Email   Print   Share By Michael Heckman, Sentinel Staff

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A run through a cool mist created by a fire truck provided some small relief from a heat index of 105 for Soldiers competing June 24 in combat stress events that included a one-mile run before firing rounds on both the pistol and combined pistol and rifle events during the 2009 Phantom Thunder Marksmanship Competition held June 22-26 at Fort Hood. Soldiers ran through the mist at the beginning and end of their one-mile runs. Event organizers said more than 140 Soldiers competed for individual and team awards presented by the command team of Lt. Gen. Rick Lynch and Command Sgt. Maj. Neil Ciotola during a ceremony held June 26 at the Abrams Physical Fitness Center. Photos by Michael Heckman, Sentinel Staff

Soldiers fire at targets at distances ranging from 15 yards to 30 yards on a new pistol range constructed during the past 60 days for the 2009 Phantom Thunder Marksmanship Competition held June 22-26 at Fort Hood. A 1st Bde., 1st AD team from Fort Bliss won the combat pistol team category. Michael Heckman, Sentinel Staff

In the rifle heavy portion of the combined arms match, contestants fired an M-24 sniper rifle from a prone position at targets 350 meters distant, then fired either M-16 or M-4 rifles through screens at moderate-range targets and finished by firing at 10 pop-up silhouette targets at 20-40 meters. Michael Heckman, Sentinel Staff

Challenges for the marksmanship teams competing on the combined rifle/pistol range included exiting a humvee before firing at distant targets with either M-16 or M-4 rifles and (above) firing through slots in screens to simulate urban warfare before finishing by firing M-9 pistols at metal pop-up targets 15-25 meters away. To the right, fire on full-automatic with an AK-47...the 7.62-mm round has a little more kick and some of the guys are having a little trouble adjusting to it.

Sgt. 1st Class Sam Morgan, 41st Fires Brigade, drinks from his CamelBak after firing on the pistol range. Michael Heckman, Sentinel Staff

Members of a rifle team exit the combine rifle/pistol range between competition held June 22-26 at Fort Hood. Michael Heckman, Sentinel Staff

At the end of their one-mile combat stress run, members of a marksmanship team receive a second dousing from a nearby fire truck before competing on the firing range. Michael Heckman, Sentinel Staff

Members of the 41st Fires Bde. marsmanship team complete their one-mile stress run.

Sgt. Titi Kaisa Jr., 59th MAC, 20th Eng. Bde., and Spc. Ryan Wells, company armorer, tally scores after pistol range competition Michael Heckman, Sentinel Staff

2nd Lt. Dan Jenkins, 36th Eng. Bde., won first place in the shotgun individual competition. He was awarded a new shotgun and trophy by Lt. Gen. Rick Lynch, III Corps and Fort Hood commander, and CSM Neil Ciotola. Michael Heckman, Sentinel Staff

Shooting with the III Corps Phantom Command team, Maj. Donald Clarkson won first place in the combat rifle individual competition and also earned an award for rifle excellence in competition. Michael Heckman, Sentinel Staff

First Sgt. John Lucas, A Btry., 2-3 FA, 1st Bde., 1st AD, Fort Bliss, won the overall individual champions award for his excellent performance in the 2009 Phantom Thunder Marksmanship Competition. Sgt. John Garrett was second and Lt. Col. William Johnson was third in that category. Michael Heckman, Sentinel Staff

Time was a factor in almost all of the events conducted on the pistol and rifle ranges. Michael Heckman, Sentinel Staff

Members of the 41st Fires Brigade team carry targets off the pistol range. Michael Heckman, Sentinel Staff

Maj. Don Clarkson, eventual first-place winner of the combat rifle individual category, runs through the spray from a fire truck and the end of the Phantom Command team's one-mile combat stress run. Michael Heckman, Sentinel Staff

Although their members won individual events, Fort Hood units competing in the 2009 Phantom Warrior Marksmanship Competition won none of the team events, which were dominated by teams assigned to Fort Bliss’1st Heavy Combat Bridgade, 1st Armored Division.

That post’s 89th Military Police Brigade also won second place in the combat pistol team event and the combined arms team event.

