Marine officials recently released details of the fiscal 2015 Competition-In-Arms Program, where Marines compete for the honor of being one of the service's top marksmen and a seat on the USMC Shooting Team.
The program, which has existed in one form or another since 1901, received a boost in recent years. Beginning with the fiscal 2012 Combat Marksmanship Symposium, marksmanship leaders called for the re-invigoration of competition, which had atrophied during more than a decade of war on two fronts. .
"The primary objective of the program is to stimulate interest and desire for self-improvement in marksmanship and to enhance proficiency within the Marine Corps in the use of individual small arms by refining precision marksmanship skills through advanced marksmanship training and competition," reads Marine administrative message 470/14, which on Sept. 19 announced details of next year's competitions.
The event begins at the division level where Marines compete in rifle, pistol or both. The Far East Division match will be held Dec. 8 to 19 in Okinawa, Japan. The Pacific Division match will be held Feb. 2 to 13 in Hawaii. The Western Division match will be held Feb. 23 through March 6 at Camp Pendleton, California. The Eastern Division match will be held March 23 through April 3 at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
Units can send individuals to division matches, or teams to compete for team trophies. With the program designed to spread and elevate marksmanship proficiency across the fleet, there are restrictions on teams that ensure they are not simply padded with a unit's best shots and include less experienced Marines who will be pushed to improve and later spread their knowledge after returning to parent units.
Teams must include one firing officer, a sergeant or below and two Marines of any rank, at least one of whom must be enlisted, according to the MARADMIN. Additionally, one of the members must have never shot at a division match, no more than two members of a rifle team may be distinguished marksmen. The same goes for pistol teams.
Marine who participate in the competition can fulfill their annual rifle and pistol qualification requirements and will receive a two-week training curriculum that includes everything from basic weapons zeroing to Table 2 rifle qualifications.
"Those Marines who place in the top ten percent at their respective division match sites will be afforded the opportunity to participate in the Marine Corps championships," the MARADMIN reads. "Those Marines that show exceptional precision marksmanship ability at Marine Corps championships will be selected to augment the USMC Shooting Team for the remainder of the competitive season which culminates with the interservice and national championship matches."
At Marine Corps matches, competitors must compete in rifle and pistol even if they only competed in one at division-level matches.
CIAP isn't the only initiative being reinvigorated after falling by the wayside during years of high operational tempo in the war zone. The Annual Rifle Squad Competition, informally called Super Squad, is also seeing a resurgence at the division level. The infantry competition tests all infantry skills including offensive and defensive operations, but marksmanship is a central piece. Like CIAP, the intention is to breed excellence and hone battlefield skills through competition.
