In the past, CMP posted bi-monthly issues of "The First Shot," CMP's electronic magazine.  Starting with this issue, the CMP will post new articles every week.  Please check "The First Shot," regularly for new postings.  Each time a new article is posted, we will send an email notice.
 
"The First Shot" has a popular user "bulletin board" so readers can post messages for other forum users and CMP staff.  Check out the First Shot Forum at http://www.odcmp.org/forum/

 

¥     2004 Army JROTC Regional Three Position Championships - In February, the best Army JROTC rifle shooters in the country converged on the Pool Range at Ft. Benning, Georgia and the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado to compete in the first-ever Army JROTC Eastern and Western Region Championships and to decide who would earn the honor of representing Army JROTC in the National JROTC at Ft. Benning later this month.  Over 2000 cadets participated in the first round of competition, which was a postal match that determined JROTC unit teams and individual cadets that advanced to the Eastern or Western Region Championships.  Click on http://www.odcmp.org/031204/jrotc.asp to view a photo report on these two exciting championships. 

 

¥     CMP Pairs Clinic in Pennsylvania.  CMP Director Gary Anderson conducted a two and one-half day "Pairs Clinic" at the Palmyra Sportsmen's Association.  http://www.odcmp.org/031204/clinic.asp

 

¥     GAI Match Report.  The Gary Anderson Invitational three-position air rifle championship that is now hosted by the Wolf Creek Young Shooters Association at Fort Benning, Georgia is one of the two largest junior rifle competitions in the country.  The 2003 GAI competition took place at the USAMU Pool Complex ranges on 21-23 November and 5-6 December.  http://www.odcmp.org/031204/GAI.asp

 

 

¥     In Memoriam.  R. Bruce Borthwick, 73 of Alexandria, Virginia, died on December 18, 2003 in Alexandria.  Borthwick was a U. S. Naval Academy graduate and retired from the Navy as a Commander.  He earned a Ph.D. in public policy and completed a second career as a cost analyst and public policy consultant.  Borthwick is best known in the shooting world for his life-long interest in junior shooting.  He coached the West Potomac (Virginia) High School Rifle Team for many years and was an active leader of junior shooting in the Northern Virginia area.  Borthwick served in many local, national and international competitions as a competition official.  He was a volunteer shooting official in the 1996 Olympic Games.

 

¥     In Memoriam.  Octavia Moses Beasley, 74 of Wilmington, Delaware, passed away October 29,2003.  She was born in Gorham, Maine and graduated from Gorham High School in 1946 and Simmons College in 1950.  Mrs. Beasley was the mother of Marsha Beasley, a member of the CMP Board of Directors.  Octavia was active for many years as a volunteer official in numerous competitive shooting events, including the National Matches, USA Shooting Nationals and ISSF World Cups.  She served as a results judge during the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta and was awarded the ISSF Silver Medal for distinguished service.  Octavia was preceded in death by her husband of 52 years, John K. Beasley in February 2003.  Mr. Beasley also served as a dedicated and distinguished competition official in many national and international competitions. 

 

¥     JROTC National Championship Results Online Live.  The CMP is cooperating with the Army, Navy and Marine Corps JROTC Commands to conduct the 2^nd National JROTC Air Rifle Championship at Fort Benning's Army Marksmanship Unit Pool Complex range on March 26 and 27.  During the match, on both Friday and Saturday, all individual and team results will be posted on the CMP web site just as soon as they are fired.  Last year, students and teachers in several participating schools watched the progress of the competition on computers at their schools.  If you want to follow this year's competition, just log in to http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/matchResultSearch.cgi and click on National JROTC Air Rifle Championship.

¥     Precision Shooting Report on Springfield and Garand Matches.  The January 2004 issue of Precision Shooting magazine had an interesting article on the 2003 John C. Garand and Springfield Matches written by Roy Baumgardner, author of the book, Precision Shooting with the M1 Garand.    For more information on how to obtain Precision Shooting click on their web site at http://www.precisionshooting.com/.

¥     New Distinguished International Shooters.  The CMP recently confirmed that eight U. S. shooters earned the prestigious U. S. International Shooter Badge in 2003.  The International Distinguished Badge was established by the Department of the Army in 1963 when the first badge was presented by President John F. Kennedy.  The badge can only be earned by members of the U. S. Shooting team who have medal winning performances in Olympic, World Championship, World Cup and Pan American Games competition.  The new International Distinguished shooters are Jamie Beyerle, rifle; Melissa Mulloy, rifle; Brandie Neal, shotgun, Randall Sotowa, shotgun; Jason Turner, pistol; Bradley Wheeldon, rifle; Whitly Loper, shotgun and William Keever, shotgun.

