Retired Gunnery Sgt. Chris Thompson gets shot by Marines over and over — but he never flinches. One retired Marine gets shot thousands of times with five-five-six and never flinches.
That's because Thompson, a medically retired scout sniper, He is the now-retired Marine who posed for the Corps' service's newest photo-realistic target this year, so his bearded mug is now in Marines' sights on ranges worldwide. this year.
Medically retired Gunnery Sgt. Chris Thompson, a former Scout Sniper, stands in as a generic bearded bad guy wearing a black turtleneck, a watch cap and ballistic glasses while and wielding an AK-47.
Already approved for use on current tables of fire 2, 5 and 6, the target is designed to help Marines identify valid threats, decide whether to shoot or hold fire, and also refine their ability to place shots where they will do the most damage to an enemy's body. It is an improvement over older targets specifically because it forces Marines to focus on combat-effective hits.
Now a civilian, Thompson works as the range development support officer at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, and is happy to be the subject of blue-on-blue fire if it helps Marines become better combat marksman.
Marine Corps Times caught up with Thompson to learn a little more about the mysterious menacing man behind the AK. Marines, meet your new target.
Q. Tell us about your time in the Marine Corps. What were some of your career highlights?
A. I joined in April of 1991 and I was medically retired on Feb. 29, 2008. I went into the sniper platoons in 1997 and was very lucky. I got to be a team member, team leader, chief scout and then platoon sergeant.
I deployed to Yugoslavia, Kosovo and Bosnia with a Marine expeditionary unit. In the early '90s, '92 or '93 we participated in a mission to recover a downed pilot and aircraft that when down while carrying supplies. I also went to Haiti in 1994 when we went to restore power there. [Tactical Recovery of Aircraft and Personnel] mission for an allied aircraft that went down carrying supplies. I went to Haiti [in 1994] when we went to restore power there.
When it came time for a B-billet, I chose Security Forces. I was serving with Security Forces was with them security forces in Spain when the airplanes hit the twin towers on Sept. 11, 2001. After that, they sent me to Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, to deal with medical issues, so I did not go to Iraq or Afghanistan.
I was medically retired because of a service-related injury to my back. I broke it a few times and they couldn't fix it the last time. When I retired, I was working as the The Basic School's ops chief of The Basic School.
Q. How did you get involved in the development of the new USMC Threat Target?
A. I got a call from Jim Bensinger, a civilian who helps write Marine Corps marksmanship doctrine. Jim and I are very close friends. We're close friends — we served on active duty together and we helped start the Quantico program of Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing for wounded warriors.
Jim and Vince [Chief Warrant Officer 5 Vince Pope, the Marine gunner who directs the Marksmanship Doctrine and Programs Management Section at Quantico,] said they wanted to make a visually realistic target for Marines, and they wanted it to be someone with a beard holding a gun.
Q. Do you normally sport a beard — is that why you came to mind?
A. I have been without a beard for exactly two days since I retired. They started calling me Sasquatch. Maybe I was the only guy on base with a beard, or the only one stupid enough to let them take a picture of me for people to shoot at for the next 20 years. I never really thought it was going to gain the momentum that it would. I thought it might turn into something they would have for the Combat Shooting Team to do shoot no-shoot scenarios.
Retired Gunnery Sgt. Chris Thompson poses during a hunting trip outside McAllen, Texas.
Photo Credit: Courtesy Chris Thompson
Q. Is it weird to have your photo shot at be shot at hundreds or even thousands of times every day?
A. It's just a piece of paper. If it is something that is going to improve the training for our Marines, then it is not anything that bothers me at all.
Besides, they are only shooting half of me. They actually took half of my face and made it a mirror image for the target. I think they wanted to take as many variables out of training as they could.
Q. Has anybody ever recognized you out in town?
A. Nothing like that, but I think one funny story is that my old office at Quantico has one on a cardboard silhouette that you can move around. They roll it into meetings, take pictures and send it to me saying, "You are still here."
Q. Have you shot at your own target yet?
A. I have not. shot my own target yetBut when I go to Quantico soon, you bet I'm going to shoot it. I suspect my son will probably get a kick out of it too. Tristan is 13, but definitely starting to really enjoy marksmanship.
Q. A version of you is spending a lot of time in front of rifles as a target, but you have had a lot of trigger time yourself. What was your first shooting experience?
A. It was definitely something I grew up with. I learned to shoot first with BB guns when I was maybe four or five years old. My grandpa kept bird houses and the sparrows would come and mess with the other birds. So when I was there, at my grandpa's my job was to stand guard and take out the sparrows. It was not long after, I couldn't have been more than six or seven when my dad taught me to shoot a twenty-two. I have been around weapons as long as I can remember. I used to hunt and still do.
I don't go out on the range as much as I used to, but I still enjoy shooting. I am a firm believer in the right to carry and I carry a pistol. Firearms are definitely a part of my life and always have been.
Q. What is your most memorable or favorite shooting experience?
A. The most important one obviously was when I qualified at sniper school and passed the qualification there for becoming a scout-sniper. That has to be the most important one.
Retired Gunnery Sgt. Chris Thompson shown pig hunting on the Pope Ranch near Lake Buchanan, Texas, on the Marine Corps' birthday in 2014.
Photo Credit: Courtesy Chris Thompson
Q. What drew you to the Marine Corps?
A. That is easy. My granddad was a Marine in World War II who landed on Okinawa, Japan, and he was a huge part of my life. I was part of the Civilian Air Patrol, an auxiliary part of the Air Force. During high school one summer we landed at Cherry Point and I knew then I wanted to be in the Marine Corps.
Q. When you aren't shooting or being shot at, what do you like to do?
A. I fly fish and tie flies. It is as much a part of my life as the Marine Corps is. I spend a lot of time volunteering for Project Healing Waters. I'm professional staff for Temple Fork Outfitters rod manufacturer.
Retired Gunnery Sgt. Chris Thompson fishing during the Cape Lookout Albacore Festival. Thompson runs a fly fishing group for wounded warriors.
Photo Credit: Courtesy Chris Thompson
Fly fishing is the thing that runs through all facets of my life. My brother fly fishes, my dad fly fishes, my fiancée fly fishes, my son and our children all fly fish.
And I'm not talking about the trout most people think of. I am going soon to Florida to fly fish for shark and blackfin tuna. I don't know if I would call it an addiction or a religious preference.
