MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII -- With only eight bullets left, he realized his shots were dead on. His coach encouraged him, asking if he was trying for a perfect score. He shrugged. He hadn’t thought about that, he was just trying to qualify. He shot again, swearing he had just blown his chance at a 400. A few shots left. With his magazine empty he strode to the target and a glance at his coach, they both knew … he shot perfect.
Sgt. Jessy Longan, avionics quality assurance representative with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463, proved his trigger finger-worthy when he shot a 400 at Puuloa Range Training Facility this past week.
“I was very surprised,” Longan said. “There was one shot where I thought I blew it but once we got a closer look I noticed it was right on the line.”
Longan is the second Marine to get a perfect score at Puuloa RTF since August 2013.
“Sgt. Longan not only applied the fundamentals of the pistol perfectly but he was also very skilled,” said Sgt. John Butler, range coach. “It’s no easy task to get a possible (perfect) in the new course of fire.”
Aviation personnel are encouraged to become pistol qualified. It’s easier to carry a pistol while on an aircraft than a rifle explained Longan.
“I bought a pistol of my own three years ago,” Longan said. “I have been shooting quite a bit with it on my own recently.”
Longan qualified for the first time three years ago, receiving a sharpshooter qualification and the following year expert. He said he didn’t plan nor expect to have get a perfect score this time around.
“The new pistol course of fire is quite difficult for many Marines because we now have to draw from the holster and take a well-aimed shot in a matter of seconds,” Butler said. “The days of having our pistol already drawn are over.”
Last year the Marines used bull’s eye targets to qualify on. This year they used torso targets. The shooter has to shoot two shots to the head and keep the remaining 38 in the outlined pinball shape from the head to the sternum. The shooter fires from the seven, 15 and 25-yard lines.
“My unit didn’t believe me when I told them,” Longan said. “The didn’t believe me until I showed them the evidence.”
Longan was offered a spot on the Marine Corps Shooting Team. The Marine Corps Shooting Team consists of Marines of any military occupational specialty and various ranks, who travel nationally or internationally and compete in various shooting matches. There are three teams; the rifle, pistol and combat shooting teams.
Longan said he wants to join but has to wait until he changes duty stations. He will be PCSing from Marine Corps Base Hawaii to Marine Corps Air Station New River, N.C. within the next few months. He said he hopes he will be able to join the East Coast shooting team while being an instructor for his military occupational specialty in New River.
Longan said if he is given the opportunity he will qualify again next year. He said he wants to try and get another perfect score.