Become a CMP Master Rifle Instructor

Photo Courtesy Garand Collectors Association, TheGCA.org.

We all enjoy shooting rifles, but it’s also fulfilling to share your knowledge as a mentor. Serving as a rifle instructor can be very rewarding. Now the CMP offers a program to certify Master Instructors for the CMP’s most popular rifle programs — Vintage Military and Rimfire Sporter.

CMP Master Instructor Training Workshops

As a CMP Instructor you can help novices learn to safely shoot the M1 Garand, M1903 Springfield, and other vintage military rifles. You can also help with the very popular Rimfire Sporter program. Later this year, the CMP is offering an excellent program to help train new Master Instructors.

Experienced rifle marksmanship instructors and shooters who wish to receive advanced training and be certified as “Master Instructors” to teach CMP-sanctioned Clinics are invited to apply to attend a CMP Master Instructor Training Workshop. These workshops will train instructors to conduct Garand, Springfield, and Vintage Military Rifle Clinics and/or Rimfire Sporter Clinics. There will be two (2) instructor training workshops this year, one at Camp Perry in October and the second in Talladega in December. Dates and locations are:

Camp Perry, Ohio: Oct. 6-7, 2018 | Talladega Park, Alabama: Dec. 4, 2018

For more information or to register, visit http://thecmp.org/training-tech/gsm-rifle-master-clinics/ or contact Kim Filipiak at kfilipiak@thecmp.org, 419-635-2141 ext 706.

M1903 Springfield shooter at Camp Perry. From GarandThumbBlog’s 2015 CMP Games Video.

CMP Master Instructor Class — In the Beginning
Our friend Dennis Santiago has been a CMP instructor for many years. He reports this has been a great experience and the CMP is a great organization. Dennis earned his “teaching credentials” at the first-ever GSM (Garand/Springfield/Vintage Military) Master Instructor Class.

CMP Director Gary Anderson is top row far left, with Dennis in front row center.

My Decade as a CMP Master Instructor by Dennis Santiago
I was in the first GSM Master Instructor class. It was taught at Camp Pendleton (CA) in November 2006 as part of the CMP Western Games. It was a three-day class by then-head of the Civilian Marksmanship Program, Gary Anderson.

We were the guinea pigs for an experiment. Our mission would be to take what we learned back to our clubs and create programs to teach the sport of High Power riflery to Americans, most of whom, were unfamiliar with shooting, let alone the details of serious competition. It was one of the most rewarding shared experiences of my life and it began a 10-year journey that helped build my love for the sport.

Gary spent lots of time not only teaching his prepared material but working with us on feedback about how to improve the curriculum. I took what I learned back to the Burbank Rifle and Revolver Club (BRRC) and, working with Wayne Fenner (left in photo), my friend and fellow sponsor of the California Grizzlies Junior Rifle Team, adapted BRRC’s training match program to the CMP’s approach.

Over the course of almost a decade, I taught a battalion of Americans from every walk of life and every political and ethnic background how to operate and compete with the U.S. Rifle M-1 Garand. It defined one weekend of every month of my life. We experimented with every CMP match format that came out, often discussing concepts with Gary and the CMP team.

Many of the students I taught went on to become accomplished competitors in their own right. I’ve watched them win medals, major tournaments, become distinguished riflemen. Some set national records. One made it to the Olympic Trials. The true reward was to hear from all of them again and again over the years. I’m from the old school that says you pass on what you have learned because you pay forward in gratitude to those who taught you. And so it was the decade I was BRRC’s GSM Master Instructor of record.

If you want to make a difference to the growth of our sport, consider taking the time to become a GSM Master Instructor. Teach another battalion of Americans what it means to be the caretakers of our heritage from behind every blade of grass.

DCM Emeritus Gary Anderson Teaches Clinic at Camp Perry, Ohio:

Here a Springfield M1903 shooter (in period-authentic uniform) competes in CMP Legacy Match.