Self-disipline, dedication pays off for Marine marksmen

[thedrifter]

Shooting Team aims for the top;

Self-disipline, dedication pays off for Marine marksmen

Submitted by: Marine Forces Atlantic
Story Identification #: 200462313119
Story by Cpl. Glen R. Springstead



NAVAL SUPPORT ACTIVITY, Norfolk Va.(May 3, 2004) -- ?This is my rifle, there are many like it but this one is mine. My rifle is my best friend; it is my life. I must master it as I must master my life....? (Rifleman?s Creed.)

While the Rifleman?s Creed was made popular by Stanley Kubrick?s 1987 war epic ?Full Metal Jacket,? the credo has become a real-life stirring testament to the Marines Corps? courage and commitment to combat readiness. The creed has solidified the Corps? belief that every Marine is a rifleman. It is the rifleman who must close with and destroy the enemy to preserve the American way of life.

For a select group of local Marines, this creed is more than just words on paper; it is the effigy of discipline to their trade, and dedication to their Corps. These are the leathernecks of the Marine Corps Security Forces Battalion Shooting Team, and they have proven that they have mastered their weapons. The team recently won the Edson Pistol Team Trophy, team title at the 2004 Eastern Division Matches held at Camp LeJeune, NC.

Team captain Chief Warrant Officer-2 James Woodfin headed the shooting team along with Staff Noncommissioned Officer In Charge Staff Sgt. Chris Szabo. Firing members were Sergeants Eddie DeWitt and Jeff Yager, and Lance Corporals Brian Pfeiffer and Floyd Thomas.

?I feel the entire evolution was a huge success,? said Woodfin. ?Each team member reached new heights in shooting, and all reached the personal goals they set for themselves in the beginning.?

The matches were held from March 22 through April 9. All major Marine Corps commands located along the Eastern Seaboard were in attendance, producing 17 teams encompassing approximately 130 competitors.

The team trained for 18 days prior to the matches. Members underwent instruction in marksmanship fundamentals, shooting positions, data book procedures, competition shooting and course of fire and match range procedures. They were also issued weapons and match equipment, and were given instruction in the proper use of each during competition firing. Finally, the team underwent live-fire training in preparation for the division match course of fire.

?Each member started out from scratch, without ever firing the course of fire, and went on to become champions,? Woodfin said.

During the individual competition, none of the non-distinguished MCSF Battalion members posted top ten percent scores. However, despite not posting medal-winning scores in the individual brackets, the Marines shot well enough to post a third place score with the rifle, and the match winning score with the pistol.

What is unique about this situation is that although the team members did not place in the individual matches, they fired well enough in the team match that the team average score would have taken a medal in the individual match, according to Woodfin.

?They came into the team match as underdogs, and were automatically labeled as non-contenders, but for a few moments, these young men came together, and put everything they had where it counted -- into the team.?

According to Woodfin, the purpose of these competitions is not to win awards, but to drive the competing Marines toward perfect marksmanship, which will ultimately save a Marines life or the lives of his/her comrades in a wartime environment.

?I think the knowledge I received from the experience is the most valuable thing I?ve gained,? said Dewitt, who is also a weapons instructor. ?I have already started passing what I?ve learned down to my students.?

?The team has told me that they will always look at marksmanship in a different view, and that they are eager to spread the knowledge they have recently acquired by meeting and competing with Marines from all over,? Woodfin explained. ?That is the goal of the program; it?s not about the matches we shoot in, or the trinkets we wear. It?s about learning the fundamentals through extreme discipline, and passing the knowledge on, ultimately reaching that [Private First Class] in a fighting hole, in a stack or on a roof.?

The team?s accomplishment was a difficult one that required tremendous devotion and self discipline, and according to Woodfin, his Marines are packed full of these traits.

?The team did a great job,? DeWitt said. ?We all came from different positions and jobs; one of the Marines only fired the pistol for his first time about a month prior to preparing for the competition, but we still managed to pull together, and work as a team.?

During their training, the Marines were told not to worry about their individual scores or the scores of the other competitors, but to just go out and apply the fundamentals of marksmanship, according to Woodfin.

?The Marines didn?t succumb to intimidation. They did not stress. They focused on the task at hand, and came from deep in the field to steal the show,? Woodfin said. ?On the stage receiving the Edson Trophy, the Marines did not feel they were being given an award. They were coming up and taking what was rightfully theirs due to the extreme amount of time and effort poured into it.?

No matter what future competitions are in store for the team, Woodfin knows one thing is certain. For one year, and only the second time in history, Marine Corps Security Force Battalion has the number one pistol team on the East Coast and more importantly, they remain true to the Marine ?Rifle Creed? and ever ready to the United States.


http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2...B1?opendocument


Ellie