NY Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Adam Crist, a Buffalo resident, competes in national shooting match

Latham, NY (05/16/2024) — New York Army National Guard Staff Sgt Adam Crist, a Buffalo resident, competed in the National Guard's annual marksmanship competition in Arkansas which ran from April 29 to May 3.

The Winston P. Wilson Marksmanship Competition, named after the Chief of the National Guard Bureau who established the national shooting event in 1971, takes place at the National Guard Marksmanship Training Center in North Little Rock, Arkansas.

Crist is assigned to the 2nd Squadron, 101st Cavalry Regiment, which is headquartered at Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station.

The competition consisted of a variety of events.

These included firing at moving targets, using night vision sights, a reflexive fire course, a close quarter battle simulator, and the Bianchi battle.

This last event challenges the shooters to use three different weapons: the M-4 rifle, the M-17 pistol, and the M-500shotgun to engage target while running 100 yards between each engagement.There was also a mystery event, called the "Xiphos", pronounces "Z-phos".This year that event consisted of individual shooters using an M-4 rifle, an M-17 pistol and an M-500 shotgun. The M-4 shooter engaged steel targets, the M-17 marksman shot the paper targets, while the shotgun shooter downed the clay pigeons.The fourth team member had to run the right amount of ammunition for each weapon forward to firing line.

Crist said that taking part in the competition was a great learning experience.

Despite the competitive nature of the event, at its heart it is a collaboration and exchange of information between some of the best marksmen in the world, Crist said.

"Everything you learn at these competitions can be brought back to your unit, and sharing that knowledge makes you an asset," Crist said. "The whole formation benefits at the end of the day."

Crist, who enlisted in the New York Army National Guard in 2018, currently serves as a full-time personnel noncommissioned officer.

In 2023 he won the New York Army National Guard's Best Warrior competition and represented the state in the regional event.

.The other team members where:

• Sgt. 1st Class Robert Lamorte II, a resident of Mount Vernon, assigned to Joint Force Headquarters operations section.
• Staff Sgt. Warren Solomon, a Lewiston resident who is assigned to C Troop, of the 2nd Squadron, 101st Cavalry.
• Sgt. Craig Rowell, a Buffalo resident who is assigned to the 152nd Engineer Company.

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