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Retired
Soldiers inducted in USAMU Hall of Fame
By
Paula
J. Randall Pagán
Public
Affairs Office, U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, Accessions
Support Brigade
FORT
BENNING, Georgia – More
than 300 members, past and present, of the U.S. Army Marksmanship
Unit, gathered together October 22nd and 23rd to celebrate the 48th
anniversary of the formation of the USAMU. The Military
Marksmanship Association (MMA)—the
alumni association of the Army Marksmanship Unit—conducted
the festivities, which started with a welcome picnic at the Pecan
Grove on Phillips Range on the afternoon of October
22nd. The MMA Reunion honored the shooters and staff of
the Army Marksmanship Unit and provided an opportunity for the
shooters of the past to meet the new shooters of the present.
Support Hall of Fame
Induction Ceremony
The morning of October.
23rd, the MMA members gathered at Sharpe Hall, USAMU Headquarters,
for a ceremony inducting four retired USAMU Soldiers into the USAMU
Support Hall of Fame. The inductees were: Sergeant
First Class Gerald J. "Hook" Boutin, service rifle shooter,
armorer and sniper instructor; Sergeant Major Roy Combs, Service
Rifle Team coach and former USAMU sergeant major; Sergeant First
Class Leslie "Pappy" Drake, Service Rifle Team coach and
shooting champion; and Master Sergeant William "W.O."
Harden, service rifle shooter, gunsmith and chief of the USAMU Custom
Firearms Shop. "I'd like to thank them for their
extraordinary service to the Army and this nation," said former
USAMU Commander retired Colonel "Arch" Arnold, who was the
guest speaker at the ceremony.
USAMU Commander
Lieutenant Colonel David J. Liwanag told the crowd that the work of
the USAMU Custom Firearms Shop in producing more accurate weapons for
the Army is "important in our global war on
terror." Liwanag continued, "Every service has
its standout, for the Army, that's the Marksmanship
Unit. In the unit, our most precious assets are our
shooters, gunsmiths and support people who make and issue the guns,
ammo, and equipment that make it possible for us to excel and
dominate over challenges."
USAMU Hall of Fame
Induction Ceremony
The USAMU Support Hall of
Fame Ceremony was followed by a trick-shooting demonstration by 2004
Olympians Sergeants First Class James "Todd" Graves, Bret
E. Erickson, and Shawn C. Dulohery at Hook Range. The
highlight of the 48th Anniversary Reunion was the USAMU Hall of Fame
Induction Ceremony, held the afternoon of October 23rd on Ceremony
Hill overlooking the Pool International Shooting
Complex. Retired USAMU members Lieutenant Colonel William
C. Pullum and Master Sergeants William R. Lee and Robert D. Whitacre
joined 20 other former members of the USAMU who are enshrined the
unit's Hall of Fame.
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Robert Whitacre
speaks at the lecturn while USAMU Commander Lieutenant Colonel
Liwanag, guest speaker Lieutenant Colonel Camp, and Hall of Fame
Inductees Master Sergeant Lee and Lieutenant Colonel Pullem look on. |
Lieutenant Colonel
William C. Pullum
Pullum was the former
coach of the USAMU Service Rifle and International Rifle teams, as
well as the U.S. Olympic Rifle Team. He also competed as a
service pistol and service rifle shooter earning the U.S.
Army Distinguished Rifleman Badge,
and served as the USAMU shop officer. "I've had a
very enjoyable life with the Army Marksmanship Unit and I've met some
wonderful people; I want to thank you all very kindly," Pullum said.
Master Sergeants
William R. Lee
Lee was a service rifle
shooter best known for rock-solid team shooting including three
record setting performances in the National Trophy Team
Match. Individually, he won three "All" Army
Championships and two Interservice Championships, the President's
Hundred Match in 1976, U.S.
Army Distinguished Rifleman Badge,
and numerous other state and regional championships. He
thanked the USAMU Custom Firearms Shop for his victories, stating
that the work the USAMU gunsmiths did on the M-16 rifles was a
miracle performance. "The USAMU has made the greatest
contribution they can make to the Army," Lee said, "by
putting these accurized weapons in the hands of our Soldiers in Iraq
and Afghanistan." He added, "I wish I had an
accurized M-16 to shoot when I was competing."
Master Sergeants
Robert D. Whitacre
Whitacre was Service
Pistol and International Pistol shooter. He is one of
a handful of pistol shooters to fire a score of 2670 points out of a
possible score of 2700 points in national 3-gun competition. Whitacre
won multiple national indoor and outdoor pistol championships, earned
the U.S.
Army Distinguished Pistol Shot Badge,
the United
States Distinguished International Shooter Badge,
and the President's
Hundred Tab. He thanked the USAMU gunsmiths, coaches, and
support staff for the part they play in creating the USAMU champions.
"I served with the best Soldiers in the best unit in the U.S.
Army—the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit," Whitacre said.
Guest Speaker
Liwanag introduced
retired Colonel Gregory C. Camp, former Fort Benning Chief of Staff,
who was the guest speaker at the Hall of Fame Ceremony. Colonel
Camp said, "Americans really like winners and these three
inductees—and the entire Army Marksmanship Unit—are
champions. The Army Marksmanship Unit has far exceeded the
expectations of President Eisenhower when he formed the unit 48 years
ago. There is no peer in marksmanship to the Army Marksmanship
Unit. The unit has lived the vision of Eisenhower; the
unit has the greatest small arms capability in the Army."
Distinguished Guests
Also present at the
ceremony were: Retired Lieutenant General William B. Caldwell;
and former USAMU members retired Lieutenant Colonel Robert Mitchell,
director of USA Shooting, and Olympic Gold Medalist Gary Anderson,
director of the Civilian Marksmanship Program.
MMA General
Membership Meeting and Election of Officers
Following the Hall of
Fame Induction Ceremony, the Military Marksmanship conducted a
general membership meeting and elected officers for
2005. The newly elected officers are: retired Colonel
Bruce Meredith, President; retired Major Stephen C. Goff, Vice
President; retired Sergeant Major Laurence K. Mosely, Secretary; and
retired Master Sergeant Samuel W. Hunter, Treasurer. The new
officers will take office in January 2005 for a two-year term.
More
information about what happened at reunion will be included in the
December MMA
Times.
Click here
to view reunion photos taken by MMA member Ray Carter.
Click here
to view reunion photos taken by MMA member Ken Hamill.
Webmaster
Note: Did you take photos at the Reunion?
Would you care to share your photos on this website? If so, please
send an e-mail message using the Feedback
Form or e-mail the webmaster@militarymarksmanship.org
for more information. Thanks.
Formed in 1956 by
President Dwight D. Eisenhower to raise the standards of marksmanship
throughout the U.S. Army, the Army Marksmanship Unit is assigned to
the Accessions Support Brigade of Fort Knox, Ky., which is under U.S.
Army Accessions Command, of Fort Monroe, Va. Accessions Command
is charged with overseeing recruiting and training of the Army's
enlisted Soldiers and officers. The Marksmanship Unit trains
its Soldiers to win competitions and enhances combat readiness
through train-the-trainer clinics, research and development. The
world-class Soldier-athletes of the USAMU also promote the Army and
assist recruiters in attracting young Americans to enlist in the Army.
For more
information on the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, contact the Public
Affairs Office at (706) 545-5436, paula.pagan@usarec.army.mil
or http://www.usarec.army.mil/hq/amu/ |