¥     Guns of the National Matches Exhibit at 2004 NRA Convention.  The CMP and the Ohio Gun Collector's Association are again teaming up to present the immensely popular Guns of the National Matches exhibit that was constructed in 2003 to commemorate the National Matches Centennial.  The exhibit will be on display in the Gun Collector exhibition hall at the 2004 NRA Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from April 16 to the 18^th.  Anyone who did not see the display at the 2003 National Matches or who would like to see it again and who is planning to attend the NRA Convention in Pittsburgh is encouraged to look for the display in the Gun Collector exhibits.  The OGCA-CMP exhibit includes a comprehensive collection of rifles and pistols fired in a century of National Match competitions.  Photos from the 2003 National Matches display can be found at http://www.odcmp.com/NM/2003/2003NM_Bulletin_GunsDisplay.pdf. 

¥     American Legion Junior Postal Results.  Each year, the American Legion sponsors a major three-position air rifle postal competition for junior shooters.  American Legion Junior Shooting Sports recently announced the results of their First Phase State/Regional Championship.  To see the complete results, click on http://www.legion.org/?section=prog_evt&subsection=evt_shooting&content=evt_shooting and then click on "state/regional championships."  Winners in this phase advance to a second phase postal to determine qualifiers for the American Legion Championship at Colorado Springs on August 10-14.

¥     Ohio Spring M1 Clinic.  Each spring, the Ohio Rifle and Pistol Association and New York State Rifle and Pistol Association conduct the nation's two largest highpower rifle instructional clinics.  The 2004 ORPA clinic will take place at Camp Perry, Ohio on the same ranges where the National Matches take place on April 24-25.  The CMP will provide loaner M1s for students to fire in the clinic and a large group of outstanding volunteer instructors will again provide coaching.  Contact Barb Smith, ORPA Highpower Director, P. O. Box 11490, Columbus OH 43211-0490, 614-475-9336 to obtain a program and entry forms.

¥     Marine Corps JROTC Postal Championship.  Each year the CMP administers a two-phase postal competition for the USMC Training and Education Command and the Command's MCJROTC cadets.  The first phase of the 2004 competition ended in mid-January.  The second phase Qualifying Competition to select teams and individuals to represent the Marine Corps at the JROTC Nationals at Fort Benning on March 25-27 was conducted in February.  Complete results for both phases of this competition can be seen on the CMP web site at http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/matchResultSearch.cgi.

¥     Remington 40X Sold Out. As of 11 March, the CMP has received more orders for both the standard and heavy barrel Remington 40X model rifles than we have rifles available for shipment. Orders received after 11 March will be returned unprocessed. It will take approximately 30 days for us to complete processing of the orders we have on hand. Once we complete processing all the orders we can fill, we will notify (by telephone or email) those customers whose orders we were not able to fill.

Sights and Handstops for Winchester 52C and 52D and Remington 513T Models Available.  In 2003, CMP sold a quantity of Winchester Model 52D and 52C and Remington 513T rifles to both clubs and individuals.  These rifles were sold without sights or handstops.  The CMP has completed the inspection and repair of the sights that were removed from these rifles and is offering these sights and handstops for sale to the clubs and individuals who recently purchased 52Cs and 52Ds and 513Ts from CMP, on a one handstop, one front sight and one rear sight per rifle purchased basis.  CMP will only accept club orders between 12 January and 29 February.  Orders from individual customers for any remaining sights will also be accepted beginning 1 March 2004.  Information and prices can be found at http://www.odcmp.com/Clubs/partsales.htm. 

 

¥      2004 Affiliated Club Annual Report Renewal Information - The Annual Report and Renewal notifications for CMP-affiliated clubs and organizations, which have been sent in January in past years, will not be sent until the end of February.  This delay is because the CMP Board of Directors is considering some procedural changes that could streamline the affiliation process and make CMP resources more readily available to more clubs and organizations.  Once these considerations are decided, all affiliated clubs and organizations will be notified, via email or mail, regarding any changes and the new submission dates for their Annual Report Renewals.  It is expected that Annual Report and Renewal notifications for CMP affiliates will be released in mid to late February and that reports will be due by 1 April.

 

¥       2004 National Guard Bureau Postal Competition - All Junior shooting clubs and school teams are encouraged to enter and participate in the 2004 National Guard Bureau Junior Position Air Rifle Tournament.  This tournament features both a precision air rifle standing event and a sporter air rifle three-position event.  Teams and individuals can actually enter both of these events to compete in the postal "state championship" phase of the competition.  Interested clubs or schools may order targets from the CMP anytime between now and 10 March 2004.  All targets must be fired and returned to the CMP, postmarked not later than 31 March 2004.  Full details on this exciting nationwide event can be accessed via the CMP website at: www.odcmp.com/3P/NGB.htm.  The Tournament has two phases of competition.  The first is a State Championship postal, where individuals and teams are ranked and awards given for each state.  The second is a National Championship shoulder-to-shoulder championship for the top ten sporter and top ten precision teams who win state championships.  The 2003 national team winners were the Timber Wolves precision team and Bogalusa HS sporter team.  Teams that qualify for the nationals will receive travel assistance.  The winning precision class team in the National Championship will again win a trip to Bisley, England to participate in the British National Championship.  Do not delay - get your target orders in now to be a part of this exciting event.