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174th shooting team finishes among the elite at competition

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Duane Morgan
  • 174th Attack Wing
HANCOCK FIELD AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Syracuse, N.Y. --  12 members of the 174th Attack Wing shooting team participated in the 35th Annual Combat Sustainment Training "Tag Match" Exercise at Camp Smith Army National Guard base.

The exercise was also a learning experience for some of the members who participated.
"This was a big opportunity for us being able to properly handle your weapon and being accurate with it is important because we are all deployable at any time," said Senior Airman Zachary Taillie of the 174th Attack Wing Command Post. "Not only did we learn about the fundamentals of accuracy, but things like weapon safety and proper way to clean.

The competition consisted of 14 registered teams of Army and Air Force members and lasted two days.

The teams competed in the Combat Rifle Excellence- In- Competition (EIC), Close Quarter Battle/NBC, Reflexive Fire, National Guard Infantry Team Exercise, Combat Pistol (EIC), Lt. Col. O'Keefe's Pistol Match, Gen. George Patton Combat Pistol Team Exercise and the 10 Meter POW Exercise.

Of the 14 teams that participated, the 174th ATKW shooting team came placed second, and were rewarded with a new set of tinted shooting glasses.

"I think we did well as far as the competition goes," said Taillie. "We actually didn't get a chance to participate in one event and we still placed second. I think that's pretty good."

The 174th managed to get a perfect score during the competition. The event that the team received a perfect score in was the National Guard Infantry Team Exercise.

Because the 174th ATKW placed second in the state competition, they were invited to participate in another competition at the national level.

The national competition will be held in Arkansas during the month of August.

"I hope that we continue to get a lot of interest from members around the base and to have them come out and participate in future competitions," said Taillie. "The more people that come out to compete the greater the experience will be."