Page 9 - Lake Front News: July 29-August 4, 2021 Edition

Distinguished Shooter
At Age 67,
Paula Crenshaw By Ashley Brugnone, CMP Staff Writer
Paula Crenshaw, a 67-year-old grandmother, never stops reaching to- ward new ambitions. This past November, Paula earned the prestigious Ci- vilian Marksmanship Pro- gram (CMP) Distinguished Rifleman Badge at the 29 Palms Marine Base.
“I’ve always been late to the party,” she said. “I didn’t start medical school until I was 37.”
A physician from Reno, Nevada, Paula took up rifle shooting in her early 50’s – an endeavor that began as an aggravating attempt to support her husband’s interests and grew into a profound infatuation that led her to her own Distin- guished Badge.
“The fulfillment of my dream,” she said.
Distinguished Badg-
es are awarded to marks- manship competitors who collect at least 30 Excel- lence-In-Competition (EIC) “leg” points – earned by placing in the top 10 percent of an EIC match. A program that was instilled by the War Department in 1884, the badge continues to be a valued accomplishment for determined marksmen on the firing lines today.
Paula is a member of the Coalinga Rifle Club in California and the Palomino Valley Gun Club in Nevada. She’s been on the hunt for a Distinguished Badge since she earned her first points in 2018, then went on to claim her own “hard leg” (10 EIC points) at the annual National Matches at Camp Perry, Ohio, in 2019.
After that, “legging out” (that is, earning enough
points to receive a Distin- guished Badge) became a near obsession.
“I dry-fired almost every day,” she recalled. “I worked out. I thought about winning first thing in the morning and as I fell asleep at night. I read many shooting books, sometimes multiple times. I drove my non-shooting friends away talking about shooting!”
By the end of 2019, she had been so dedicated to competing that she had wrangled up 22 EIC points – only eight away from a badge.
The start of 2020 met Paula with not only the diffi- culty of finding matches due to the enduring pandemic but also with nerve ailments that kept her scores below a point-earning level.
With the close of the 2020 shooting season rap- idly approaching, Paula de- cided to go to the 29 Palms Marine Base in California in November for one of her last EIC match chances – carry- ing within her a newfound modesty and resolve to cap- ture those final points she had sought after for so long.
Though her emotions were up, her competitive game was down as she fired a sub-par offhand score to start out the first stage of her match.
“I was done for, and therefore totally relaxed and enjoyed shooting the rest of the match,” she said.
Her new leisurely ap- proach to her final three firing stages, relieving her of any competition pres- sure, shockingly boosted her scores – enough to earn her the final points she needed for her own Distinguished Rifleman Badge.
“No one was more sur- prised than me to learn I had won the eight-point leg,” she said, proudly. “I had finally done it.”
As a way of commem- orating the moment, her shooting partner (her hus- band, Greg) pinned his own Distinguished Badge on her hat.
“(Greg) most certainly helped make this possible for me,” Paula acknowl- edged.
She also thought of all the others who assisted her along the way, saying,
She earned her “hard leg” 10 EIC points during the National Matches at Camp Perry in 2019.
July 29 - August 4, 2021/LAKE FRONT NEWS/Page 9
“I wish I could thank ev- ery person who gave me a tip, a word of encourage- ment, picked up my brass or brightened my day after I shot badly.”
“The wonderful thing about shooting is you can do it at any age on equal footing with everyone else,” Paula said. “No shooter ac- complishes this without the help of others. I didn’t.”
Earn your Distin- guished Badge. Distin- guished Badges are the highest individual awards authorized by the U. S. Government for excellence in marksmanship competi- tion. They are awarded by the CMP and competitors can earn EIC points by par- ticipating in EIC Matches.
Learn more on the CMP website at https://thecmp. org/ or call or (419) 635-2141 ext. 714.
Camp Perry ranges are now open with appoint- ments available. The CMP is happy to invite the pub- lic to the Gary Anderson CMP Competition Center, featuring electronic targets, with protective practices in place for staff and guests. The indoor air gun range is open five days a week and rental equipment and pel- lets are available for a small fee. Petrarca Range is open on Mondays for pistol and highpowerrifle.Tosetupan appointment for your spot on the firing line, please call Catherine at 419-635-2141, ext. 704.
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Paula Crenshaw earned Distinguished Badge #2521 in 2020 at age 67.
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