OSU senior, 22, teaches marksmanship to soldiers

OSU senior, 22, teaches marksmanship to soldiers

Because of the protracted wars, marksmanship has taken on greater importance.

COLUMBUS (AP) — The photo looks like one of those “Which one doesn’t belong?” deals. Seven U.S. Army Rangers stand in fatigues and combat boots. In their midst stands a smiling college kid in tennis shoes, jeans and a hoodie.

The only similarity is they all hold M-16 rifles. Sam Ohlinger, that smiling college kid, was teaching those professional soldiers how to better use them. Ohlinger is a senior on the Ohio State rifle team. Since 2005, the 22-year-old also has been moonlighting as a civilian marksmanship instructor for the Army.

Ohlinger was 19 when he was selected as an instructor, which made him the youngest of the 30 chosen at that time.

The photo comes from his latest gig, a weeklong trip in December to Fort Benning, Ga., to work with the 3rd Ranger Battalion. He previously worked with the 82nd Airborne Division.

Those are two of the nation’s most storied and decorated units. Who would’ve thought that they get shooting lessons from a fresh-faced civilian?

“At first, it was intimidating,” Ohlinger said. “I didn’t know how I would be received. It’s kind of hard to take a lesson from someone younger than you sometimes.

“But that’s my biggest compliment to the Army and to the program, is everyone I’ve ever worked with has been nothing but respectful and disciplined and eager to learn. I was really pleasantly surprised.”

It’s sort of a dream assignment for Ohlinger, who says the Fourth of July is his favorite holiday and who might well have been accepted by the U.S. Military Academy but for his asthma.

He grew up in Lockbourne listening to his grandfather, Chester Ohlinger, a Korean War-era veteran, sing the praises of the Army’s old M-1 rifle. When Sam was 14, he and his father, Mike, took part in a shooting clinic and became hooked on the sport.

Long-range shooting (up to 1,000 yards) became his specialty, and Sam eventually qualified for the junior national team.

After competing in England as a high school senior, he was speaking at a local shooting club one day when OSU rifle coach Pat Cherry was in the audience. Afterward, Cherry invited Ohlinger to shoot for the Buckeyes.

“You can’t pass up the chance to be a Division I athlete at The Ohio State University,” Ohlinger said. “You get the cool jacket.”

Meanwhile, the military was searching for expert marksmen to serve as instructors. Most soldiers get only a few weeks of instruction in basic training, aiming at targets 50 to 300 meters away.

With the United States in protracted wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, long-range marksmanship has taken on a new importance. The Army contacted the Civilian Marksmanship Program for help. Ohlinger applied to be an instructor and was selected.

Ohlinger said that by the end of his weeks with the soldiers, they could regularly hit targets at 600 yards, “so we doubled their effective range.”

Back at school, Ohlinger and the Buckeyes won the Western Intercollegiate Rifle Conference championship last month for the first time in five years. OSU’s team was not among the eight selected for the NCAA championship match, however.

Ohlinger was one of OSU’s top four shooters this season, coach Cherry said. Collegiate shooters fire small-bore rifles (.22 caliber) from 50 feet; Ohlinger is accustomed to a high-powered rifle at a much longer range.

“It’s a different type of shooting, a different discipline,” Cherry said. “He excels at 1,000 yards. I joke with Sam that we need to move the targets back.”

Ohlinger will graduate with a political science degree in June and head to law school. But if his country calls again, he’ll gladly answer.