Marksman from around the world gathered at the Connaught Ranges today for the 25 shooting matches of the annual Canadian Armed Forces Small Arms Concentration (CAFSAC). Participants came from the CAF, (including regular, reserves and the Canadian Rangers Patrol Group), the United States, United Kingdom, and the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Of all the matches, the most prestigious was the Queen’s Medal for Champion Shot (match M15) which is a series of five relays starting at the 500 metre mark with fixed targets and then racing down to 400 metres for a mixture of static and moving targets and so on through 300 metres, 200 metres and 100 metres, all while carrying 30 kilograms of kit, not including ammunition. There was a mix of weaponry from the 70 year old Lee Enfield Mk4 used by the Rangers to the C-7 used by CAF personnel as well as rifles from the other countries.
At the end of the day, Private Johnathan Sobczak won the Queen’s Medal for Champion Shot for top Regular Force shooter, Corporal David Ferguson won the Queen’s Medal for Champion Shot for top Reserve Force shooter, and Master Corporal Samuel Coquyt won the Shannon Wills trophy for top Canadian Ranger Shooter.
However, all the competition was not just running and shooting down the ranges and the use of rifles. There were also competitions for light machine guns, pistols, and combinations thereof as well as competitions utilizing urban environment ranges (simulated housing/street environments), complete with static, pop-up, and robotic targets. Each of the three urban ranges is built new each year by local staff so returning participants won’t know what to expect. Of particular interest was the third urban environment range (P3) which is 2-way dynamic range where the targets shoot back at the participants.
At the P3 range the participants get to use their own personal weapon and only have to change out the breech block to shoot the simulated ammunition. The simulated ammunition is standard 5.56 mm cartridge but instead of having a metal bullet in the cartridge, it has a bullet shaped paintball that is fired. The simulated ammo breechblock is blue and will only fire simulation rounds, not real rounds, and the real breechblock will only fire real ammunition, not simulation rounds so, no accidents.
In the 2-way urban range (match M26), the participants are put through a timed event where they work through the range shooting targets and receive time penalties for not hitting a target in the proper spot, missing a target altogether (failure to neutralize), hitting a non-threat (i.e. civilian), as well as tactical and procedural errors. These penalties are added to their time through the course to give an aggregate time on which they are judged against others.
However, new to the Canadian Army is the Defense Sentinel Unit Mk1 (DSU Mk1) from Shaank Systems which is a paintball gun on a robotic base connected to video tracking camera and computer and programmed to protect a given area (think Phalanx only smaller). If the participant strays into the area of coverage, they are continuously fired upon and if hit, are disqualified from the competition. This, of course, means that the tactics used against static targets are no longer valid and the participant must think on their feet and use cover where appropriate. To neutralize the DSU, the participant must hit the man-sized target attached to the DSU twice (a.k.a. a double-tap) at which point the target falls down.
Canada is the first country in the world to use the DSU Mk1 and it shows great promise for added interactivity in training and seeing how soldiers react under fire. As stated by LCol. Mark Popov, Director of CAFSAC, this will force troops to “… think on their feet … make the right decision … in a time constrained environment.”.
All in all, there are worse ways to spend a beautiful summer day than being on a range blowing off a few rounds. Congratulations to the winners of all the matches for your commitment to excellence.
to see all the pictures, CLICK HERE
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