52nd Winston P. Wilson Small Arms Championship on Camp Robinson, AR, line up for a stress shoot on May 1, 2023. Four New York Army National Guard Soldiers competing in the event, which brought ogether 57 teams from across the United States to promote marksmanship training. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Spc. Joseph Liggio) VIEW ORIGINAL
CAMP ROBINSON, Ark. — Four members of the New York Army National Guard went head-to-head against top shooters from across the world at the 52nd Winston P. Wilson Small Arms Championship, hosted from April 30 through May 5 in North Little Rock, Arkansas.
Run by the National Guard Marksmanship Training Center, the annual competition is designed to promote rifle and pistol marksmanship fundamentals, while fostering camaraderie between states, all within a battle-focused, physically active environment.
The New York team was comprised of Staff Sgt. Adam Crist of 2nd Squadron, 101st Cavalry Regiment, Sgt. Sean Brosnan of 1st Battalion, 258th Field Artillery and Sgt. Craig Rowell and Spc. Denver Degroff of the 152nd Engineer Support Company, 204th Engineer Battalion.
Established in 1971 by Maj. Gen. Winston P. Wilson, former Chief of the National Guard Bureau, the championship has grown considerably in scope to the present day. This year, over 50 four-man teams representing soldiers from across 43 states and territories, as well as the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, took part in the competition.
“We’re having a lot of fun and doing a lot of things we normally don’t get to do— we’re shooting out to 600 yards, which is pretty uncommon,” said Crist, who led the group as team captain. “We’re learning a lot of stuff we can bring back to the state to make our program a little better.”
All four were selected based on performances at prior competitions, including New York’s “TAG” Match and the Marksmanship Advisory Council Regional Match held in Vermont last year. Yet the Winston P. Wilson Championship provided all four soldiers with their first opportunity to shoot at a national level.
The New York team competed in over a dozen fast-paced, intensive marksmanship lanes centered on the M4A1 carbine and M17 pistol weapons systems, including close quarter battle scenarios, infantry team matches and reflexive fire events.
Throughout the week, the soldiers had to contend with an unfamiliar Arkansas climate, with strong winds and harsh, direct sunlight impacting their accuracy on targets downrange throughout the week.
“You have to account everything: wind, temperature and range obviously,” said Degroff. “Before coming here, we never really took those things into consideration and it really shows, but now that we know, we have shown that we’ve improved.”
In the end, the Texas “Alpha” team took home the 1st place title of Overall Team Champions, followed by the Arkansas and South Dakota state teams in 2nd and 3rd places, respectively.
While the New York team did not place, each team member acknowledged that the weeklong competition gave them much opportunity to learn from their fellow guardsmen and to hone their own skills, returning back to the east coast as more experienced competitors.
“It’s a great opportunity to be out here, to be amongst the best shooters in the nation — for me to sit here and compete at this level is an honor to me,” said Rowell. “We can learn everything from each other and take this stuff back to home, and I can teach my Soldiers, my joes and even my civilian buddies to help us all become better marksmen.”
Social Sharing