MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- The 2005 Depot Competition in Arms Program ended Feb. 11 after two weeks of competition at Weapons and Field Training Battalion's Edson Range, Camp Pendleton, Calif.
Depot Marines were divided into unit teams of 12 and sent to Range Company on Edson Range to compete against each other in the DCIAP for trophies and a chance to elevate to Western Division shooting teams.
The shooters spent several days in classes before firing. For the first three days, Marines were educated on different firing positions and the pros and cons of each position.
"(Instructors) told us about the positives and negatives of the positions - how some positions may affect your shooting and how shooting may have a different effect on your position," said Lance Cpl. Roger L. Talbot, Local Control Center clerk.
During the classroom session, instructors also covered trigger settings and the course of fire. Before team and single events started, each Marine had to re-qualify with the M-16 A2 service rifle and M-9 service pistol.
"We had 52 Marines (qualifying), and out of 52, we had 43 experts," said Chief Warrant Officer James Herman, officer-in-charge of the program. "Eighty-three percent. That's an awesome statistic. We usually have maybe 40 percent qual expert, so this was much better than before."
For the next few weeks, Marines underwent an intense schedule of individual and team competitions. One of the more anticipated events was the Gunners Trophy competition, a new team competition that is not just based on shooting and preparing in one position, but moving up to a firing line, getting in position and then hitting the target. The competition was modeled after the British Royal Marines' shooting competitions. It gave Marines a chance to experience a combat-style shooting simulation. Marines engaged targets moments at a time before running to the next firing line. Marines were given 25 seconds to reach the next firing line and get into position before the target appeared. Under these conditions, Marines were required to fire rapidly and precisely.
"The Gunners Trophy ... very little time, moving targets, running to the line and then shooting; its almost like field shooting on steroids," said Herman. "There was a lot of huffing and puffing ... (the shooters) had a great time."
"It was like the movement courses at (Marine Combat Training) with live rounds, but at long distance," said Talbot.
During the competition, Marines also focused on pistol firing. Variations in competitions made the pistol range similar to the rifle. While some exercises called for one-handed slow-fire shooting in a ten-minute period, other exercises called for split-second shooting at pop-up targets.
On the final day of firing, Marines finished shooting at the pistol range and met at Edson Range chapel for an award ceremony where Brig. Gen. John M. Paxton Jr., depot and Western Recruiting Region commanding general, greeted winners with encouraging words before handing them their plaques.
Company K drill instructor Sgt. Hector M. Flores, a returning DCIAP Marine who made his first appearance last year, found himself in front of the general collecting awards more than once. Flores earned three awards, including total combined rifle and pistol award, which put him in high standing as the best shooter on the range.
"My first year I was a little disappointed," said Flores. "I went up there for the company, but I had nothing to show for it. But this year I was a little more determined to bring something back for the company."
Flores was one of the few Marines to go on to the Western Division team and compete in different competitions along the West Coast, but his duties as a drill instructor will keep him away from the Marine Corps shooting team this year.