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My Firearms Background
Early Years: In Middlebury, our Court Street next door neighbor, Hilton Bicknell, was an ardent and dedicated hunter, fisherman and conservationist. Hilton and his wife Theresa had 3 children of approximately the same age as my brother Peter and I. Primarily through Hilton, my dad, the Cub Scouts and later the Boy Scouts, I learned about responsible woodsmanship, firearms safety, marksmanship and a true appreciation of "being outdoors". Hilton headed the Middlebury Rifle and Pistol Club and ran the local indoor firing range in the basement of a feed and grain warehouse in Middlebury. He taught many of us younger Middlebury children the basics of marksmanship, firearms safety, and a great deal about hunting, fishing and conservation. In season I continued to hunt and fish with my father and Hilton Bicknell and I continued to target shoot with the Middlebury Rifle and Pistol Club under the auspices of the National Rifle Association - where I learned a great deal about hunter and firearms safety. Between age 12 and 14, I progressed rapidly through the several levels of Junior marksmanship and by the time I was 14 I was awarded the Expert Rifleman Medal, the second highest award in American Junior Shooting. It was at this time that my dad let me own my first gun, a 22 caliber rifle, followed shortly thereafter by a 28 gauge Mossberg shotgun. In addition, I was allowed to use larger caliber rifles and shotguns under the supervision of my dad or Hilton Bicknell. Many of my early excursions out of Middlebury were to hunt partridge in the woods around Ripton, deer in the Cornwall swamp and ducks along Otter Creek and the shores of Lake Champlain.
University of Vermont: While at college I competed all 4 years with the U.V.M. Rifle Team. Our teams did very well. My junior year we won the Yankee Conference Title, took top honors for all ROTC teams in New England and also won the 1st Army ROTC Intercollegiate Rifle Championship. I was awarded 3 varsity letters in rifle while at U.V.M. and during this time consistently had total scores for all 3 positions in the 180 -186 range. Military Service: Entering the U.S. Army, I completed Infantry officers basic training, at Fort Benning, Georgia, completed Airborne training, and attended Ranger School before being assigned to the 24th Infantry Division in Germany. In 1965 I was ordered to Bad Toelz as a member of the Seventh Army C.I.O.R. team. This group trained for the Inter-Allied military competition which was held each year in conjunction with a high level military conference of very senior reserve officers from each participating country. Typically, each year it was hosted by the equivalent of our U.S. Secretary of Defense in a different host country. As part of the conference activities, young reserve officers from the participating countries engaged in a military competition consisting of 5 activities which tested various military skills: orienteering -- which is rapidly covering rough terrain on foot using a map and compass, grenade throwing for accuracy, marksmanship, negotiating a land obstacle course, and swimming through a water obstacle course.
Each country entered one or more 3 person teams. The time for each team was the time for each team's slowest member so it strongly encouraged cooperative effort. In 1965 at the Inter-Allied CIOR Championships in Denmark, I was part of the United States team that won 1st place among all teams in the overall competition. In the shooting event I placed 1st overall with an M-1 rifle. In 1966 I both coached and competed in the same CIOR Championships which were held in Munich, Germany. Each year it was customary to shoot the weapons of the host country so this year I shot the 7.62 mm Zetme rifle.
Again, I was a part of the U.S. team that won the overall 1st place award among the 39 teams from 10 nations.
In 1967 I again coached and a U.S. Team again won 1st place among all teams in Trieste, Italy. The team I competed with was 4th overall. Return to Right to Bear Arms and Gun Violence in our Streets |
