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It’s that time of the year again, the 2019 WMMOA Day at the Range shooting competition. We gathered again at the Hellgate Civilian Shooters range to shoot a wide variety of firearms (and it was outstanding this year!) and represent our branch of service. There were many unanswered questions; could the Army repeat again this year? Who was going to bring the biggest arsenal? and How good would the after match social hour and Bar-B-Que be?
This year we set a new record attendance of 18 marksmen and women and several ‘fans’ as well. Targets were posted at 10, 25, 50 and 100 yards (Kurt with his M-1 Carbine and Gary Lancaster with his M-14) There was plenty of guns, ammo and enthusiasm along with all degrees of accuracy (we are non-judgemental shooters). Things improved as the shooters got used to the hot conditions, recoil and noise. As we had a number of experienced shooters and some great coaches, most showed marked improvement from past years.
The inter service ‘banter’ started early and only got louder as we approached match time. This years Navy Team included new WMMOA members Melissa and Robert Burns and the term ‘ringers’ was thrown around, but not in their presence. As usual, the Army was well represented with nine sharpshooters followed by three Air Force experts and a Sea Service team of Will (USMC) and Mike (Navy). After 90 minutes of sighting in it was time for the annual competition. First off the Navy “Burns” team set the tone (and the fear of God) for the rest of the shooters. Robert Burns led off the match by shooting the best individual five shot score of the day with Melissa close behind. The Army team of Jack Babon and Walt Briggs shot well but ‘just a bit outside’. Army 2 of Swartz and Olinger were ‘capable’ of just nipping out the Sea Service boys and the Air Force team could have done better if they had called in an “Arc Light” strike. All in all, a good showing overall and a great end to shooting.
Several folks brought salads chips and desserts to enhance the brats and beer/soda and all enjoyed a great lunch and a great day at the range and a fun way to stay connected over the summer.

1st Place Navy Team Robert & Melissa Burns 75            2nd Place Army 1 Jack Babon & Walt Briggs 71              3rd Place Army 2 Gary Swartz & Charlie Olinger 63 Honorable Mention Sea Service Mike & Will 61