By Gary Anderson, DCM Emeritus
With all of the 2023 ISSF and WSPS international shooting competitions that count towards the awarding of the U.S. Distinguished International Shooter Badge now completed, the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) and USA Shooting (USAS) are pleased to announce that nine USA Shooting rifle, pistol, shotgun and paralympic athletes earned this prestigious award during the 2023 competition year. These nine shooting athletes earned their International Distinguished Badges through high ranking performances in International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF)
Championships or in World Shooting Para Sport (WSPS) and Parapan American Championships. The 2023 honorees range in age from 18 to 56. Five are classified as international juniors (two are 18-year-olds), four are para-athletes, two in rifle and two in pistol, one is a member of the Texas Christian University Rifle Team and one shotgun athlete is from the Army Marksmanship Unit at Fort Moore, Georgia. Three of the nine are women.
America’s Marksmanship Distinguished Badge Program traces its history back to the first gold Distinguished Marksman Badges awarded by the U.S. Army in 1887. This program, which has been administered by the CMP since 1996, offers competitors opportunities to earn 11 different Distinguished Badges. Of those 11 badges, the one that is the most difficult to earn is the U.S. Distinguished International Shooter Badge. This is because to earn this…
