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LAKE, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – More than 50 Airmen and Soldiers this weekend took aim downrange at Camp Grafton’s firing complex to pick apart targets and amass winning shooting scores during the 2017 Adjutant General’s Combat Marksmanship Match.

Using pistols, rifles and shotguns, the North Dakota National Guard shooters took part in a number of individual and team contests, testing their marksmanship skills and learning new techniques to further develop their competitiveness.

Attendees at this year’s competition witnessed a three-decade-long winning streak come to an end when the 119th Wing’s “A” team bested perennial winners from the Jamestown-based 817th Engineer Company (Sapper). The Fargo-based Airmen attained the highest aggregate score from multiple shooting matches. They are Tech. Sgt. Joshua VonBank, Senior Master Sgt. Brian Rook, Airman 1st Class Gavin Rook and Staff Sgt. Matthew Jasper.

The 817th Engineer Company, which came in second, previously had won the “Overall Team Aggregate” category during each of the last 33 years it competed. This year’s team included Spc. Bryce Solie, of Fertile, Minnesota; Spc. Tyrel Hoppe, of Fargo; Spc. Drew Topp, of Jamestown; and Spc. Brent Mittleider, also of Jamestown.

“I salute our 119th Wing marksmen for their outstanding victory,” said Maj. Gen. Al Dohrmann, North Dakota adjutant general. “I also congratulate the 817th Engineer Company for its 33-year winning record, a record that will probably never be matched in our state. Marksmanship is an extremely important military skill, and the experience, time and practice each of our participating Guard members invested to improve their skills will allow them to better assist their battle buddies and wingmen back in their units, on the firing line.”

In individual competition, Sgt. Tyler Goldade, of Jamestown, who serves with the 815th Engineer Company (Horizontal), was named the best overall marksman, or “top gun” He was followed by Airman 1st Class Gavin Rook, who came in second, and Hoppe, who finished third.

North Dakota’s shooters now have their sights set on the 46th Annual Winston P. Wilson Championship in North Little Rock, Arkansas, where they will compete later this month against National Guard marksmen from across the nation. They enter the event as returning “Overall Aggregate Champions” in team competition, a distinction they earned in April 2016. Two four-shooter North Dakota teams will be sent to compete. The competitors are chosen based up their scores from the state match.

VonBank said regardless of the state competition outcome, Guardsmen from both branches – Army and Air – are intent on congealing as a team to represent North Dakota nationally.

“You come into the state match and everyone’s trying to give each other a bloody nose; everybody wants that prize. But then moving from that, it’s unity of effort,” he said. “This is a brotherhood, even the new shooters coming in. You’re scored as an individual, but you succeed as a team. A lot of other teams with real strong (state marksmanship) programs were surprised when we won nationals, but we weren’t. We’ve been building on this program for five to six years.”

North Dakota’s teams have leaned on their depth of experience, levying veteran shooter talent to train and mentor novice marksmen who are new to the program. This strategy was put into practice to help the teams continue to accumulate regional and national accolades and ensure North Dakota’s marksmanship program remains effective into the future.

Some of the veterans who are available to team members for coaching include Sgt. Evan Messer and Goldade, both of whom hold positions on the All-Guard Marksmanship team – a “who’s who” of the best shooters in the entire National Guard.

Messer, of Mandan, North Dakota, and a member of the 817th Engineer Company, was sidelined with an injury during this year’s state competition, but will help coach shooters at the Winston P. Wilson Championship.

The North Dakota National Guard also is home to two “Double Distinguished” shooters, including Messer and Hoppe. Fewer than one percent of all shooters ever reach “Double Distinguished” status. The achievement is earned by accruing compounded “leg points” during state, regional and national marksmanship competitions. A marksman acquires “leg points” by finishing in the top 10 percent of shooters in rifle and pistol “Excellence-in-Competition” matches.

“In the last five years, we’ve seen as many distinguished shooters as we have in the previous 20. And that’s indicative of the program we’re running,” VonBank said. “Our new shooters that are coming in are better coached, better focused. This is a stronger state program than we’ve had for some time.”

The pairing of veteran and novice shooters was on full display during the Adjutant General’s Combat Marksmanship Match. Veteran shooters could be seen coaching new competitors, regularly providing tips and advice in between matches, most of which involve complex movements, reloading ammunition and varying target engagement sequences. For instance, in an event like the “3-Gun Match,” shooters must switch between three weapons systems – rifle, pistol and shotgun – while changing out ammunition and firing at an array of targets.

“The positions and the strategies behind a lot of the matches is the most difficult thing to learn,” said Sgt. Andrew Maley, a veteran marksman who competed on the Company A, 231st Brigade Support Battalion team. “We’ve shot these competitions for years and we’re always learning something new, a better way to do it. It just takes time to get a good strategy down.”

Sgt. Caitlin Hanson, a member of the 957th Engineer Company (Multi-Role Bridge), is one of the Soldiers new to the marksmanship program. This year’s Adjutant General’s Combat Marksmanship Match was her second year participating in the state competition. She said being part of the marksmanship program has made her a better shooter, but she’s also been able to help bolster her unit’s marksmanship qualification scores by sharing what she has learned with others.

“I love marksmanship. Growing up, I’ve always loved shooting. I had heard about the marksmanship teams, so I started asking around in my unit to see if I could join one,” she said. “Last year was a good introduction, and this year, I’ve gained even more knowledge. I’m just learning as much as I can so I can go back to my unit and give them those tools and any information that can help them with marksmanship qualification.”

Below are some photos, courtesy of the North Dakota National Guard.