CMP Adds New Events to 2019 National Matches Long Range Schedule
February 22, 2019
By Ashley Brugnone, CMP Writer
CAMP PERRY, Ohio – The Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) has added three new matches to its 2019 National Matches Long Range lineup, set to be fired at Camp Perry in Ohio, Aug.
The McMaken and Speaks Memorial Match will be unlimited sighting shots and 20 record shots in 30 minutes at 1,000 yards. Awards will be given in match rifle/any sights, service, rifle and Palma rifle categories.
The Baesel Memorial Match will also follow the same course of fire and categories as the McMaken and Speaks competition.
The Winder Memorial Iron Team Match will follow a course of fire of two sighting shots and 20 record shots per team member in 47 minutes from 1,000 yards. Categories in the team event will be match rifle/iron, service rifle and Palma.
**Note: Those competitors who elect to use match rifles with any optics NOT in accordance with the match program will be permitted to fire, but those scores will not be counted towards any aggregate awards. However, an award will be given in that category for the Baesel Memorial match providing there are five or more competitors.
History Behind The Names:
- General McMaken & Speaks Memorial Match: Brigadier Generals William V. McMaken and John C. Speaks dedicated themselves to Ohio military duty beginning in the 1870s. Each were assigned to duties during the Spanish-American War – McMaken in command of Trinidad, Cuba, and Speaks in the Puerto Rican Campaign and later on the Mexican border in 1916. They served important roles in the Ohio National Guard during the formative days of Camp Perry and were honored in 1909 with the planting of a pair of buckeye trees which remain at the foot of today’s Rodriguez Range near the east of the flagpole.
- 2LT Albert E. Baesel Memorial Match: 2LT Albert E. Baesel, of Ohio’s Company B, 148th Infantry, 37th Division, was killed in action near Ivoiry, France on September 27, 1918 during the Meuse-Argonne Campaign, WWI. Upon hearing that a squad leader of his platoon had been severely wounded while attempting to capture an enemy machine gun nest, he requested permission to rescue him. After his third request, his commanding officer reluctantly allowed it. Upon retrieving his fallen comrade, 2LT Baesel was struck and killed by enemy fire. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Building 3, CMP Programs HQ at Camp Perry, Ohio is dedicated to him.
- COL C.B. Winder Memorial Team Match: COL Charles Blish (C.B.) Winder was a pioneer of both aviation and long-range rifle competition. In 1903 he won the NRA’s Leech Cup trophy, the oldest (1875) long-range rifle trophy in America, at Sea Girt, New Jersey – the course of fire was seven shots each at 800, 900 and 1,000 yards, with a service rifle. Born in Wayne Township, Champaign County, Ohio in 1874, Winder was a Lt. Col. in the Ohio National Guard in 1912 when he graduated from the Army Aviation School in Augusta, Georgia, and became the first National Guard pilot. His rifle team won a gold medal in the 1908 Olympics and he is credited for designing both a special tube sight for the Springfield rifle and an adaptation of the Winchester 1885 rifle chambered in .22 rimfire, which was both economical and suitable for training known as the Winder musket.
Returning Long Range Matches:
The CMP introduced its new series of Long Range events to competitors in 2018. Six matches were held during the Long Range series, with competitors firing in service, match and Palma rifle classes over three days from 800, 900 and 1,000 yards.
Events included the Viale Memorial and Critchfield matches, which featured a course of fire of 20 record shots in 30 minutes at 1,000 yards. The same course of fire was also played out in the Henry Memorial Match and the Kerr Memorial Match. The Bataan Memorial 4-Man Team Match included 20 shots by each member at 1,000 yards, while the Camp Perry Palma Match held a course of fire of 15 record shots at 800, 900 and 1,000 yards, in a block time of 22 minutes at each firing line.
The overall aggregate winner of the Long Range Matches received the Coats Brown Memorial Trophy – donated to the CMP by the Military Marksmanship Association.
For additional information on the CMP’s National Matches, visit https://thecmp.org/competitions/cmp-national-matches/. Registration will open March 1st.