The staff at the Skyline Restaurant in Windsor Locks, Conn. was looking forward to Saturday night's dinner service. And why shouldn't they, it was going to be a big night with a very important group of guests - the combat shooting teams from the world's premier leadership schools, America's four service academies. Since 2007, when Smith & Wesson began hosting the Joint Service Academy Combat Weapons Championship (JSACWC), cadets and midshipmen from the United States Air Force Academy, the United States Coast Guard Academy, the United States Military Academy at West Point and the United States Naval Academy have been traveling to the Springfield, Mass./Hartford, Conn. area to compete. Over 70 competitors and coaches from the four service academies took part in the 2012 Joint Service Academy Combat Weapons Championship. Photo by P. Erhardt In recent years the match has been held, as it was this past weekend, at the Hartford Gun Club and staffed by a dedicated team of match officials, score keepers and safety officers pulled from the ranks of the International Defensive Pistol Association, whose scoring system is modified for use at the three-gun shooting event. Where many matches sometimes struggle to find adequate staff support, Match Director Mike Critser found there's absolutely no shortage of volunteers when it comes to hosting the JSACWC.

Mike Critser addresses the cadets and midshipmen during the safety briefing. Photo by P. Erhardt

"This is the one match that literally everybody wants to work," said Critser. "They all want to be around the cadets and midshipmen so we end up with all the safety officers we need, plus plenty more on standby ready to step in at a moment's notice. That's how much of a draw it is for these folks to work with the service academies." Besides an eager volunteer staff, the JSACWC also pulls in support from the industry. While Smith & Wesson has taken on the lion's share of the organizing, hosting and sponsorship responsibilities, others in the industry have also lent their support, including Black Hills Ammunition, Brownells, LaRue Tactical, Leupold, the National Shooting Sports Foundation and XS Sight Systems. But you probably want to know what happened this past weekend at the 2012 Joint Service Academy Combat Weapons Championship, right? Well here are the highlights. This year's match featured seven challenging stages designed to test the skills of each school's combat weapons team with a pistol (125 rounds), rifle (129 rounds) and shotgun (30 rounds), as well as their ability to transition from one to the other, often on the fly. In the individual standings, Navy finished with five shooters in the top ten, followed by Army with four, and Air Force and Coast Guard each with one shooter in the top ten.

West Point's TJ Snukis led all shooters at the 2012 JSACWC. Photo by P. Erhardt

In ascending order the top ten were Vytenis Bucis (Navy) in 10th with 624.84 and 118 points down, Alex Webber (Coast Guard) in 9th with 620.08 and 80 points down, Robert Brubaker (Navy) in 8th with 619.95 and 111 points down, Eric Gallagher (Army) in 7th with 619.91 and 130 points down, Bennett Thomas (Navy) in 6th with 595.08 and 80 points down, Aaron Pool (Army) in 5th with 585.81 and 93 points down, Joseph Springfield (Air Force) in 4th with 577.99 and 73 points down, Colin Bruton (Navy) in 3rd with 576.27 and 129 points down, Ben Fernandez (Navy) in 2nd with 558.03 and 97 points down, and taking top individual honors was TJ Snukis (Army) in 1st with 542.88 and 76 points down. Army shooters claimed three individual stages wins with Snukis winning Stage 3 and Stage 6 while Gallagher won Stage 7. Navy also won three stages with Brubaker winning Stage 1, Bennett winning Stage 3 and William Spencer Malona winning Stage 5. Barton Nanny of the Coast Guard won Stage 2, as well as taking most accurate shooter honors with just 52 points down. In team competition, where each school was represented by a squad of five shooters with a sixth "wild card"shooter whose score could be substituted for the lowest score of the main squad of five, Navy's shooters took top honors on four stages (3, 4, 5 and 6). Army's squad won two stages (1 and 7). And Coast Guard's team won Stage 2. As you can probably guess, based on their individual performance with five shooters in the top ten, and their team performance with four stage wins, the Midshipmen won the 2012 Joint Service Academy Combat Weapons Championship with a combined score of 2977.39, edging out by a margin of 42.44 the Cadets of West Point with 3019.88.

Despite little practice time behind the rifle, Coast Guard's shooters showed no fear when it came to targets at 200 yards. Photo by P. Erhardt

Third place went the the Coast Guard Academy with 3457.42, while Air Force finished in fourth place with 3674.97. There's one more important highlight. Though not an official title or honor, "MVP" recognition goes to members of Connecticut's Air National Guard who stepped in at the last moment to provide housing for the Air Force Academy's team which, because of limited funding, would not have been able to make the trip without the assist. Saturday evening the 70-plus members and coaches of the four combat weapons teams came together, along with visiting parents and match staff members, for the awards banquet where individual and team honors were recognized.

Thanks to help from the local Air National Guard, Air Force Academy shooters were able to compete at this year's match. Photo by P. Erhardt

Standing in a room full of 19 and 20 something year old future officers, all in uniform, it is impossible to not be impressed. Every sentence of every conversation with a cadet or midshipman ends with the honorific "sir" or "ma'am". And when you consider their commitment to country, especially the sacrifices they and their families will make, it seems as though we should be the ones calling them "sir" and "ma'am". It really is a privilege - and quite a humbling experience - to be among such truly outstanding young men and women who will go on to be future leaders. If you'd like the chance to watch them in action, then mark your calendar for this same time next year when the Joint Service Academy Combat Weapons Championship will return to the Hartford Gun Club. If your company would like be involved in next year's match, email Tom Yost for sponsorship opportunities and complete match information. Your participation and support will be welcome. - Paul Erhardt, Editor, the Outdoor Wire Digital Network Got shooting sports news? Send us an email at info@shootingwire.com.