MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII -- Six Marines from six different units came together this summer to form the first Marine Corps Base Hawaii Shooting Team in seven years. The strangers traveled across America for eight weeks to advance their marksmanship.
Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom held the team dormant for nearly a decade. The drawdown of Marines in the Middle East presented an opportunity to reinstate the team.
“I started the program up because there is a need for Marines to have additional opportunity to cultivate their marksmanship skillset,” said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jordan Kramp, team captain and native of Elgin, Ill.
“They came together collectively and represented MCB Hawaii in both interservice and national competitions, and to see that from my perspective was a success in itself.”
The Marines were given instruction on competitive marksmanship training over the course of eight weeks. Each shooter averaged a 10 to 15 point increase in their annual rifle qualification score.
They competed in the Interservice Rifle and Pistol Match in Fort Benning, Ga., and the National Rifle and Pistol Championships in Camp Perry, Ohio.
In Georgia, the Marines competed against shooting teams from all branches of the military. The competition determined the best shooting teams among the services and provided a chance for the Hawaii Marines to observe how other services taught rifle and pistol, while receiving pointers on their own shooting techniques.
The national championship in Ohio broadened their spectrum and allowed the Marines to contend with top competitors in the civilian shooting community.
The Hawaii team won High Post and Station Shooter in rifle, pistol and also the Four Man Marine Corps Combat Development Commanding General’s Cup in the interservice competition. One of the Marines also shot in the top 10 percent at the national championship.
“The shooting community seems to be getting smaller,” said Lance Cpl. Brandon Sleeman, a shooter on the team. “It’s a camaraderie thing. There were guys who shot all over the world there.”
Sleeman was a scout sniper with 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, before joining the team. He said shooting with a sniper rifle and competition shooting are vastly different and had to adapt his previous discipline in order to effectively compete with the M16A4 service rifle.
“It was a different world going from my gun to the guns shot on the team,” said the Friendship, Wisc., native. “You get what you put into it, I love that about shooting. The harder you work the better your result. I like seeing your hard work come back to you.”
The reinstatement of the team allowed the Marines to break back into the off-island shooting community. In doing so, they experienced the range in new ways, outside Marine Corps structure.
Cpl. Michael Fekre, a shooter on the team, said shooting is a passion and being part of the team has not only developed his skill with a rifle, but also his character.
“Shooting to me is a discipline that requires a lot of focus and dedication,” Fekre said. “You can apply that discipline to other things in life. It takes a lot of mental focus and team work. I’ve learned a lot from my team members, a lot of new ideas.”
Each team member came back from the season qualifi ed to be a Combat Marksmanship Trainer and rifle coach.
The competition served as an outlet for the Marines to experience a different side of the shooting community, and acted as education, allowing the shooters to share their new knowledge with their peers in their tenant units.
“Not only were they able to apply what they learned but to teach what they learned, and that is the gem of the shooting program, the hidden agenda,” Kramp said. “It’s highly recommended for commanders to promote the competition program.
One, it’s a type of reward for that Marine to shoot for the base shooting team, and two, they would get in return a competent, intelligent marksmanship trainer that is an asset to teach marksmanship to the rest of his unit.”
Qualifying personnel who are interested in competitive shooting can visit their unit’s S-3 shop for more information.