DoD News, Defense Media Activity
CHARLES CITY, Va., May 21, 2015 – The sound of shotgun shots
reverberate off the walls as the soldier steadies his breath for his next shot
at a three-ounce clay target that will fly at about 44 mph from either a high
house or low house.
He lines up the sight on his Beretta 682 Gold E and pulls
the trigger, hitting yet another target during the 55th Annual Armed Services
Skeet Championship here.
Army Maj. David Guida, a logistician with the directorate
for logistics on the Joint Staff at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., began his
shooting journey at 12 and is passing that journey on to his family.
“My parents bought me my first gun, a Remington 870 pump
shotgun, for my 12th birthday,” said Guida, who hails from Crosby-Ironton in
Minnesota. “It was big and heavy at the time, but I was a pretty big 12 year
old as far as 12 year olds go. I duck hunted and shot grouse and squirrels with
it. It worked well, and it still shoots straight.”
Quality Family Time
Guida said his father was a conservation officer who taught
him about gun safety, a lesson he has shared with his children, who also shoot
skeet. He said he still hunts with the Remington.
“My daughter, Billie, just turned 13, and she really wants
to start shooting skeet,” he said. “My son, Matthew, is 15, and he already
shoots with me. They’re both taking the referee test for skeet so they can come
with me to shoots like this. My wife doesn’t shoot but she’s very supportive of
the kids and I spending time together doing events like this.”
Guida has a machine to reload his own ammunition, and his
children help him with the machine. They also team up together on their worship
team at church.
“My daughter plays bass, my son plays piano and guitar, and
then I play guitar,” he said.
Call to Service
While his wife, Jeannie, isn’t in the worship team and
doesn’t shoot, Guida said he couldn’t do anything without her support.
“About a year ago, I returned from my fifth deployment, and
she took care of everything and everybody while I was away. She just loves the
military, and although she doesn’t like it when I’m away, she understands,” he
said. “She understands that it’s for a higher purpose, and the call to service
of the military is a big deal to her. She makes all of it possible.”
Guida has served three deployments to Iraq, one in
Afghanistan and one in Kuwait. He began his Army career in 1998 as an
infantryman and then received a commission through Officer Candidate School.
“I have loved working with the soldiers, and I have loved
learning from some phenomenal leaders we’ve had across our formation in the
Army,” he said. “I love every day I go to work. I have every intention to serve
as long as the Army will have me.”
Competition Success
Throughout the week, Guida competed on his five-man Army
team, alongside other five-man teams from other service branches consisting of
active-duty, retired service members and honorably discharged veterans who competed
in the 12-gauge, 20-gauge, 28-gauge, 410-gauge, doubles and high overall
events.
He earned various awards including overall class champion,
28-gauge class champion, 20-gauge class champion and doubles class champion. He
also earned multiple first-place medals in concurrent classes among his age
group and active-duty military competitors. Many of the events were determined
by shoot-offs.
He had previously competed in three Armed Services Skeet
Championships and three world championships. He said in 2011, he shot 200
targets in a row without missing one. He said that doesn’t often happen and
that missing targets shouldn’t discourage people from trying skeet shooting. He
said shooting skeet is one of his resilience tools.
A 'Regenerating' Week
“I love shooting, shooting competition, and I absolutely
love the outdoors,” he said. “I’m out here, it’s beautiful out, the targets are
flying nicely, you get to shoot them; it’s a lot of fun for me. I can’t think
of a place I’d rather be.”
Guida added, "This week is regenerating me. It’s giving
me a good opportunity to have good conversations with a lot of different
people. You meet retired veterans who have served in different services and
different wars.”
There was a World War II veteran who had a hard time walking
who came out one day to the skeet field who couldn’t see very well, “but on
that particular day, he walked out onto the skeet field and ran a 100
straight,” Guida said.
“It was just amazing to see that,” the major said. “I was
nowhere near a 100 straight that day, but this World War II vet could do it.”
Guida encourages any service member or veteran to reach out
to their local Morale, Welfare and Recreation or Marine Corps Community Service
office to find out about skeet in their local area.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment