3 USAMU Soldiers going World Shoot

By Mr. Chris Carbone (USAAC)February 20, 2008

The U.S. Practical Shooting Association announced that it has selected three members of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit of Fort Benning, Ga., to join the official team and represent the United States at the International Practical Shooting Confederation World Shoot XV to be held in Bali, Indonesia, Oct. 19 to Nov. 2.

Staff Sgt. Maxient "Max" J. Michel, Jr. of Meraux, La., and Spc. Kamille C. "K.C." Eusebio of Diamond Bar, Calif., will anchor the U.S. Open Division Team. Sgt. Travis E. Tomasie of Kirkland, Wash., will compete on the Standard Division Team. All three are seasoned World Shoot competitors.

"The U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit has a long and distinguished history of producing the finest pistol, rifle and shotgun shooters in the world. Whether it's at Camp Perry or in the Olympics, USAMU shooters have represented the Army and the nation with dignity and honor. The addition of K.C., Max and Travis to the official U.S. Team means America will go into Bali with one its strongest teams in recent history," said USPSA President Michael Voigt.

Michel will be competing in his 4th World Shoot having served on the official U.S. team each time. In 1999 at the age of 17, Michel was a member of the U.S. Junior Team finishing 14th overall and capturing the Junior Team World Championship. In 2002 he finished 10th overall and helped take the men's team title in the Open Division. And in 2005, he was named captain of the Open Division Team and finished 4th helping lead his squad to another team championship.

Eusebio will be competing in his third World Shoot. In 1999, at the age of 11, he competed as a junior in the Open Division. Six years later, Eusebio served as the captain of the Junior Open Team, which took first place in the World Shoot. Tomasie will be competing in his third World Shoot. Tomasie finished 8th in the Open Division in 2002 helping the U.S. team take top honors in that division and finished third in the Standard Division in 2005.

The United States will field an official team of 20 shooters that will compete in four-person teams in three divisions and two categories - Open, Standard, Production, Women's and Junior. In addition to the 20 members of the official U.S. team, there will be up to 40 shooters competing independently under the USA banner.'

The IPSC World Shoot is conducted every three years. In 2005, Guayaquil, Ecuador, hosted the match with 888 shooters representing 56 nations. The U.S. contingent, which totaled 105 shooters, accounted for nearly 12 percent of the total field and captured the Open, Junior and Standard Team titles as well as a number of individual medals. USPSA members also brought home the Revolver Title, the Ladies Standard Title and individual High Overall in the Standard Division.

In 2002, South Africa hosted the match and in 1999 the World Shoot was held in the Philippines. The sport of Practical Shooting has its origins in California in the early 1950s and quickly expanded outside the United States. IPSC was officially founded in 1976 at the International Pistol Conference held in Columbia, Mo. The promotion of accuracy, power and speed as three equal elements was the prime objective of the sport and the motto DVC -Diligentia, Vis, Celeritas (Accuracy, Power, Speed) was introduced to reflect this balanced objective.

(Formed in 1956 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to raise the standards of marksmanship throughout the U.S. Army, the Army Marksmanship Unit is assigned to the Accessions Support Brigade of the U.S. Army Accessions Command. For more information on the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, contact the Public Affairs Office at (706) 545-5436, Paula.Randall@usaac.army.mil or www.USAMU.com.