OFFICIAL PROGRAM

2009 U. S. ARMY JUNIOR OPEN
AIR RIFLE CHAMPIONSHIP

STATE CHAMPIONSHIP POSTAL COMPETITION

SHOULDER-TO-SHOULDER NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

SPONSORED BY THE U. S. ARMY

You are invited to participate in the 2009 U.S. Army Junior Open Air Rifle Championship!

¥      Championship Objectives:  The U. S. Army sponsors the Annual U. S. Army Open Air Rifle Championship to 1) promote rifle practice and firearm safety, 2) to foster junior participation in prestigious state and national rifle competitions, and 3) to connect with American youth by making U. S. Army marksmanship expertise available to them.  Participation by as many teams and clubs as possible in the state championship postal competitions is encouraged.

¥      U. S. Army Sponsorship. The U. S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU) and the U. S. Army Recruiting Command provide direct support for the state and national competitions. USAMU will conduct the national championship at its Pool Range Complex at Fort Benning, Georgia.  The world-renowned Army International Rifle Team with its many international champions and great tradition will provide an instructional clinic and conduct the competitions that are part of the National Championship. The U. S. Army Recruiting Command will assign Army Recruiters to travel to schools, JROTC units and clubs to present state championship team and individual awards.

¥      Civilian Marksmanship Program.  The CMP supports the U. S. Army Junior Open Air Rifle Championship by providing event promotion, issuing target sets to competing organizations, scoring postal targets and conducting results operations for the State Postal and National Championship competitions.  The CMP also provides funding assistance to National Championship qualifiers.

¥      Open Junior Competition.  The U. S. Army Junior Open Air Rifle Championship is open to all junior shooting organizations that have school-age juniors as members or enrollees (high school seniors or below).  Participating organizations can be junior clubs, school teams, 4-H clubs, JROTC units (Army, Air Force, Marine Corps or Navy) or other organizations with eligible junior members. 

¥      2009 National Championship Expanding.  In 2009, in addition to inviting the top 10 sporter and top 10 precision teams to the National Championship at Fort Benning, the top 10 sporter and top 10 precision at-large individuals (competitors who are not on a top 10 team) will also be invited to the championship at Fort Benning.  Teams that do not qualify a team still have the possibility of qualifying an individual shooter and with that possibility even more reason to enter this year’s competition.

Entering and Competing

¥      Competition Phases.  The annual U. S. Army Junior Open Air Rifle Championship has two phases of competition, a State Championship postal phase and a National Championship shoulder-to-shoulder phase.  State Championship postals give sporter and precision class position junior shooters of all levels of ability an opportunity to test their marksmanship skills against other junior shooters in their home states during a nation-wide postal competition.  The best state championship teams then are invited to compete against the top junior teams and shooters in the nation during the National Championship at Fort Benning.

¥      Competition Events.  The 2009 U. S. Army Junior Open Air Rifle Championship features two separate air rifle events, a sporter class three-position event and a precision class standing event.  Because these are different types of events, all competitors may fire the State Championship postal competition in either or both events.  Teams may compete in the National Championship in only one class, however.

¥      Entries.  Entries or requests for official targets may be submitted to the CMP anytime between 1 January 2009 and 1 March 2009.  Entries must be made on-line at  CMP.  No entries may be postmarked later than 1 March 2009.

¥      Entry Fee.  Entry fees for the 2009 competition remain at $5.00 per competitor, with no additional charge for team entries.  The low entry fee is intended to encourage more junior clubs and teams to enter more of their juniors in the competitions.  Participating clubs and teams are encouraged to give as many junior shooters in their programs as possible an opportunity to participate.

