Conn. Air National Guard beats Army Guard at TAG Match!

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Jessica Roy
  • 103rd Security Forces Squadron
East Haven, Conn. --  The 103rd Security Forces Squadron sent two four-man teams to participate in the Adjutant General's Marksmanship Competition this year. The match was held Aug. 2-4, 2013, at the East Haven, Connecticut Rifle Range. Alpha Team included Tech. Sgt. Rick Marks, Tech. Sgt. Nick Augelli, Staff Sgt. Mike Stearns and Senior Airman Monica Cox. Bravo Team consisted of Master Sgt. James Reynolds, Master Sgt. Marc Cioto, Tech. Sgt. Chris Sixt and Staff Sgt. Brian Davies. Staff Sgt. Mike Frechette played a big role in formulating participation and Master Sgt. Walt Cichon of Combat Arms Training and Maintenance (CATM) assisted with range operations for the event. Most of the teams were Army personnel, but the wing had a third team representing them from Bradley and the Orange, Conn. Based 103rd Air Control Squadron.

The competition consisted of six events utilizing both the M4 rifle and the M9 pistol. Safety was paramount at all times. The shooters fired from various distances and positions with time limits. No alibis were permitted, so any rounds not fired during the specified time limits were forfeited. Shooters were required to differentiate targets, shoot around barricades and even run a 300- meter dash prior to firing a course. Only iron sights were used to fire the rifles.

The final team scores had B team placing first and A team placing third out of 11 teams. B team was more than 300 points ahead of the second place team, the 14th Civil Support Team, and Team A finished only one point behind them to take third. Individual overall scores showed five security forces members making the top 10: Tech. Sgt. Chris Sixt took first place, Staff Sgt. Brian Davies took second, Staff Sgt. Mike Stearns took fifth, Tech. Sgt. Rick Marks took seventh, and Master Sgt. Marc Cioto took tenth place out of 41 competitors. No additional training was conducted to prepare for this event, making the end results even more impressive!

Due to their excellent shooting, Chris Sixt and Brian Davies were selected to compete in the Regional Warrior Challenge Sept. 13-15 at Ft. Devens, Mass. Additionally, the top shooting teams and the top two individual shooters automatically qualify for attendance at the National Competition at Camp Robinson, Little Rock, Ark. in April 2014.