College Station, TX -(AmmoLand.com)- The Corps of Cadets Marksmanship Unit (CCMU), at Texas A&M University, will for the second year defend its’ home match military trophy, The Easley “Deadeye” Award.
Presented each year at the Scholastic Action Shooting Program (SASP) Southwest Winter Regional competition in College Station, TX on February 6th, 2016.
The Easley “Deadeye” Award is named in honor of Brig. General Claudius M. Easley, USA and will be presented annually to the High-Scoring Service/Senior Military Academy centerfire team at the SASP Southwest Winter Regional.
Attending this year, and challenging for the Glock Match trophy as well, will be squads from three of the four United States Service Academies. From the United States Naval Academy, the Combat Action Team (CAT), from the United States Military Academy at West Point, the Combat Weapons Team (CWT), and from the United States States Air Force Academy, the Cadet Combat Shooting Team (CCST).
The young men and women from the service academy teams and from the CCMU, who are destined to soon be serving our country, would have been indistinguishable from General Easley on the shooting range. The Easley “Deadeye” Award is a fitting tribute to not only a gallant and brave Army officer, but also to a competition shooter. General Easley, who graduated from high school in Waco, Texas in 1911…shot his first National Match at Camp Perry, Ohio in 1910. As a cadet at Texas A&M he lead the school’s rifle team as its’ top shooter, and as an officer in the United States Army he fired a World Record service rifle competition score that stood for much of the decade of the 1920’s. He was an instructor in the Weapons Section of the Infantry School 1930-1934, and Captain of the Infantry Rifle and Pistol Teams in 1937, ‘38, and ‘39.
In August of 1942 Gen. Easley become the Assistant Division Commander of the 96th Infantry Division at the time of its activation. The 96th Division gained the connotation of the “Deadeyes” because of the high level of marksmanship it achieved through the training directed by General Easley. The training of the division was his personal mission. The superior marksmanship of the 96th developed under the supervision of General Easley earned for the unit the nickname of “Deadeyes”, which the 96th still carries to this day.
General Easley, who graduated as a distinguished cadet from what was then known as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas in 1916 and immediately joined the United States Army, was known by all as a “front-line” soldier, having been previously awarded the Legion of Merit and a Purple Heart for wounds sustained from a snipers bullet during the Leyte campaign, the general was awarded the Silver Star on May 8th 1945 for gallantry in action on Okinawa Island.
However, on June 19, 1945, just two days before the official end of the battle of Okinawa, General Easley, again at the front lines, was Killed-in-Action while pointing out the location of an enemy machine gun when two bullets from the gun struck him in the forehead.
The CCMU is honored to carry forward the legacy of the 96th Division and the common mission, vision and understanding of the role of basic marksmanship that it shares with Gen. Easley and his incredible accomplishments.
The SASP Southwest Winter Regional is open to all SASP teams with Junior/Senior High School age teams from across Texas and around the nation attending along with teams from college programs from across the nation competing for the match grand prize Glock trophy. This unique mix of new, young shooters, men and women shooting on college teams and Senior/Service Academy teams representing their schools long histories of service and sacrifice will create an incredible environment on match day.
Match information is available here linked from the CCMU web page: https://cocmu.com/SPP_SW_Regional_2016.html.
About The CCMU:
The CCMU was officially formed in December of 2011, but today’s squad represents the latest in over 100 years of history of marksmanship teams competing for the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M. The CCMU fields competitors in the action pistol sports, steel pistol sports, 3Gun and international trap and skeet. Team members are drawn exclusively from the 2,700 men and women of the Corps of Cadets who are all undergraduates at Texas A&M. Scholarships and in-state tuition are also available for CCMU cadets. The cadets of the CCMU are supported and funded through the Office of the Commandant of the Corps of Cadets, and the generous efforts of the Corps of Cadets Association ( https://www.corpsofcadets.org ) a private non-profit group committed to sustaining the 139 year old traditions of the Cadet Corps at Texas A&M. Please contact them to make a tax deductible donation on the team’s behalf. Contact links are available on the match web page: Kevin Jimmerson ’89, coach of CCMU and Match Director, or Chuck Jones, Co-Match Director.
For more information on the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M University, visit https://corps.tamu.edu/. For information on the Corps of Cadets Marksmanship Unit visit www.cocmu.com or follow the team on Facebook.