTC teams of La Cueva High School and El Dorado High School, both from Albuquerque, New Mexico, renewed an old rivalry.  These two teams compete many times every year, but to meet again at this level made the championship especially meaningful to them.  

Shelby County (Kentucky) HS MCJROTC won the JROTC National Precision Team Championship with a score of 4615.  Team members include Leah Wilcox, 1167, Jason Montgomery, 1149, Christopher Boggs, 1151, Justin Bash, 1148, and team alternate, Matthew Smith.  Gerald Lyons and Steve Wilcox are instructors for the team.

Winning Sporter Team - Winnsboro (Louisiana) HS AJROTC with a score of 4196.  Team members include Judson Talbot, 1060, Ian Beach, 1063, Alaina Wallace, 1049, Kenny Kitchen, 1024, and Travis Carter, team alternate.  Instructors of the Winnsboro team are Sladen Mohl and Frank Kitchen.

   A particularly exciting innovation was the new score-posting format that the CMP used during the match.  For the first time ever, all individual and team scores fired during the championship were posted on the CMP website just as soon as they were scored by the electronic targets.  Competitors, coaches and spectators at the championship could see the scores on a large screen at the range, while school classmates and families back home could see instant results on their computer screens.  In the individual finals at Fort Benning, results were updated on the internet after each final round shot so viewers could follow the exact progress of each final.   

    One shooter, Jeremy Drennan, who won High Navy JROTC individual honors and fourth place overall, took particular advantage of this new system.  His father was unable to attend the first day, so he watched the match throughout the day from his computer at work!  Many high schools monitored the progress of their teams via this new scoring capability.  This feature created a whole new element of excitement for the competition by keeping spectators all over the country updated on the performance of their teams.  Links to the list of competition winners along with pictures from the championship is available at the bottom of this page.  

    Following shooting, an awards banquet was held at the Ironworks Convention and Trade Center in Columbus, Georgia.  Brigadier General Gratton Sealock, Deputy Commanding General of the Army Cadet Command, spoke to the shooters, expressing his congratulations for the high levels of marksmanship skill they demonstrated.  Major Mike Anti, of the USAMU, a U.S. Olympian and World Cup Gold Medallist, was the guest speaker and encouraged the cadets to consider opportunities they have to continue their shooting careers and even to make the     U. S. Olympic Team.  Awards were distributed to the teams, with winning teams receiving crystal trophies on marble stands.  The top individual shooters were awarded gold, silver and bronze medals.  An Alternates Match was also held and the top individuals in this match received attractive acrylic trophies.  The awards presentation, with the JROTC cadets and their instructors in dress uniforms, was a formal ceremony that brought the competition to a close in an especially fitting manner for such an important new event.  Also in attendance were Colonel Carlos Glover, the Army JROTC Director; Paul Duffy, the Marine Corps JROTC Director and Teresa Casey, a representative of the Navy JROTC Command.  

    The CMP will soon release information on qualifying for the Second Annual 2004 JROTC National Air Rifle Championship.  Representatives of the Cadet Commands and CMP will meet in May to determine the location and qualification process for the 2004 event.  Check this website in late May or June to obtain information on how to be part of next year’s championship.