03/07/2025
At ten years of age or so I would routinely hear the sound of “PULL” being called, as well as the roar of B-52’s taking off from the Strategic Air Command base. More about that in a moment. Readers to my articles on the history of clay target shooting, or viewers of Clay Target Legends know that I have covered the history of using s***t as training of aerial gunners during World War two, and that had more positive impact on s***t than anything else in history. Out of that also came many servicemen in later years who aggressively pursued s***t.
So, it was in 1958 that a group of servicemen came together to create a specific set of rules for military participation. A year later the NSSA included military events at the NSSA National Championships at the Princess Anne Gun Club in Lynnhaven, Virginia. The military was now officially part of the NSSA shoot program.
But it was General Curtis LeMay, USAF who directed the United States Air Defense Command to further develop specific military shoots. An avid s***t shooter himself, General LeMay, then the Secretary of the Air Force issued a mandate that every Air Force base construct s***t fields and form s***t teams to compete at registered shoots across the world.
As a young boy I would accompany my father, a former POW, but by then an eye Doctor to Dyess AFB to watch him and his friends shoot s***t. I was amazed at how these skilled airmen could consistently break the targets, even with the distracting adjacent sounds of those B-52’s. I was too young to know it, but I was seeing firsthand the work and mandate that General LeMay had created. In 1961 the first official Armed Forces S***t Championships were held at Ent Rod and Gun Club on Peterson Field in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Over the years the format of the shoots changed, five-man teams were established, and specific gauge events were created. Great teams that included Clay Target Legends Cecil Trammel, Jimmy Prall (the great Re*****on shooter), Jack Johnson, Dave Bywater, Earl Herring, Jim Bellows, Mike Brazzell, Gary Kwist, Don Karges, Dan Woods, H.W. Youngblood, Buck Tindell, and others in the 1960’s – 1980’s. Lt.Col. Bill Marriot served as Captain during many of those years and certainly left his mark on the sport and military.
Lt. General Kenneth Pletcher, USAF established the Armed Forces S***t Association in 1974 to further grow the military involvement, subsequently being elected association president in 1975. Shoots were moved to the National Gun Club (now the National Shooting Complex) in San Antonio. Future championships moved around a bit from Texas, to Colorado, and numerous places on the east and west coast. Lt. General Pletcher is an inductee in the Armed Forces S***t Association Hall-of-Fame. Regular visitors to the National Shooting Complex will also note that the shoot-off stadium is named after Lt. General Pletcher.
I recently had the honor to sit and visit with the current Team Captain of the Air Force S***t Team, MSgt Andrew Winders, along with several others that make up the team. Winders started shooting s***t casually with his father, becoming more serious about the sport while shooting at the Prince George County Trap and S***t Club in Washington D.C. "We have a very limited budget today as compared to years ago" according to Winders. Back in the 1960's the teams’ actual job was to shoot and win, and as a result many of the NSSA Hall-of-Fame recipients came out of the Air Force teams. Lackland AFB was notable for turning out many of the best at that time. Today, registration fees, and cartridges are on Uncle Sam, but individual travel is paid by the team members. Since team members are stationed at various bases, practice is typically individually done, with the exception of arriving a few days early to major shoots for a bit of team practice.
Not surprisingly, with budget cuts in the military over the past 30 years or so, many if not most of the USAF on-base s***t fields that General LeMay mandated are no longer in existence. On-base golf courses, theaters, pools, and other quality of life elements for servicemen are disappearing. The field that I visited years ago with my father has long since disappeared. But with M.Sgt. Winders and his team, the legend of USAF s***t remains alive. I was actually contacted by team member Maj. Charles (Bull) Burgess, USAF a few weeks ago requesting more information about Gen. LeMay, and how he could possibly spearhead a movement to bring back s***t to USAF bases. Seeing the drive and determination of these guys, which by the way are all a great testament to the USAF, I would not be surprised to see that happen.
I you would like to know more or see some of the historic tributes to the military involvement in s***t, visit the NSSA-NSCA Hal Dupont Museum and Hall-of-Fame at the National Shooting Complex in San Antonio, Texas.
Steve Ellinger
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