Springfield Armory in Massachusetts and Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois were major players, as was old Frankfort Arsenal. Springfield and later Rock Island used to host meetings which would be attended by engineers, supply people, publications folks, military gunsmiths, and a whole host of people all intent on improving things. A National Match Program had been created (Government supported) which would oversee the design and manufacture of National Match Rifles and Pistols as well as the Match ammo for both.  The government engineers drew up what was known as the Technical Data Packages - TDP's - for all products being manufactured.  The publication folks used to put together a small booklet for each year's matches.  This booklet, available free to everyone, would describe the current National Match weapon being used and what changes had been adopted as agreed upon at the joint meetings.   It would describe the ammo being used and its' accuracy characteristics.   Frankfort was turning out some fine Match ammo for the M1's, while on the pistol side the ammo was being contracted out, often to Remington.  As a side note, some of you may have noticed the head stamps on Match ammo from back in the late 50's and 60's.   Some of it gave the year and the word MATCH, while others list the year and NM.   An example would be Remington in the mid 60's which read either RA 66 MATCH, or RA 66 NM.  Here's how it came about. All the MATCH stuff was the ammo in general use for competition throughout the year.  The NM stuff was a special run for the National Matches only.  As Dick has said, the lot numbers were not known by the shooters.

    For proper perspective, you should also know that Springfield Armory used to host the National Match Rifle and Pistol Maintenance Course of instruction.   This was a 4 week long school that was attended by those with the need to learn how to build the NM .45's and M1Garands/M14's.  When Springfield closed its' doors back in '67 the mission was moved to Rock Island Arsenal.  I was fortunate enough to be one of the instructors at Rock Island from 1981 to 1987.  After that I became the Smallarms Foreman at Rock Island.

    Prior to 1968, National Match M1's and .45's having been produced at Springfield or Rock Island were being sold at Camp Perry at a very reasonable cost.  As I recall, the last price of the National Match.45 was 105 bucks.   Ah, those were the days.

    My competitive shooting began in the late fall of 1960.  I was a medic stationed at Scott AFB, Belleville, Illinois.  One day the hospital daily bulletin carried an ad for shooters wanting to try out for the base rifle team.  On my first night at the indoor range I was told to pick out a spotting scope, rifle, CLOTH jacket, etc. and pick a point on the line and start shooting prone.  An NCO was on hand to see that we got into a reasonable position for newbies.  After a while I was asked what the serial number was on the Remington 513T I was using.  As the evening came to a close, a hand receipt was shoved in front of me and I was told to sign it.  Leaving the range and headed home to my off post housing, I had all the equipment with me. Amazing!  Later on I was issued a Winchester Model 52 and by the spring of 1961 I was issued an M1 Garand, all of which I kept at home. It seems to me they used to check about once a year to see if you still had all the stuff you were issued.

    Within a few months I was a marksmanship instructor and shooter for the Air Force.  In those days the military competitive shooters formed the cadre for the entire marksmanship training programs of each branch.  If you were one of the Air Force instructors you were encouraged (intimidated) to get involved in shooting matches.  You have to remember that General Curtis E. LeMay was at the helm in those days.  As farther incentive to develop shooting skills, Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio would issue a Master Shooter's Kit to all Master Class shooters.  This kit contained everything you needed to support your match activities.   The neat thing about it was that since it was issued by the Department of the Air Force, it went with you as you were reassigned from base to base.  Ah yes, those were the days.

    A shooter and his match weapons were viewed much differently in those days also.  I recall shooting the All Air Force Matches at Lackland and keeping my M1 in the barracks with me.  The same thing applied in the huts at Camp Perry.  Heaven forbid, we even used to put small bullseyes on the side of the building and then form a line a few yards away and dry fire in the evenings.   Oh yes, not only did the Air Force host its' Championship matches, they also had shooting teams to be reckoned with.  I even recall when the "bus drivers" won the National Trophy team match with the M1 Garand and the pistol team was nearly unbeatable.  The Air Force still holds the .22 pistol open team record.  Four shooters produced a combined score of 1192 out of a possible 1200.  It was former Marine Arnie Vitarbo's first go with the big blue team and the poor guy was low man with a 295.  In the late60's the big blue team set a "Hardball" team record at the Interservice Matches, shooting an 1166 out of 1200 possible.  As I recall, in those days 2 new shooters were required on the "Ball" team. This year at Camp Perry in reasonably good weather, using the M9, and only one new shooter, the AMU won the same team match with an 1114. Hummm.  Anyway, back to the old days.  The Air Force did well in smallbore too as Airman Thomas Whitaker won the NRA Championships at Perry and was the first to shoot 6400 out of 6400 in a belly match at another location.

