On Saturday, July 8, the NRA’s iconic National Matches will enter its third year at Camp Atterbury, a National Guard training facility located in Indiana about 37 miles south of Indianapolis. For more than 150 years, the National Rifle Association of America has advanced the state of marksmanship while serving as the country’s foremost defender of the Second Amendment. The NRA National Matches at Camp Atterbury are where high-level competitive shooters from around the country can shoot shoulder-to-shoulder to determine the best of the best on the firing line.
If you haven’t been to the NRA National Matches yet, put it on your bucket list—we believe you will enjoy your experience in the Hoosier State and will find the ranges at Camp Atterbury to your liking. To learn more and view this year’s complete schedule of events, visit competitions.nra.org.
Also, be on the lookout for the upcoming 2022 NRA National Matches Recap, a commemorative digital magazine with complete coverage of last summer’s competition at Camp Atterbury. Go to ssusa.org for more information on how to read it free later this year.
Camp Valor Outdoors
Camp Valor Outdoors is an exciting organization whose goal is simple: improving the lives of veterans and their families through different outdoor activities, including competitive shooting. A nonprofit, CVO was founded in 2013 by its executive director, Maj. John Schwent, a retired Marine who had a vision to reconnect wounded, disabled and ill veterans through a shared love of the outdoors. By 2015, the first CVO high power rifle team was on the firing line competing at the National Matches.
In 2022 at Camp Atterbury, CVO once again fielded a team at the High Power Rifle National Championships, including a few veterans receiving their first NRA National Matches experience. The debut of e-targets last summer at Camp Atterbury certainly helped make the High Power Rifle Nationals more appealing, since it meant no pit duty for all shooters. “Electronic targets being used for the first time ever at the NRA National Matches was a big win for all competitors, but especially for veterans and older shooters. Many of our warriors have problems pulling targets up and down,” Schwent said. “With e-targets, High Power shooters can stay in the game longer.”
Last year at Camp Atterbury, CVO also had a team competing in the AR Tactical match, a new addition to the NRA High Power Rifle rulebook that allows shooting ARs with a bipod. “AR Tactical is more like military-style shooting, since it doesn’t require jackets or other high-speed shooting gear,” Schwent said. “Our team had a good time with it.”
Through the awarding of grants, the NRA Foundation has assisted CVO with expenses for the competitive shooting team, such as entry fees, housing and travel costs. Chief operating officer of CVO, 29-year Army veteran Col. Denise Loring, said, “We wouldn’t be able to do what we do without the support of the NRA.”
Additionally, CVO conducts fundraisers to support the shooting team, which not only competes in high power rifle, but also action pistol. All funding goes towards supporting veteran events.
For more information about Camp Valor Outdoors, go to campvaloroutdoors.org.
Free NRA Memberships for Active Duty Members of the United States Armed Forces
The NRA proudly supports the brave men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces who defend freedom both at home and abroad. As a small token of our appreciation of their sacrifice, NRA is now providing free-of-charge NRA memberships to our nation’s active-duty service personnel. If you have a loved one or friend now serving on active duty who might like to receive a free membership, please invite them to visit our special website at NRA.org/ActiveDuty and sign up today. These free memberships are available due to the generosity of patriotic members of the NRA family. Thank you for helping recognize and honor our nation’s heroes.
