CMP Club &

Competition Tracker

The following biography was written by SFC Mark James Ness

Joining the Minnesota Army National Guard in Dec. 1988 I became a member of an aviation unit in St. Paul, but later transferred to a unit in Bismarck, ND where I began shooting competitively in 1995. I eventually became Team Captain of the state combat pistol team, and then in 2002 transferred from the North Dakota Army National Guard to the Army Reserve as a small arms instructor with the Small Arms Readiness Group (SARG) at Ft. Gillem, GA. In 2003 I tried out for the Army Reserve International Combat Pistol Team at Ft. Devens, MA. I made the team, and at the same time earned the Distinguished Pistol Shot badge. At this point I decided that my next goal was to become “Double Distinguished”. Being a member of the Combat Team offered me more opportunities to train, and also to attend matches. A little over a year later, in 2004, I became “Distinguished” with the rifle. The following spring the Army Reserve Service Rifle Team invited me to a try out at Oakridge, TN, and I got my name on the Service Rifle Team roster.

In 2004 the Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU) reintroduced the “ALL ARMY MATCHES” which had not been held in many years. Although I had not had the opportunity to attend in 2004 or 2005, in 2006 the SARG put together several teams at a training session at Camp Bullis, TX. I made the “A Team” and a week later was at the “ALL ARMY MATCHES” at Ft. Benning, GA. I won the first rifle match and remained consistent through the rest of the individual rifle events and placed first in the individual service rifle aggregate. The team was placing first in nearly every team event. Next we shot 3 combat pistol matches of which I won 1, and placed fourth overall in Pistol. In the end SARG Team A won the overall combined team championship and I became the All Army Individual Combined Small Arms Champion 2006.

In July 2008 I completed a long time goal by making the “President’s Hundred” at the National Matches at Camp Perry, OH.

The love of Marksmanship competition is in my blood, passed on to me by my Great’ Great’ Grandfather, SSG John James Wolford, who was one of the first ever “Distinguished Marksman” being awarded the badge in 1884 (the year the program began) for having already won or placed in 3 Army Division or higher events. He also won an international championship in 1887 held in Illinois where he was awarded a gold watch made by the Elgin watch company of Chicago.