    The 1964 National Matches saw 2,700 pistol packers take to the ranges and nearly 3,300 high power riflemen displayed their talents. Camp Perry was almost a city within itself.  There was an area referred to in those days as "Squaw Camp".  This is where many civilian families would assemble their old green Coleman white gas stoves and camp out for the duration.  As a high power shooter I never saw the pits and as a pistol shooter I never carried a target.  For that matter, the only time I touched a score card was when I signed for my own score.   Young military recruits were brought in for these duties.  Although I was only a few years older than most of the recruits, I enjoyed hearing them score me as they would say; Sir, your first shot for record is a five Vee.  (Actually, it may have been a three if the truth were known.)  Watching them march in formation to and from the ranges while singing cadence songs was always a pleasure too.

    Are you folks getting an idea of how it used to be?   As you can see, in those days there were a lot of players involved; the DCM, NRA, Government Armories/Arsenals, military and civilian teams at all levels, and well trained gunsmiths.  Everyone worked in a coordinated manner to support a truly national, National Match Program.  Aw, them wuz the daze.

    About the same time General LeMay retired and the Air Force program vanished.  The Navy who had great teams was soon conspicuous by its' absence.  The Marine Corps, whom I've always admired for their tenacity hung on by a thread as did the AMU from Fort Benning.  By the way, the AMU was created in the late 50's and saw its' heyday in the60's and did the 1959 created Air Force Marksmanship school at Lackland AFB.  As recently as last fall the AMU was on the chopping block.   With pressure being applied, they got a reprieve, but their continued existence is still in question.  The AMU no longer functions as a part of FORCES COMMAND.   They were switched a few years ago to a World Class Athlete Program under the Community Support Division of the Army.  I wonder how long the "community" will continue to support them.

    In the years to follow 1968 things began to pick up, but the political pressure was on.  The old days would never be revisited. The high power matches steadily increased in attendance until a second range was put back into use.   By the late 80's high power reached it peak at something over 1,700 shooters.   And pistol had something over1,000.

    In the early 80's I was back to totin' the long gun again and always looked forward to shooting the All Army Matches at Fort Benning as I was now an Army Reservist.  Going back to Perry with the All Army Reserve team just wasn't what it used to be and in 1982 I started my long tenure of working in the DCM gun truck to support the shooters.  While coaching the 4th Army Reserve team at Fort Benning in1991, I witnessed the last All Army Championships to be conducted - a sad day for sure.

    The hand writing had been on the wall for some time.   I recall taking the team to Ft. Campbell, Kentucky one year for a training session on our way to Benning.  We preferred to train at a civilian range, but funding dictated we use a military installation.  What an eye opener that was.  I was part of the advance party to get things set up.  One of the concerns was weapon and ammo security. This wasn't the old days when we just kept everything with us.   We were told there was no problem with the M14's.  Everyone would fill out a weapons card and the rifles would be stored in the armory.  It was the civilian M1A's that caused a problem.  They could not be stored in the military arms room.  The officers could keep theirs in the guest quarters where we all were staying, but the enlisted would have to check theirs into a special facility for storing civilian arms. Needless to say, all M1A's just happened to belong to officers.  Ho, ho, ho.

    Now what about transporting the arms and ammo to the range?  Well, that was quite a gig too.  Both had to be transported in a government vehicle, but each individual had to show up at the arms room to check out his rifle.  We only had one government vehicle and Fort Campbell would not provide us with another.  This was a problem because we were told we could not transport arms and ammunition on the same vehicle at the same time.  What a goat rope!  So all the shooters would show up at the arms room, check out their rifles and then load them on the government truck.  Then everyone would head for the range with the shooters all in their POV's.  As soon as the truck was unloaded it would head back to post to pick up the ammo.  And of course sometime each day we would experience a cease fire as troop maneuvers were getting close to the impact area.

    Things weren't quite so bad at Fort Benning or Camp Perry.  Each team usually had a large closed in rental truck where we could store the weapons and ammo, and both together thank the Lord.  The truck would go into a secure area at night and be brought out each morning. What ever happened to the old days?

    Within the Army the only teams still surviving are the AMU teams and the All Army Reserve teams.  (I might add that I am currently head coach for the All Reserve Pistol team, so I have a close up view of what is happening these days.)  The National Guard still has the All Guard team with a few State teams in operation.  The active Air Force get a few together from various bases for the major matches and have no Reserve team.  They Active Navy teams are hanging by a thread and their Reserve team function mostly on their own nickel.  The Active Marines seem to be doing pretty good, but their Reserve program is quite "iffy" too.

    Being issued weapons and ammo is quite different today.  Starting several years ago before an Army Reservist could be issued "sensitive" items he had to be approved for home storage.  This involved filling out quite a form and attaching pictures of your "anchored safe", chained or secured to some immovable object in your house. After being reviewed by the Army Provost Marshall's office, you might be approved for home storage.  Now this has changed.  Late spring of this year some General decided home storage should be ended.   The Provost Marshall's Office provided a list of all approved for home storage and a rescission letter was sent out.  An Army Reservist now has two choices, either get the government guns stored in an Army Reserve Center, or turn them in.  I should also add something I was recently told.  The Chief of Army Reserve, a two star General, made the comment that he would not be the first to shut down a shooting program.  But let one other Service program fold and we are history.  He said he would not be the last to have a dog in the fight.  How long will our program last???