¥      On-Line Team Registration.  The CMP recently implemented a new on-line team registration for its Competitor Tracker competition management system that was used successfully in the 2008 JROTC postals.  It significantly reduced staff workload and sped up target processing and scoring.  When you enter the 2009 U. S. Army Postal, you will be asked to use this on-line entry system to provide the names, addresses and CMP competitor numbers (if available) for all of your juniors who are shooting the postal.  If your organization is entering both sporter and precision teams, you will need to enter the juniors who are shooting on each team separately.  After your entries are submitted, the CMP will print competitors’ names and numbers on the official postal targets (Kruger targets will be used again this year) and forward them to you.  Detailed instructions for completing your on-line entries are posted at the end of this program.  Be sure to read those instructions before entering.

¥      2009 State Championship Postal Competition.  Firing the 2009 U. S. Army State Championship postal targets may be done anytime between 1 January and 13 March 2009.  Postal targets must be fired and forwarded to the CMP, postmarked not later than 13 March 2009.

¥      U. S. Army National Junior Air Rifle Championship.  The championship will take place at the U. S. Army Marksmanship Unit, Fort Benning, Georgia on 14-16 May 2009, three months earlier than in previous years.  The National Championship will offer a special training clinic taught by the U. S. Army International Rifle Team and two days of competition firing for the 10 highest qualifying sporter and 10 highest qualifying precision teams in the in each State Championship.  This year, the ten highest ranking at-large individual competitors in the sporter and precision classes will also be invited to the National Championship at Fort Benning.  All at-large invitations will be issued according to socres fired by individuals who are not members of qualifying teams.  The 2008 sporter and precision class team champions will also be invited to enter teams of eligible shooters if those organizations enter teams and participate in the 2009 State Championship Postal competition.

Rules

The 2008-2010 National Standard Three-Position Air Rifle Rules (7^th edition) and this Official Program govern the State and National Championship phases of this competition.  Additional program details concerning the National Championship will be provided at the time qualifying teams are notified.  Rulebooks may be ordered from the CMP, tel. 419-635-2141, ext. 1102, or downloaded from the CMP web site at http://www.odcmp.com/3P/Rules.pdf.  

Who May Compete

Team Entries:  Teams must represent a club, school or other organization that complies with Rule 3.2.1, School Age Teams, in the National Standard Three-Position Air Rifle Rules.  All team members must be members of or enrolled in the club, team, school or other organization, reside in the geographic proximity of the city where the club, team, school or other organization is based and regularly participate in its activities (All-star teams with shooters from more than one club are not permitted).  Teams may fire as many shooters as they wish in the State Championship postal phase in either the sporter three-position or precision standing events.  The scores of each team's top four shooters in the sporter and/or precision classes count are the official team score(s).  The individual scores of all competitors will be listed in State Championship individual rankings.

Individual Entries:  Individual junior shooters who are not members of a team, but who comply with Rule 3.1.1, School Age Competitors, are eligible to compete in the State Championship postal competition.  Individual shooters’ results will be ranked in the State Championship individual rankings and will be eligible to earn at-large invitations to the National Championship.  This will give individual juniors who do not have a full four-person team to compete with an opportunity to participate in the State Championship postal. When entering individuals, use the on-line team entry and be sure to show the club or organizational affiliation of the shooters who are entered even if there are only one or two entries from that organization.

Age Limits:  All participants in the state championship postal competition must be enrolled in high school or middle school or the equivalent (i.e. home school) or be mid-term graduates during the 2008-2009 school year.  The School-Age eligibility rule in the National Standard Three-Position Air Rifle Rules (Rule 3.1.1) applies.  There is no minimum age.

       Courses of Fire

State Championship Postal Phase:  In the postal phase, each shooter in the sporter class event will fire a 3x10 course of fire (10 shots in each position, prone, standing, and kneeling, fired in that order).  Each shooter in the precision air rifle event will fire 40 shots standing (4x10 or 2x20 standing). 