During competition held June 22-26, Old Ironsides units won first- and second-place awards in the combat rifle team event and the combined arms team event; and first place in the combat pistol team event and shotgun team event, which includes trap and skeet shoots.

Their performances also earned them first and second place in the overall team champions category. A 120th Infantry Brigade team won third place in that category, and its other teams won third place in the combat rifle team competition.

Awards and trophies for individual, team and overall top guns in events including trap and skeet, rifles and pistols, were presented during a ceremony held July 26 at Abrams Physical Fitness Center.

According to Maj. Kenneth Reed, operations officer for the 36th Engineer Brigade, and officer-in-charge of the III Corps event, competitors included about 95 III Corps Soldiers and 46 others from units including 1st Bde., 1st AD, and the 89th MP Bde., both from Fort Bliss; the 214th Field Artillery Bde., from Fort Sill, Okla.; and part of the 36th Eng. Bde., based at the White Sands Missile Range.

After the awards ceremony, the winner of the combat rifle individual event, Maj. Don Clarkson, III Corps, Phantom Command team, said, “The best thing about it is, it’s Soldier skills. So you get to get out there with your fellow Soldiers and actually shoot and do it under a tactical scenario. I think that builds a lot of confidence; and some skills sets for downrange.”

Clarkson’s winning aggregate score was a 301. Second place, a 297, was awarded to Pfc. Nicholas Wamboldt, 1-1 AD; and third place went to 1-1 AD’s Spc. Abraham Diaz-Rauda.

Even though the event was organized by members of the Army Marksmanship Unit based at Fort Benning, Ga., and his unit trained for the competition, Clarkson said, its uncertainties challenged him and other Soldiers.

I guess the biggest challenge was... not knowing how the targets were going to look or how it was going to run. As a team, we tried to train on the basics and that worked out pretty well for us,” he added.

Clarkson said some details of the combined arms event were intentionally kept secret.

Although he had fired a Russian-made AK-47 before, Clarkson said the kick of the heavier, 7.62mm rounds on fully-automatic was challenging.

“It’s definitely something you have to get used to,” he said.

Reed said the competition was held to build esprit de corps among the units and to challenge and test the overall marksmanship skills of the Soldiers competing.

One of the biggest challenges during the week-long event was high temperatures that soared above 100 degrees. Combined with the humidity, heat indexes built to 105 Wednesday and Thursday.

To help Soldiers’ bodies adjust to the heat, the one-mile run that preceded all combat stress events included two brief dousings by a fire truck, one at the start and another near the finish of the run.

And everyone drew frequently on their CamelBak tubes.

Sgt. 1st Class Greg Wilson, a member of the AMU service pistol team, briefed Soldiers before the stress runs.

“The biggest things are staying hydrated... If you’ve got a guy, and he looks like he’s going to go down, you need to pull him from the competition.

Despite his warnings, at least one Soldier had to be treated for heat stress with an IV.

“Sometimes, as competitors, we don’t think straight. We just think about winning, so we don’t watch ourselves,” Wilson said.

Pistol range officer Sgt. 1st Class Eric Daniels, AMU, which is part of sessions command for the Army’s Training and Doctrine Command at Fort Monroe, Va., said, of the range, “Improvements would be an understatement... the ranges are better than our ranges.”

On advice from the AMU, the pistol range was built from scratch from a stand of cedars near existing small-arms ranges at the post’s Clear Creek Small Arms Complex about 60 days before the competition began.

In addition to the pistol range, where they fired M-9 pistols, Soldiers fired M-16s and M-4s in addition to the AK-47s on the combined rifle and pistol ranges.

Late Thursday morning, Staff Sgt. Andrew Covacsy, 2-1 ADA, 69th ADA, said, of his team’s effort, “We’re doing good: better than we thought but not as good as we’d like.

“But, hey! We’re all out here to have fun. It’s all about camaraderie, and everything’s been run great. We’ve learned a lot of stuff.”

Of the rebuilt firing ranges, he added, “I like the new range a lot. Hopefully it will be open to all the units besides an infantry unit because in air defense artillery, how often do you get range time?”