I think one of the reasons you see competitors getting better in the Army and the troops skills degrading is because of a huge disconnect between AMU and the real Army. AMU shooters are recruited to do just that, shoot and be a farm team for international competition. The Marines USED to build the USMC Rifle and Pistol teams (and eventually the international teams) through the Fleet Marine Force (FMF) via the Division and Marine Corps Matches. We only had a small cadre of permanent "big team" shooters at Quantico and even those Marines had to eventually go back to their MOS in order to be promotable against their peers (although most of them eventually shot thier way back to Quantico.) However now with the USMC loss of focus on National Match Shooting and the focus on 3-gun stuff, the Corps is no longer competitive with AMU. My old friend Col Liwanag tried to get AMU more involved with the real Army but I dont think it stuck.
I think one of the reasons you see competitors getting better in the Army and the troops skills degrading is because of a huge disconnect between AMU and the real Army. AMU shooters are recruited to do just that, shoot and be a farm team for international competition. The Marines USED to build the USMC Rifle and Pistol teams (and eventually the international teams) through the Fleet Marine Force (FMF) via the Division and Marine Corps Matches. We only had a small cadre of permanent "big team" shooters at Quantico and even those Marines had to eventually go back to their MOS in order to be promotable against their peers (although most of them eventually shot thier way back to Quantico.) However now with the USMC loss of focus on National Match Shooting and the focus on 3-gun stuff, the Corps is no longer competitive with AMU. My old friend Col Liwanag tried to get AMU more involved with the real Army but I dont think it stuck.
Good points. I interviewed Col Liwanag about this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYsb7ARGFi0&t=15s
While I agree with your comments about AMU, I'd point out that unsponsored civilian competitive shooters have also improved over time as well.
Colonel Liwanag is a legend...