National Championship Phase:  The National Championship competition is a shoulder-to-shoulder match with one full day of instruction and training followed by two days of competition and an impressive awards banquet.  In individual sporter class competition, competitors will fire two 3x20 courses of fire (one each day), with the top eight individual scorers each day firing a 10-shot final (one each day).  Team scores will be the totals of the two 3x20 scores for each day fired by the four team members.  In individual precision class competition, competitors will fire two 40-shot standing courses of fire (one each day), with the top eight individual scorers each day firing a 10-shot final (one each day).  Team scores will be the totals of the two 40-shot standing scores fired by the four team members.  Final round scores do not count in team totals. The average of the two finals will be added to competitors’ individual scores (If a shooter is in only one final, that score is his/her average) for all competitors who qualify for one or more finals (top eight individual scores each day).  

Shooting Positions:  The prone, standing and kneeling positions as described in Rules 5.1.1, 5.1.2 and 5.1.3 must be used.  Position firing must be done in that order.

       Postal Targets

Official 12 bulls-eye 10-meter air rifle targets, designated as 10-meter NC-AR10 targets will be used for the postal phase.  Targets printed by the Kruger company (Germany) will be issued to all participating organizations.  Targets will be scored electronically with Orion Visual Image Scoring (VIS) software.  Official postal targets with competitor names and numbers printed on them will be forwarded by the CMP to participating individuals/teams as soon as possible after teams register online.  Any State Championship postal scores fired on targets other than targets provided by the CMP will be disqualified. 

Rifles, Clothing and Equipment

Sporter class participants must use air rifles and equipment defined in Rule 4.2 (Sporter Air Rifle) and Rule 4.3 (Sporter Clothing and Accessories) in the National Standard Three-Position Air Rifle Rules. Precision class participants must use air rifles and equipment as defined in Rules 4.4 and 4.5 (Precision Air Rifle) and Rule 4.6 (Precision Clothing and Accessories).  Shooting jackets, pants or special shooting boots may be used only in the precision class.  A sporter class air rifle may be used in the precision standing event, but no precision air rifle may be used in the sporter 3x20 event.  Anyone with questions about equipment for the sporter or precision classes is encouraged to contact the National Three-Position Air Rifle Council Rules Hotline, 419-635-2141, ext. 1102 or competitions@odcmp.com.

Team Competition

Sporter and Precision Team Entries:  Each participating organization may enter as many individuals as they wish in the State Championship postal phase.  Shooters in the U. S. Army Junior Open Championship can shoot in both the sporter three-position and precision standing events.  Participating organizations may have four or more individual shooters fire in the sporter class and may also have the same or other individual shooters fire in the precision class.  Participating organizations thus may have team scores in either the sporter or precision classes or in both classes.  The organization's team score for the sporter and/or precision classes will be the total of the four highest scores fired by individuals representing that organization in that class.  If your team qualifies for the National Championship, the four team members who represent your organization in the National Championship do not have to be the four high scoring members on your team in the State Championship, but they must be selected from shooters who participated in the State Championship in either sporter or precision class.

Only shooters who fire in the State Championship may represent your organization in the National Championship.

Individual Competition:

One organization may enter an unlimited number of competitors in the State Championship postal phase in either the sporter three-position or precision standing events.  Individual juniors who represent organizations that do not enter a full team of four shooters may also fire in the State Championships in either class.  Individual competitors may not represent more than one organization, however.  Each individual competitor may fire only one set of “official match targets” during the State Championship sporter class phase and one set of targets during the State Championship precision phase.  Individual champions in a State Championship may advance to the National Championship as at-large individual competitors or as members of a state champion team that qualifies for the National Championship.

How to Enter

Entry this competition by registering your team and its members online at http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/matchInfo.cgi?matchID=4148,  not later than 1 March 2009.  Online Registration instructions are posted at the end of this program.  The entry fee for this Championship is $5.00 per individual competitor for each set of targets for the sporter class competition and $5.00 per individual for each set of targets for the precision class competition.  If your organization is entering teams in both the sporter and precision class events, you will need to submit one team entry for your sporter class team and a second entry for your precision class team.  There are no additional team entry fees.  Entry fees may be paid by credit card.  Do not send cash or purchase orders.  One-hundred percent of the entry fees will be used to provide funding assistance for team travel to the National Championship.  

