Submitted photos and press release:
Eugene Jankowski Jr. (left), of Batavia, and James Mixon (right) of Allardt,Tenn., are presented with awards by Match Director Joe Burdick (center) for finishing Third Place Trooper Division at the Bushnell Elite Tactical Sniper Challenge held Feb. 16-18 in Clinton, S.C.
Jankowski is president of the Batavia City Council and a retired City of Batavia police lieutenant.
More than 100 competitors from all over the country attended. The competition is a team event requiring the Trooper Division members to carry their rifle and gear between the nine separate stages of fire based off of real life military and police incidents.
This amounted to the teams hiking a total of 25 miles over three days in natural terrain carrying an approximately 50-pound backpack.
Competitors were required to engage multiple targets from unusual positions such as a crashed helicopter, tower, house, vehicle and even a climbing wall.
One stage required firing a single shot through a 2-inch hole in a piece of steel at 250 yards to hit the small target behind it. Another involved being seat belted into a special made SUV while it was rolled onto its roof and using a hand gun to shoot targets through the window while upside down. Teams then had to free themselves from the seatbelt, exit the upside down SUV, recover their gear and run 50 yards to engage the rifle targets.
Jankowski said “It was one of the most physically demanding and fun matches I’ve ever competed in. I can’t wait to see what they have planned for next year!”
Photo below is of the gear Jankowski, like the other competitors, had to carry to each incident. Bottom photo is "the view from the SUV moments before the rollover.'"
