Sgt. David Amendola, a Holtsville resident, wins New York National Guard pistol shooting competition.

Camp Smith Training Site, New York (04/29/2025) — New York Army National Guard Sgt. David Amendola, a Holtsville resident, was the winner of the New York National Guard's annual shooting competition held April 23 to 26 at Camp Smith Training Site near Peekskill.

Amendola bested 48 other competitors in a pistol shooting competition with a score of 173 points in the Warrior Challenge Match and an overall score of 371 points.

The Adjutant General's Match-known as the TAG Match-is held each spring at Camp Smith, and tests the skills of members of the Army and Air National Guard and the New York Naval Militia.

Normally, the competitors fire the Army's M4 carbine. This year, because the rifle ranges were being rebuilt, the competition focused on the military issue Sig Saurer 9 millimeter pistol.

Amendola who has served in the Army National Guard since 2016, is a member of the 442nd Military Police company, based at the Jamaica Armory in Queens.

Two weeks earlier, Amendola was at Camp Smith competing in the annual Best Warrior Competition, which also involved rifle and pistol shooting.

That experience gave him an edge in the shooting match, Amendola said.

"That, hands down, prepared me and gave me an advantage over those who may not have had the same training."

Amendola was also awarded the Sgt. 1st Class Brent J. Lantange Overall Individual Combat Award, which is given to the shooter with the highest combined score for both pistol shooting events.

Amendola is currently serving as a volunteer in Joint Task Force Sentinel, the team of 3,000 National Guard Soldiers supplementing correction officers in the Department of Corrections and Community Services (DOCCS) prisons.

"To go from the DOCCS mission where we were helping the corrections officers, to the Best Warrior Competition where we were in a high stress combat environment, to the TAG Match that focuses on marksmanship is just a humbling experience," Amendola said

Amendola was also part of a four-person pistol team which won the Lt. Col. William Donovan Combat Team Pistol Match with a score of 480 points.

William "Wild Bill" Donovan received the Medal of Honor during World War I when he commanded a battalion of the 69th Infantry Regiment, an historic New York Army National Guard unit.

He later went on to create the Office of Strategic Services -the predecessor of the CIA- during World War II.

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