FORT BENNING, Ga., (July 22, 2015) -- The U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit's (USAMU) Service Rifle Team won their ninth consecutive title at the 54th Annual Interservice Rifle Championship June 24 to July 1, 2015, at Quantico, Va.

Sgt. 1st Class Robert Shoup, a USAMU Service Rifle Team coach, was certain the team had the potential to win.

"We knew if the Soldiers went out there and shot their averages, we stood a good chance of the team doing very well," said the 14-year Army veteran.

"We won the Infantry Team Match, the Interservice Rifle Team Championship, the 1,000 Yard Team Matches for the Service Rifle Team and the Army Rifle Team. We also had Soldiers who placed second through fifth in the individual championship and five shooters in the top 10. In the Interservice Long Range Match (individual), we took first, second and third for the Service Rifle Team with six Soldiers in the top 10, and second and third for the Any Rifle Team."

USAMU's total score was 4,917-167X, and the U.S. Marine Corps Team was second with a score of 4,831-130X.The "X" in scores denote the number of times the competitor hits the "X" ring, which is a smaller ring inside the ten ring or bull's eye.

Each shot fired into the X ring is 10 points, and the X-ring score is used to determine the winner in the event of a tie.

Shoup's background in shooting started early with coaching by both his mother and grandfather on his grandfather's ranch in Texas and on camping trips with his mother.

He also shot with the Boy Scouts before joining the Army, where he spent five years as a sniper with the Army Rangers.

After joining USAMU two years ago as a team leader for the Squad Designated Marksman Course, he later shot with the Service Rifle Team then transitioned to assistant team chief. Shoup, from St. Michael, Minn., said with his background he thought he knew how to shoot but was quickly humbled by the USAMU team.

"You learn a lot meeting the young shooters coming into the organization and out there every day shooting with them," he said. "Working with these Soldiers, you see that all they do is practice and hone the fundamentals, and they are the experts on the fundamentals of marksmanship."

One of the young Soldiers Shoup mentors, is Pfc. Ben Cleland who won second place for Interservice Individual Aggregate with a score of 986-30X in his first Interservice Rifle Championship. Cleland has been assigned to USAMU for a year.

"All things considered, I think (the Championship) went well," said Cleland whose father, Chad Cleland, shot on the Service Rifle Team in the early '90s.

"I made a couple of mistakes that a more seasoned shooter wouldn't have made."

The Straton, Ohio, native also placed fifth in the individual Long-Range Match and was on the winning Army teams that took the first place titles.

Cleland said since he was a child he wanted to join the Army and his assignment with USAMU was a plus.

"It was something I grew up with, "he said. "My Dad was in (the Army), and it was something I wanted to do from a very young age. I wanted to shoot and to compete, so this was a way to do it all."

He said the Army has been instrumental in his life since he joined.

"(The Army) has supplied leaders and teachers who mentor with patience and care and really put in a lot of time to make us all better," he said. "It's a professional environment; it's high-paced, but it's organized. Everything is done to a rhythm and it's done for a reason. It's a nice way to work and do your job."

Another of Cleland's leaders, Staff Sgt. Amanda Elsenboss, placed first as the Interservice Individual Championship High Service Woman.

She was also a member of the winning Army teams and placed well in several other individual events.

A six-year veteran with the both the Army and the USAMU Service Rifle Team, Elsenboss said being a team player was important during the entire event not just the team matches.

"We all worked very well together," the said Woodbury, Conn., native said. "It's important to understand how your team is going to react and what you can do to help them shoot their best score possible or pull them out of whatever they are in and help them shoot as well as they can."

After shooting on junior rifle teams as a teen, Elsenboss said she joined the Army to find out what she was capable of doing and that her experience has taught her more than how to be a marksman.

"They've given me the tools I did not have in the world, propelled my career as a marksman and made me a better person overall," she said.

"I've learned a lot about myself that has helped me to help my Soldiers become better at their jobs."

Other Service Rifle Team members contributed to the USAMU win including Sgt. 1st Class Brandon Green of Covington, La., who won first in the Interservice Navy Match Standing and was third in Interservice Air Force Match Prone Slow as well as participating in the winning Army Team matches.

For the Interservice Long Range Aggregate Match, Staff Sgt. Daniel Crody, Cotopaxi, Colo.; Sgt. David Bahten, Sonora, Calif.; and Staff Sgt. Kevin Trickett, Boston, Mass., placed first through third, consecutively, to assist in the Team's overall win.

For more scores, go to https://ct.thecmp.org/app/v1/index.php?do=matche976fc69022e5c81550d2d9030fb29843b5e82fbd3868b29372eb5183ac0a16033a252f79bfae9da114c71e4dd9a7e32cde11cd08daf8f1fef76059c5a79959etask=edite976fc69022e5c81550d2d9030fb29843b5e82fbd3868b29372eb5183ac0a16033a252f79bfae9da114c71e4dd9a7e32cde11cd08daf8f1fef76059c5a79959ematch=12848.