By Steve Cooper, CMP Training & Education Manager
STARKE, FL – -(AmmoLand.com)- Thanks to some great training assistance from the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU) and dozens of eager-to-learn participants at the Civilian Marksmanship Program’s (CMP) stand-alone Small Arms Firing School (SAFS), four students-turned-competitors walked away with introductory Excellence-In-Competition (EIC) points on Sunday, November 4. The class included 11 juniors and 38 of all ages who participated in a CMP event for the first time.
The top 10 percent of the 41 who completed the class and match earned introductory points toward receiving a Distinguished Rifleman badge, one of the most sought-after awards highpower rifle shooters can aspire to achieve. Thirty EIC points, grouped in clusters of “legs” are required to earn the badge, which sometimes takes months, years or decades to attain or for many, never. The CMP SAFS course is the only source for earning a four-point intro leg.
Newly-minted EIC points winners were Robert Working, 46, of Jacksonville, FL, firing a 377-11X out of a possible 400. The match consists of four 100-point stages – slow-fire prone, rapid-fire prone, rapid-fire sitting and slow-fire standing. Working won the match via an X-ring tie-breaker over Andre Fredy, 46, of Jacksonville, FL, who finished with 377-7X.
In a tight race for third place, LTJG Jamel Chokr, 31, U.S. Coast Guard, shot a matching score of 357-6X with Gary Sauer, 71, of Ponte Vedra, FL. The tie was broken using the last stage score (standing, in this
