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thedrifter
09-13-09, 08:16 AM
Shooter guns for award

9/11/2009 By Lance Cpl. Kevin M. Beebe Jr. , Marine Corps Base Hawaii


From the tall white barracks cover to the deep navy blue blouse with its high collar, crimson trim and gold buttons, all the way down to the bright to blue trousers and glaring black shoes, Keith Sanderson earned the right to wear the Marine Corps dress blue uniform.

But, as a young Marine, Sanderson didn’t have many accomplishments to display on his new uniform.

When Sanderson heard about the Marine Corps shooting team, he saw a way to increase his stack while doing something that he had an interest in.

The 34 year-old San Antonio native hasn’t always been a shooter. It wasn’t until he joined the Marines, in 1993, that Sanderson found a love for shooting.

Today, Sanderson is the chief marksmanship instructor for Marine Corps Base Hawaii, the only civilian to hold that title throughout the Marine Corps, and he’s currently ranked as the number two rapid fire pistol shooter in the world.

“Keith had a strong desire to learn and dominate pistol shooting from the start,” said Rob Mango, deputy range and training area manager, Operations and Training, MCB Hawaii, and Sanderson’s former teammate.

Sanderson started off shooting on his battalion shooting at Twentynine Palms, Calif..

In 1996 he went to his first Marine Corps shooting championship and shortly after that he was picked up by the Marine Corps summer team.

“It wasn’t until ’98 when I started winning,” Sanderson said. It was that year that he permanently changed duty stations to the Marine Corps shooting team in Quantico, Va.

While competing for the Marine Corps shooting Sanderson won two Marine Corps shooting championships and tried out for the 2000 Olympics.

Although Sanderson didn’t make the cut for the Olympics, he learned from the experience. “I realized I had no clue what I was doing. I thought I did, but I didn’t” Sanderson said.

It was at this point in Sanderson’s career that he took a step back to take a better look at his shooting.

“He broke down the fundamentals of pistol shooting into four major components. No one else was approaching the fundamentals of marksmanship in that way,” Mango said. “Normally shooters who are struggling to improve look for shortcuts to improve performance. Keith on the other hand, was steadily progressing in both skill and achievements and still found ways to challenge the ‘accepted’ status quo and train more efficiently.”

His unique approach would later pay off.

In 2005 Sanderson won the rapid fire pistol event at the Conseil International du Sport Militaire games, an accomplishment that hasn’t been done by an American in decades. That win was also the first time Sanderson won an event at an international level.

Sanderson just recently started shooting rapid before his success at the CISM games. In 2004 he learned about Capt. McMillan’s success in the event and took a deep interest in it. McMillan was the American to win an Olympic gold medal in the event back in 1960.

Since Sanderson started shooting in the rapid fire pistol event he has won several World Cups including three consecutive World Cup wins.

In 2008 Sanderson tried his hand again at earning a spot in the Olympics. This time he proved successful, not only earning a spot to compete, but setting an Olympic record in the qualification match.

Sanderson ended up finishing fifth overall at the Olympics.

Currently sitting at number two in the world, Sanderson spends his days around shooters and shooting.

He spends countless hours dry-firing his pistol, to work on his fundamentals and mental focus, as he prepares for future events like the World Cup Finals, the World Shooting Championships, and the 2012 Olympic games.

But his passion for shooting goes well beyond his self-achievements. “Sanderson performs his current job as chief marksmanship instructor with the sole passion of teaching Marines how to more efficiently take lives and save lives in combat,” Mango said.

Ellie