    The shooting fraternity I spoke of earlier is shrinking bad.  When Springfield closed its' doors back in 1967 the National Match School mission was moved to Rock Island.  I stated earlier that I was an instructor in this school until 1987.  Well that's when the Army decided to do away with the school.  It was about that time that the last drawing changes were made for the NM .45's and M14's.  Today there is no National Match Technical Data Package for the M16, or the M9 pistol.  These guns are not truly National Match weapons.  They are whatever a gunsmith thinks they should be and whatever the current CMP rules will allow.

    The shooting world was dwelt another blow in 1992 when Smallarms at Rock Island was shut down.  In late October of that year I opened the doors on an empty "secure area", turned the keys in to Lock & Safe, and headed home with an early retirement due to job abolishment. Then a few years ago some anti-gun elected officials tried to do away with the DCM completely.  Only by good fortune and pressure being applied by some pro-gun folks, Congress re-wrote the old law pertaining to the DCM.  By act of public law the CMP was created, a self supporting, not for profit, private corporation - one of our last areas of marksmanship support.   I wouldn't consider it a real secure bastion either.

    Current doctrine in the Army de-emphasizes the need for skilled marksman.  There is a move afoot to do away with annual qualification for all those not holding a combat MOS, or Military Occupational Specialty.  Statements have been made by Generals that shooting is kind of like riding a bike, once you've done it you never forget.  The thought is that everyone receives basic marksmanship training when the enter the Army.  If you end up in a non-combat job, you've had all the marksmanship training you need.

CULVER'S COMMENTS:

     Bruce is well known to many of you as a fixture on both the DCM/CMP Armorer's Van and on the firing line at Camp Perry. Bruce is most literally a living legend in the shooting community and his comments and observations should not be taken lightly. The above article is based on Bruce's many years of experience and personal insight(s) as an insider on the U.S. Ordnance effort, both from the military and civilian side of the house. While the article is great fun to read and reminisce on days gone by, there is a rather deadly underlying message. If we continue to sit around like sheep and simply "bleat" unhappily whenever our politicians deal us yet another blow to our God Given and Constitutionally guaranteed rights, we will deserve exactly what we get.

     The reason that HCI (Handgun Control Inc.) is so successful in their efforts to sway public opinion is that they are dedicated fanatics. We, conversely, tend to sit on our fannies and say "Oh, they can't, do that to us!  What about our Constitutional Rights?" Folks, once these "rights" are gone, they are gone for all time. It's time for us to become vocal, and overcome the image of the "redneck extremist" that the anti-gunners have hung most undeservedly around our necks. Get involved! Get involved personally! Donate time! Become a good will ambassador, donate money if need be, BUT most of all, go to the ballot box and vote the anti-gunners out of power. Direct assaults don't work as well as clever propaganda (propaganda doesn't necessarily have to be a lie as most of theirs are, but to work, it must be founded in fact and stir the emotions of the readers and listeners). We are smarter than they are, we are simply lethargic - lethargy will assure that your children and your children's children with be armed with "nerf ball slingshots", and be happy to (be allowed to) have them

     Even though the Air Force would like you to think (based on our success in the Gulf War) that all future wars will be won with "smart bombs", and highly sophisticated weapons systems. Don't be fooled! Our success was in large part do to the incompetence of an enemy that is best at ambushes and raids and terrorism, not toe to toe fighting. I have spent over 4 years training the mid-easterners in the art of soldiering, and soldiers they ain't! I told several of the General Staff prior to the (ground) Gulf War that it would be over in a period of between three days to three weeks with the largest problem being 200,000 prisoners asking to surrender (and I have lots of witnesses to this statement). Needless to say, they didn't believe me, and had the audacity to laugh; but I KNEW how that one was gonna' go! The mid-easterners are great businessmen but rather incompetent (conventional) soldiers. I hasten to add that this is a cultural thing, not ethnic, as there are some individually very brave lads in the mid-east. The point of this paragraph is to make sure that you don't allow anyone to sell you on the lack of modern relevance of the individual soldier and his rifle to the battlefield. We'd BETTER improve our combat marksmanship, next time we might have to fight a real enemy!

     Bruce's comment on the relevance of marksmanship training to success in combat, is dead on target! He could not have hit any closer to the "X" Ring! Don't let any of the big time thinkers convince you that the day of the Infantry solider with the service rifle is past! Far from it. As long as we continue to fight limited wars and opposed to a total nuclear exchange, the last 50 yards will always belong to the Infantryman with a rifle! Our civilian (and military) marksmanship efforts culminating with the Nationals at Camp Perry deserve a much more important spot in our National Defense History than they have generally been afforded. Personal ability with the rifle and the desire to use it on our enemies if need be, are the sort of things that win wars. Forgetting such a basic truth may well result in our speaking Russian, Japanese or German (or even Chinese?) after the next exchange of unpleasantries.

Stay alert folks, and don't forget to vote the "blighters" out of office!