Missourians battle elements, gain experience at national competition

By: Ann Keyes
Missouri National Guard Public Affairs

Staff Sgt. Charles Thomas steadies a shot toward a target at this year's Winston P. Wilson marksmanship competition in North Little Rock, Ark.
Missouri Guard Alpha team members Staff Sgt. Charles Thomas, Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Dorsey, Sgt. Ryan Liggett and Staff Sgt. James Phelps participate in the Fallen Comrade exercise at the Winston P. Wilson national marksmanship competition at Camp Robinson, Ark.
Missouri Army and Air Guard marksmanship team members came away winners at the 2009 Winston P. Wilson Warfighter Sustainment Training Exercise at Camp Robinson, Ark.
CAMP ROBINSON, Ark. - Torrential rain and thick fog couldn't stop Missouri National Guard marksmen from walking away as winner from this year's Winston P. Wilson national marksmanship competition at Camp Robinson, Ark.

The team and its members succeeded both as a group and individually.

"The A team won first place in the Apache Alley match," said Staff Sgt. Charles Thomas, Missouri's A Team and match captain. "Sgt. Ryan Liggett won first place novice in the NBC match, first overall novice in pistol and third overall novice in combined arms."

Liggett, of Marshall, also made "Chief's 50," joining Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Dorsey, of Republic, and Staff Sgt. James Phelps, of Holt's Summit, as among the top 50 Guard shooters in the nation.

As with any marksmanship competition, though, long days in the field offer Guard Soldiers much more than accolades, said Col. Steve Miles, commander of the National Guard Marksmanship Training Center.

"The real mission is to go back home and train others, as this competition directly relates to overseas combat operations," Miles said. "Competition is the training ground for warrior readiness."

The record-setting rains and winds in Arkansas only added to warrior readiness, said Phelps.

"Soldiers need to train in the elements they're going to be in, and the elements were a huge factor at Robinson," Phelps said. "In those conditions, as well as in regular, favorable conditions, practice is the key to being successful."

At the same time the Guard competition was going on, international shooters competed in the Armed Forces Skill at Arms Meeting. This gave Guardsmen a unique opportunity to learn from coalition forces.

In addition to Missouri's A Team, two other sets of four-team members competed at this year's event, some experienced and some new to competitive shooting. According to Thomas, everyone was a winner.

"Deployments are taking some of the more experienced shooters out of marksmanship for a while, and the newer team members are getting the opportunity to step up to higher levels of competition," Thomas said. "These matches are great for the new shooters because there's enough down time to allow them to talk with other shooters and share tips and tricks with them."

Twelve-hour days and bad weather in North Little Rock didn't eliminate the chance for some fun. The Fallen Comrade match, which included crawling through mud-caked tunnels, jumping hurdles and dragging a 150-pound dummy, was deemed especially difficult but most enjoyable, said Thomas, of Aldrich.

"The Winston P. Wilson matches are what we train for all year. Usually when the weather is so bad it's hard to keep motivated, but from what I could tell, we all kept a smile on our faces and had as much fun as we could with the conditions we had," Thomas said. "We always try to represent Missouri the best we can by shooting well and being professional."

Phelps, now double-distinguished in both rifle and pistol, is ready to teach what he's learned to others.

"I have more information than I know what to do with, he said. "If given the opportunity, all the team members can share that information with their units. I got double-distinguished and that was my goal, but I'd rather come home and train my unit. That way the Soldiers at every level can participate in marksmanship."


For more information about the Missouri National Guard, please call 1-888-GoGuard or visit www.moguard.com.