Altmeyer Jr.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — For the son of a Harmony woman, earning a top spot as one of the National Guard’s top shooters has become almost an obsession.

Air National Guard Tech. Sgt. Edward H. Altmeyer Jr., son of Nancy Cariati of Ridge Road, Harmony, was one of more than 400 of the top National Guard marksmen throughout the country who converged on Camp Robinson in Little Rock to determine the best shooters in the nation.

The 40th annual Winston P. Wilson sustainment training exercise and marksmanship competition focused on training that combined marksmanship skills with combat tasks to gauge the overall readiness of National Guard soldiers.

Altmeyer is a security forces specialist who represented the Pennsylvania Alpha team. He finished first in the open category in the combat rifle course, combat rifle excellence in competition and second in the overall rifle aggregate.

He ended with a third-place finish in the overall Open division.

He also became a Chief 50 as one of the top 50 shooters in the competition.

He led his team to a first place finish in the Fallen Comrades combat rifle match as well as the National Guard Infantry team match and the Machine Gun P.O.W. match. Altmeyer’s team also finished second in the Apache Alley Engagement match, a timed rifle match with moving targets.

Overall, Altmeyer and his team finished second for the All States trophy, given to the team with the highest overall score.

“This is the one time during the year that you get to test your marksmanship skills against some of the best shooters in the country,” said Altmeyer, a 1994 graduate of Montour High School, McKees Rocks.

Training for a competition of this magnitude is a year-round affair with hundreds of hours of practice on the firing range with several different types of weapons. But, more than a shooting match, the Wilson competition is more about preparation for combat.

“I had approximately 10 days of tailored practice with the Pennsylvania Marksmanship Training Unit, five days of practice with the All Guard team and I shot in various competitions to get ready for this event,” said Altmeyer, who has been a member of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard for almost 14 years.

Win or lose, the soldiers who compete here not only learn where they stand against the best in the business, but they take away a game plan for what it takes to survive on today’s battlefield.

“The biggest thing that I will take away is the tips that I got from other shooters,” said Altmeyer. “While talking with other shooters you will find that they might have a technique that helps them on an area that you are struggling in. Also, the training that I get while shooting in these matches is relevant to our current operations overseas.”