CMA Military Application
- Andy Pfenninger
- Aug 16
- 3 min read
During the last months, we have been working on an appendix for military application of CMA. It defines a set of deviations and exceptions with the goal of making dynamic sport shooting more accessible and valuable for armed forces.
Of course, there is a huge difference between military small arms training and sports shooting in a civilian context. In the case of traditional precision shooting the skills overlap is quite small. However, with CMA, there is a lot of common ground.
In Switzerland, we have a long tradition of general conscription and the citizen soldier principle. Normal and able citizens build the backbone of the armed forces and guarantee the independence, stability and liberty of the country. They bring the expertise of their civilian life to bear in their military role.
Individual Shooting Techniques
The pure shooting performance of a soldier with his or her rifle or pistol is to a great extent based on the same skill set than those of a dynamic sports shooter. Some examples: to hit a given target from a certain position as fast as possible, to move between positions with great speed or to manipulate the firearm efficiently are of high relevance in both worlds.
That's where CMA can make a huge impact. It offers a proven sports framework to comprehensively measure the personal shooting skills and the mental and physical fitness level in competition. It fuels the motivation of the shooters to train and improve their abilities and realize better results.
Military Training
Military training includes a lot of other topics apart from just shooting skills and fitness, of course. Operating in a military team, fulfilling a mission, using heavy weapons, locating and destroying enemy forces and so on are completely different from sports shooting. But competent shooting techniques, robust fitness and a clear head can very well be the very foundation for mission success.
Military Possibilities, Requirements and Needs
In our first trials, we found that a military application of CMA must satisfy special requirements and needs but can also take advantage of additional possibilities. This goes far beyond participating in some normal match wearing uniform. Hence, the new "Appendix B1: Military Application" was created.
The appendix defines a set of deviations and exceptions to the rule book. It is valid for CMA events, where all participants are active armed forces service members or reservists. The appendix is quite compact and contains details to the following topics:
180º rule
Safe areas
Rifle carrying
Weapon transition
Additional targets
Additional categories
Shooting distances for large rifle division
Equipment
The corresponding CMA rules are either changed as per the appendix or substituted by the applicable military regulations for small arms training.
In this way, safe, challenging and fun stage design and competitions are made possible without forcing undesirable or even counterproductive techniques on the participants.
Conclusion
The contents of the new appendix is based on practical tests and has gone trough several review cycles. We think we now have a good workable solution that can be put into action.
We are convinced it offers a great tool for the development and improvement of shooting skills for servicemen and reservists. It builds a link between military and civilian sports shooting maintaining a very high relevance and avoiding negative effects.
PS: We will work on a police application appendix next.
For the founders team with best regards
Andy