Inside the Bullseye: September 2012

1961 CISM Matches in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

In 1961 Gary was a member of a 10-member U. S. Armed Forces International Shooting Team that went to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil for the CISM Shooting Championship in July. CISM (International Military Sports Council) organizes international military sports competitions in the Olympic tradition for teams representing the Armed Forces of CISM member countries for a wide variety of military sports. The ultimate goal of CISM is “to contribute to world peace by uniting armed forces through sports.” Their motto is Friendship through Sport. In 1961, it worked out for Gary to compete for a spot on the U. S. CISM team because there were no other important international championships that year. The CISM shooting competitions were traditionally a high priority for the Army Marksmanship Unit, but if you made a U. S. Pan Am Games, Olympic or World Championship team, also shooting in the CISM championship was not possible.

Opening Ceremony, CISM matches 1961

Nine nations competed in 1961 Rio de Janeiro CISM Championship: Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, France, Holland, Peru, Korea, Uruguay and the USA. The CISM rifle events were a 300m 60 shot 3-position precision event and a 60 shot 3-position rapid-fire event. The ten member U. S. Military Team was selected in team trials at Fort Benning where Gary easily won the rifle trial.

In Rio, all of the teams were housed at the Brazilian Air Force Academy. At the time, Gary’s rank was Corporal. The other team members were Sergeants or Officers. The Brazilians regarded Corporals as enlisted so for a couple of days, Gary’s barracks was “rather Spartan” and the food in the Brazilian enlisted men’s mess consisted of three daily servings of “gruel.” He never saw a piece of meat in that mess. Rifle Team Captain Tom Atwood fought for Gary to be allowed to eat in the NCO mess with his teammates and that greatly improved his surroundings and diet. LTC Tom Atwood later became a high school JROTC Instructor in northern Illinois; he was someone Gary always remembered as one of the finest leaders under whom he served.

There was a reception for the U. S. team in the office of the Academy Commander. There was a sealed glass jar on a shelf behind the Commander’s desk that appeared to contain a large piece of flesh. The Commander eventually explained that the glass jar contained a human heart, indeed, the preserved heart of the founding commander of the Academy.

In the 1960s, CISM for “Army Rifle Matches” called for all competitors to use the manually operated rifle of the host country. The 1961 CISM 300m Army Rifle Matches were fired with 7mm Brazilian Mauser Model 1935 bolt-action rifles. According to CISM rules, each team was supposed to “draw a crate” of rifles that were, in Gary’s words, “just junk.” He doesn’t want to say that the team draw was rigged, but he bitterly remembers how shooters on a couple of teams had prone scores that the U. S. Army shooters could not come close to shooting with their rifles. Fortunately, U. S. team members were so much better in kneeling, standing and rapid-fire that they could overcome their prone slow-fire deficits. Gary remembers the rifle they drew as being “really crude.” The actions were so stiff they were difficult to cycle in rapid-fire. Team members took their rifles apart at night in the barracks in attempts to clean up the bedding.

Gary shooting prone at the CISM Matches 1961

The sights were especially primitive. These rifles had inverted V front sights and open U-notch rear sights. Real sight adjustments were not possible. Gary never was able sight in his rifle if he used a proper sight picture, but he discovered that if he pointed the sights at a large mark on the lower right corner of the target, that his shots generally hit the middle of the target. His aiming point for the both the 300m Army Rifle Precision and Rapid-Fire events was that mark in the lower right corner. So by aiming, not at his target, but “low and right,” he won the gold medal in the 300m Precision event. His scores were 169 prone, 156 kneeling and 161 standing for a total of 486 out of a possible 600. That is an unbelievably low score, but it was the best that could be done with the rifles and ammunition that were issued.

Gary's diary entry for the CISM Championships

The trip to Brazil for the 1961 CISM Shooting Championship was an overall success. A special award is given at the end of each CISM competition for the team that has the best overall score. The U. S. Armed Forces combined rifle and pistol team won the CISM overall championship in 1961.