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Grand Forks AFB Defenders host shooting competition

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Luis Loza Gutierrez
  • 319th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
GRAND FORKS AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. --  The Airmen from the Combat Arms Section of the 319th Security Forces Squadron hosted the 2014 Police Week Commanders' Shoot on May 15, at the firing range here.

The Commanders' Shoot was one of seven events hosted by 319th SFS as part of their observance of National Police Week.

In 1962, President Kennedy proclaimed May 15 as National Peace Officers Memorial Day and the calendar week in which May 15 falls, as National Police Week.

Established by a joint resolution of Congress in 1962, National Police Week pays special recognition to those law enforcement officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty for the safety and protection of others.

This year's Police Week shooting competition was different was different than others before.

"We didn't want it to be the same boring shooting competition where participants were just told to stand, point and shoot," said Staff Sgt. Randy Shear, 319th SFS Combat Arms instructor and event coordinator. "We were determined to create an event that competitors could get excited about."

The security forces NCO hoped to create that excitement by incorporating elements he learned from the Air Mobility Command's Weapons and Tactics Training, a stress fire course taught at Scott Air Force Base, Ill.

Physical exercise was one of the elements incorporated into this year's commander's shoot.

At the start of each round of competition each member of a three-person team had to lineup next to a large orange cone and complete one set of 20 pushups. Immediately after the pushups the competitor would have to sprint to another large cone approximately 40 yards away then sprint back and touch the cone prior to running to one of three shooting locations set up inside the firing range. A competitor would then have to sprint back to the first cone and tag the next teammate, who would need to repeat the same sequence till the third and final shooter was done. Seconds were added to a team's overall time for missing targets.

"This competition is mostly attended by people in the profession of arms and law enforcement, so we know for a fact bad guys do not just stand quietly waiting for the person to shoot," said Shear. "Most live shooting scenarios during a real emergency or crisis involves actions that raises your stress level and gives you a rush of adrenaline. This event may not be as intense as a real-world scenario, but that's what we're going for."

Shear also incorporated the elements of weapons and target diversity by having each one of the shooters fire with a different weapon at different targets at each of the three stations.

"We also know that a person may not always have the same type of weapon to defend themselves or protect others, and we know the enemy or thing we have to shoot at is not always the same target," said Shear. "that's why we had a nine millimeter hand gun to fire at two targets holding a hostage at station one, four smaller targets in a line to shoot with an automatic rifle like the M-4 at the second station and two more targets to fire at with a shotgun at station 3," said Shear.

All the changes to this year's Commander's Shoot seemed to have worked according to responses from some of the competitors.

"This is definitely different from other shooting competitions I've seen. I think some of the guys here got a little more enthusiastic when they realized how much more challenging this event was really going to be after they saw how quick some of the teams were at running and doing pushups not just how good their aim was," said Royal Canadian Air Force Master Cpl. Justin Chapman, who competed with two American Airmen who work with him at Cavalier Air Force Station, N.D.

The teams with the three fastest times were declared the winners and were with presented commemorative ammo boxes named after famous U.S. military snipers, Carlos Hathcock, Chris Kyle and Adelbert F. Waldron III respectively for first, second and third place.

The winning teams, its members and their total time are as follows:

1st Place--319th SFS Defenders
Lt. Col. Jeffrey Becker, Capt. Brian Delaney and Staff Sgt. Jonathan Hogg; 3 minutes, 32 seconds

2nd Place--Grand Forks Narcotics Task Force
Dan Casetta, Chris Steenerson and Andy Alt; 3 minutes, 38.5 seconds

3rd Place--319th Logistics Readiness Squadron
Master Sgt. Christopher Lelm, Tech. Sgt. Jason Montes and Staff Sgt. Joseph Gable; 3 minutes, 42 seconds


The shoot resulted in more than just an opportunity to claim bragging rights as the "Tops Shots" for the competing groups according to Tech. Sgt. Caleb Cearley, Combat Arms NCO in charge.

"Events like this help promote and develop professional relationship with other fellow law enforcement organizations and other military organizations while enjoying some time on the (firing) range," said Cearley referring to the participants from organizations such as the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, Grand Forks Narcotics Task Force and the Army.

Cearley's comments proved to be on the mark as two other members from the Combat Arms section expressed some of the things they enjoyed of the event.

"I thought the shoot was outstanding because it was interesting to see the different techniques some of the other law enforcement agencies use when handling a weapon during a confrontation and some of the different accessories they use as well," said Senior Airman Bret Davis.

For Senior Airman Joshua Evans, it was the diversity of the event that stood out.

"I liked the fact we had people from the Army and the Canadian Air Force here," he said. "I know others liked seeing that as well and I think Sergeant Shear is definitely going to try and have a larger international presence here for the next one."