JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas -- Four Airmen from the U.S. Air Force Action Pistol Team competed in the Multi-Gun Nationals on April 12-17 in Boulder City, Nevada.
In the open division, Master Sgt. Mark Ziebart of the 27th Special Operations Maintenance Squadron at Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico, finished seventh out of 60 competitors, and Tech Sgt. Eric Crotsley of the 552nd Maintenance Squadron at Tinker AFB, Oklahoma, finished 11th.
In the tactical division, 1st Lt. Casey Ryan of the 55th Security Forces Squadron at Offutt AFB, Nebraska, finished 25th, and Maj. Nick Siesser of the 5th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Florida, was 30th.
“I had hoped to do better,” Ziebart said. “At the end of the first day, I was only a few points out of first. Knowing this I pushed past my skills and took more penalties that killed my score. It was a hero or zero plan, and it did not pan out.
“The challenge of this type of event is not in simply completing the stage or making the shots. The challenge is with the quality of the competitors and making the shots faster than they did.”
The tournament was broken down into three days of competition, and the Air Force team started on the hardest four stages.
“Shooting slightly more conservatively on the second and third days would have netted me more points per stage, and I could have placed slightly higher,” Ziebart said. “Visualization of my game plans continues to be a weak point for me.”
Physical fitness was also key for the shooters. Even on a half-day format, the shooters were on the range from 6:30 a.m.-2 p.m.
“At other matches, I have logged 30,000 steps per day for five straight days,” Ziebart said. “Staying sharp can be difficult if one is not prepared for that.”
Crotsley returned from a deployment March 21 and only had three weeks to prepare. Still, he was pleased with his result.
“Coming off of a deployment and literally going to a national-level match is a bold move,” Crotsley said. “I hadn’t touched a gun since October 2016. Shooting at the Air Force level is a perishable skill set, and there is always room for improvement.”
One area where Crotsley said he could’ve done better is switching his firearms when he was being timed.
“I personally lost a lot of time switching from my rifle to my pistol, or my shotgun to my rifle, etc.,” he said. “That’s something I’ll be working on for future events.”
Despite the challenging environment, the Airmen’s readiness and resiliency shone through during the three days of competition.
“We used our resiliency to improve our performance on the range to propel each other up the scoreboard,” Crotsley said. “Our team is very resilient in a sense that we used each other to bounce back and get back in the game. Lessons learned on the range can easily be translated to in-office mentoring. I always love shooting with the team because we are all like-minded individuals with common Air Force goals.”
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