AMU goes to ISSF World Championships
The Army Marksmanship Unit’s Public Affairs Office writes to tell us that the Unit is headed to the World Championships after their performance at the Spring Selection match this past weekend in Kerrville, TX;
USAMU Soldiers finish one-two in Texas, shoot their way to world championships
By Michael Molinaro
USAMU PAO
FORT BENNING, Ga. – Three Soldiers from the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU) earned a trip to the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) World Championships at the Spring Selection match this past weekend in Kerrville, Texas.
Trap shooters Sgt. 1st Class Ryan Hadden, Spc. Seth Inman and Pvt. Austin Odom shot their way onto the USA Shooting Shotgun Team after four days of intense competition March 13-16.
“Shooting is an individual sport, but it’s always best when the Army team is on top,” Hadden said. “If I wasn’t shooting I was watching my teammates, pulling for them. We are extremely pleased with how things played out.”
At the competition, shooting scores from the fall selection match held last October were combined with the spring scores to determine qualification for the ISSF Championships, which will be held in Granada, Spain. Hadden was in first place based on his fall scores, and continued to dominate from the beginning of the spring competition. He shot a 238 (out of 250 targets) and claimed the first final. The Pendelton, Ore. native is a three-time World Cup Gold Medalist and wants to add a World Championship medal to his collection.
“The world championships are a big deal in this sport and a stepping stone towards the Olympics,” Hadden said. “As my career winds down it would mean the world to me to win a medal there.”
Inman, a Lexington, Mo. native, will shoot in his first World Championship representing the Army after holding on to second place throughout the match. Like Hadden, Inman was in second after the fall match and kept a firm grip on the position after equaling Hadden’s score of 238.
“It’s a great feeling,” Inman said. “We put in a lot of hard work to get to this point. Now we need to keep driving on, staying focused as we get prepared to compete at the worlds.”
Fresh out of basic infantry training, Odom won the junior division and a trip to Granada for the World Junior Championships. Having graduated just two weeks ago, the Benton, Ark. native shot a 226 and closed out the weekend with a victory in the finals to put an emphatic stamp on AMU’s performance in Texas.
As the trap team’s elder statesman, Hadden said there is satisfaction and a sense of achievement when a new recruit fulfills the promise they demonstrated during AMU recruitment.
“(Odom) only got about five or six days of training in after having to go through in-processing, so to shoot the scores that he did after that kind of layoff was phenomenal,” Hadden said. “It feels really good when the guys you bring to the team are working out.”
Besides qualifying for the World Championships, Hadden and Inman will also shoot at the Championship of the America’s (CAT) this fall. Both championships are the first two qualifying matches for the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics, and shooters can earn quota slots for their respective countries.
Next up in Kerrville are the Men’s skeet and double trap matches. The World Championships will be held Sept. 6-20 and the CAT games are scheduled for Oct. 11-20 in Guadalajara, Mexico.
USAMU is part of the U.S. Army Accessions Brigade, Army Marketing and Research Group and is tasked with enhancing the Army’s recruiting effort, raising the standard of Army marksmanship and furthering small arms research and development to enhance the Army’s overall combat readiness.
Category: Army News
Cool. I wish them good luck and no crosswinds.
Great job guys, wishing you the best of luck!
I hope to see my son’s name on an announcement like this someday. 🙂
Like the hero Lance Corporal Tad Steadman story, another feel good of the day for the Army! Great job guys and good luck in the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) World Championships upcoming! Hope you troops go all the way.
How do they get these jobs? I never understood how to get into these units, while I was in. The “All Army Golf Team” would have been great (even though I kinda suck at golf).
The XVIIIth Airborne Corps pistol team almost drafted me when I won the 82d Intramural competition, but I was having too much fun being a squad leader in 1/325 and turned them down. So, it’s just being in a position to get noticed, I guess.
Hey Jonn! That happened to my dad back in 53 or so when he was with the 505th. He became the Pistol Team 1SG before going on to 77th SFG.
–ghp
JSB: How do they get these jobs?
(cue Frank Sinatra)
“Nice work if you can get it …
And you can get it if you try.”
In 1978 I spent six months at Garmisch on the US Army Ski Patrol. Technically. I was USAF, to boot; AND … I didn’t ski at the time so I was placed at the Olympic Ice Stadium renting ice skates to service members. I spent most of my off-duty time mountaineering (wildsteigen “wild-hiking”) in the Grasberg and on a few jaunts in Austria.
I did learn how to cross-country and alpine ski while there.
“Nice work if you can get it,
And you get it … won’t you tell me how.”
–ghp
This reminds me of me in BT: I was selected for the All Army Butt and Brass Collector Team. I tried to decline but it didn’t work out.
Same with me when I was in Basic and “voluntold” for the Fort Lost-in-the-Woods Leaf Raking and KP Team!
I can tell you from experience that if you want a slot in any of these jobs you have to be very proactive in seeking them out.
How proactive? Well I will be attempting to network with contacts before my son even leaves for basic, as well as participating in and supporting his pre-service training and any competitions he wishes to pursue prior to enlisting. He already has a couple of minor award winning marksmen handling his current marksmanship training.
From the USAMU website;
PCS Assignments to the United States Army Marksmanship Unit
For Soldiers on Active Duty in the U.S. Army:
If you are currently on active duty in the Army, here is how to get an assignment to the “Home of Champions”.
For many shooters, training with the USAMU is the best way to pursue their goals. The Army Marksmanship Unit shooting teams are elite groups of the best shooters in the world. Very few people “walk-on” to the teams without years of previous experience at national or international level competitions. If you would like to become a part of our winning team, here is how to pursue an assignment:
STEP 1. Contact the coach of the team you are interested in shooting with. He will want to see all of the scores that you have shot in registered tournaments, your current classification, and major accomplishments that you have had, such as NCAA All American, President’s Hundred, etc.
STEP 2. If the coach feels like you have the right stuff, you will get a letter of acceptance from the commander of USAMU. It is good for 90 days. We will work your PCS to USAMU like any other PCS assignment..
For more information contact,
USAMUComp@usarec.army.mil
And for those interested in chasing PCS assignments of ANY kind, the guide at the following website is a good place to start.
HOW TO FIND THE BEST PCS ASSIGNMENTS
Have you ever wondered how some people get the best PCS (Permanent Change of Station) assignments, and you got stuck with one of your last choices?
Have you been advised to never put your most desirable choices near the top of your wish list because you are destined not to get your top choice? The reality is that someone will get their top choice, so how do they do it? How do you get that choice PCS assignment in interesting commands, exchange programs in Australia, the White House, or top performing units? Someone has to get them… is it luck? No, it’s about initiative. Here is a 5 step guide to finding the best PCS assignments
Note: This approach will work better in some branches and communities within the military, as different communities have different degrees of flexibility. However, the only way to ensure it won’t work is if you don’t try.
continued at http://blog.rallypoint.com/2013/03/how-to-find-best-pcs-assignments.html