NY Army National Guard Sgt. Nick Austin, a Garrison resident, will represent New York National Guard in regional marksmanship competition

Garrison Soldier was member of team which won the New York National Guard's annual combat rifle shooting compeititon May 30-June 2

Camp Smith , NY (06/10/2019) — New York Army National Guard Sgt. Nick Austin, a Garrison resident, will represent New York at the National Guards northeast region shooting competition held June 21-23 at Fort Ethan Allen in Jericho, Vermont.

The winners of that competition will go onto a national shooting match in Arkansas later this summer.

Austin and three other members of the New York Army National Guard's 145th Maintenance Company won the combat rifle team competition held May 30-June 2 at the New York National Guard's Camp Smith Training Site near Peekskill.

That gave them the opportunity to shoot against teams from the New Jersey and the New England states.

The annual Adjutant General's Marksmanship Competition encourages shooting excellence among New York Guardsmen on rifle and pistol skills and winners move on to national-level marksmanship competitions.

This year's event featured 89 competitors: 69 from New York Army National Guard, 4 from the New York Air National Guard and 16 New York Guard members. The New York Guard is the state's volunteer self-defense force.

There are individual competitions in rifle and pistol marksmanship, along with the team competitions in rifle and pistol shooting.

Participants in the Sgt. Reidar Waaler Team Combat Rifle Match use the military's M-4 or M-162 rifle, depending on which weapon they are issued, and engage a variety of targets to test their skills.

The event is named a World War I New York National Guard Soldier who was awarded the Medal of Honor for rescuing crewmen from a burning British tank.

The 145th Maintenance Company is headquartered on Staten Island.

Other members of the team were: Sgt. Martin Ndunda from Ronkonkoma; Staff Sgt. Richard Tavarez from Brooklyn; and Specialist Carlos Zambrano from the Bronx.

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