        Scoring, Results and Challenge Period

Targets will be officially scored at CMP Headquarters.  Scoring will be done electronically with Orion Visual Image Scoring (VIS) software.  Any challenged targets will be rescored two additional times with the Orion VIS system with the decision determined by a 3 to 0 or a 2 to 1 result.  This is the standard scoring procedure adopted by the ISSF and several of its national federations for rescoring challenged paper targets that are scored electronically.  The entire target will be rescored so scores could remain the same, or possibly go up or down.

Return of Fired Targets

Forward all fired targets, postmarked not later than 13 March 2009, to:

Civilian Marksmanship Program
CMP/US Army Postal Match Coordinator
Camp Perry Training Site, Bldg. 3
   P.O Box 576
Port Clinton, OH  43452

Results Bulletins

At the conclusion of the State Championship postal phase, Preliminary Results will be posted on the CMP website (http://clubs.odcmp.com/results), not later than 22 March 2009.  Scoring challenges may be submitted to CMP Competitions via email, fax, regular mail or telephone NLT 31 March 09.  Results posted on the CMP website for the State Championship postal phase become final on 31 March 09.  Qualifiers for the National Championship will be officially notified as soon as possible after that date.

State Championship Awards and National Championship Qualifying

State Championships:  The CMP will provide State Championship awards.  U. S. Army Air Rifle State Championship Medals will be awarded to members of State Championship Teams (4 medals) and State Individual Champions in both sporter and precision classes according to the chart below.  Awards will be given in every state where there are participating teams; there will be no at-large awards in 2009.  When three individual awards are given and competitors from one organization place first, second and third in the state, the third place award will be passed down to the highest ranking competitor from another organiztion.

National Championship Invitations:  The 10 highest scoring teams that win sporter class state championships (only one team per state can qualify) and the 10 highest scoring organizations that win precision class state championships (only one team per state) will be invited to send a four-person team and a team coach to the National Championship.  The 10 highest scoring sporter and precision at-large individuals (highest ranking competitors who are not on a qualifying team) will also be invited to the National Championship. If a participating organization has both a sporter team and a precision team qualify for the National Championship, that organization must choose whether to accept a sporter or precision team invitation.  The other invitation will be passed down to the next eligible team.  The winning sporter and precision teams in 2008 will receive automatic invitations to this year’s National Championship if they enter a team in the 2009 State Championship Postal.  These teams must bring four shooters who are eligible to compete in the 2009 Championship.  Teams that accept National Championship invitations will receive a financial grant from CMP to assist with travel expenses.  Additional information regarding arrangements for National Championship housing and food service will be available when invitations are issued to qualifying teams. 

National Championship Schedule:

14 May 09: Arrival of teams, team registration, equipment control, precision and sporter clinics presented by the U. S. Army Marksmanship Unit International Rifle Team and coached practice on the USAMU Pool Complex Range.

15 May 09: Day one of competition; there will be one precision 40-shot standing relay and one 3x20 sporter relay.  Finals for each event will follow.

16 May 09: Day two of competition; there will be one precision 40-shot standing relay and one 3x20 sporter relay.  Finals for each event will follow.  The awards banquet takes place that evening.

17 May 09: Departure day

National Championship Awards: 

The U. S. Army Marksmanship Unit will provide award plaques and medallions to the winners of the National Championship individual and team competitions in the sporter and precision classes.  The winner of the Precision Class National Team Championship will receive the U. S. Army Precision Rifle Trophy.  The winner of the Sporter Class National Team Championship will receive the U. S. Army Sporter Rifle Trophy.

Points of Contact:

If you require information, assistance, or advice concerning this championship, contact:

Clarence Fedrick                                           or           SFC Kevin Heermann                                                 
Email clarence.fedrick@usaac.army.mil                           Email kevin.heermann@usaac.army.mil  

                                                                           or

   CMP Postal Match Coordinator
Phone (419) 635-2141 ext. 1113
FAX (419) 635-2802
Email postals@odcmp.com