From October 12 to 16, the Tyrolean Military Command brought together the best rifle and pistol shooters in the Austrian Armed Forces in East Tyrol. The army champions were sought in six disciplines.
The main weapon of the Austrian Armed Forces, the 77 assault rifle, is used in the individual shooting championships to shoot prone at a target 200 meters away. Ten rounds of precision and ten rounds of rapid fire decide who wins and who loses. 84 competitors took part in the men’s competition. The final of the ten best rifle shooters offered plenty of excitement. In the end, only nine rings separated the army champion from tenth place. Major Robert Brettner-Messler (Vienna Military Command) took the title with 193 out of a possible 200 rings. He beat the second-placed deputy officer Andreas Dolzer (Pioneer Battalion 1) with the same number of rings, 5 to 3 inside ten. 190 rings were enough for Colonel Christian Krammer (Army Sports Center) to take bronze. The result in the women’s competition was clearer. Four female athletes took up the challenge. Constable Regina Stürzl from Jäger Battalion 12 was crowned Army Champion with 187 rings. With 183 rings, second place went to Staff Sergeant Sylvia Steiner from Command Support Battalion 2. Third place went to Sergeant Jessica Obermüller with 181 rings.
Athletes, their pistols with ten shots, precision targets and a distance of 25 meters. That’s all it takes to determine the army pistol shooting champion. This year, Vice-Lieutenant Martin Wimmer from the Hochfilzen military training area coped best with the conditions. He emerged as the army champion from the 70-strong field of participants with 88 rings. Deputy Officer Christian Kandler from Pioneer Battalion 3 was one ring behind in second place. Colonel Christian Krammer from the Army Sports Center took third place with 85 rings. In the women’s competition, there was no way around Staff Sergeant Sylvia Steiner from Command Support Battalion 2. With 81 rings, she came out on top against her competitors. 72 rings were enough for Constable Jessica Obermüller from Artillery and Reconnaissance Battalion 3 to take the silver medal. Constable Regina Stürzl (Jäger Battalion 12) secured third place with 65 rings.
17 teams competed for the championship title. The team from Vorarlberg demonstrated the best combination of speed, precision, concentration and camaraderie: Vice-Lieutenant Fritz Heidenkummer, Vice-Lieutenant Thomas Heim, Vice-Lieutenant Michael Mathis and Chief Constable Kevin Schicho are the army champions. After a 200-meter run and 40 shots fired, the score was 375 rings. None of the other 16 teams were able to keep up with this result. Only three rings behind, silver went to the team from Vienna. The team from Salzburg achieved 371 rings and thus third place. Four soldiers run a 200-meter course and then shoot ten times with a pistol at targets 25 meters away. All in three minutes. The prize is the army championship title. This year, the team from Upper Austria secured this title. The field of participants included 16 teams from all over Austria. Major Peter Puchberger, Vice-Lieutenant Rudolf Herzog, Constable Robert Köppl and Deputy Officer Christoph Gärtner achieved a total of 316 rings. The second-placed team from Carinthia was only ten rings behind. Third place went to the team from Burgenland with 303 rings.
The individual results of the pistol and rifle shooting were used to determine the army champion in “overall shooting”. Colonel Christian Krammer (Army Sports Center) secured this title for the men with his two third places. In the women’s competition, Stabswachtmeister Sylvia Steiner from Command Support Battalion 2 also secured the overall title with a second place (rifle shooting) and a championship title (pistol).
