An Cosantóir

4 | An Cosantóir May / June 2025 www.military.ie/magazine O n the 31st of March 2025, having been invited by the United States Army National Guard Marksmanship Training Centre, the Irish Defence Forces (DF) entered two teams, each consisting of four personnel to compete in the prestigious Armed Forces Skill At Arms Meeting (AFSAM) held in the National Guard Marksmanship Training Centre (NGMTC) based in North Little Rock, Arkansas. This was the second year that the DF had been invited to attend the competition which included competitors from all over the United States along with international teams from the Netherlands, Italy and the United Kingdom. The competition was held over a total of 10 days and included a variety of unique shooting events that tested teams in both pistol and rifle practises by day and night. The composition of each team included an Officer/NCO and three privates with an overall team Captain and a team Coach also attending. The team for this year was made up of personnel from 1 Cn Cois based on them winning the 2024 Infantry Skills Competition. Unlike the previous year (AFSAM 24), the teams competed in AFSAM 25, utilising their own weapon systems (Styer AUG and H&K USP), which proved to be just as capable as any of our international rivals. Training for the competition took place over a seven-week program in which the teams practised each of the shoots on 1 Cn Cois's rifle and pistol ranges in both day and nighttime conditions. The team's composition included accomplished marksmen with both Brigade and All Army rifle team winners as members. The teams were fortunate to be issued with new night vision equipment (NVE) and Lazer Light Modules (LLMs), which required competitors to undergo the Infantry Low Light Equipment Operators (ILLEOC) course during the preparation phase of the competition. This was overseen by the Infantry Weapons Wing (IWW) and conducted by excellent instructors from 12 Inf Bn. The teams were also fortunate enough to receive training from the Army Ranger Wing (ARW) which included both CQB and transition shoots in the DFTC. On top of this, the week before the teams flew out, they participated in the 1 BDE shooting competition which took place in Kilworth and offered the competitors a chance to finally test themselves in a competitive shooting environment, with team members finishing in first place in both the rifle team and rifle individual competitions. The Teams arrived in North Little Rock, Arkansas on the 30th of March for the two-week competition and after a brief rest period reported for day one of the AFSAM. The first two days were not scored events. This was designed so that teams could get used to the conditions in Camp Robinson. The first day included a registration for both teams and a full equipment check. This was then followed by a zeroing practice that was completed by each team in order to fully ensure all weapons were ready to undergo the competition. The zeroing practise took place from 100 - 500 yards and plenty of time was allocated to allow competitors confirm their zero at a variety of ARTICLE BY COMDT BARRY WATERS AND LT DONAL STAUNTON – 1 CN COIS ARMED FORCES SKILL AT ARMS MEETING (AFSAM) 2025 1 Cn Cois Takes Aim on the International Stage

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