National Guardsmen compete in 2026 TAG Match
EDINBURGH, Ind. — Indiana National Guard Soldiers put their sharpshooter skills to the test Sept. 18-20 at Camp Atterbury, using advanced range upgrades during the Adjutant General’s Match, an annual marksmanship competition.
The competition brought together National Guardsmen from multiple states, alongside service members from the Slovak Armed Forces and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Participants faced a series of challenging rifle and pistol events designed to test their accuracy at varying distances.
This year’s competition utilized the ShotMarker system, the first time the technology has been used for a National Guard Excellence in Competition rifle match. The system uses audio sensors to track exactly where rounds land, allowing competitors to see ammunition impacts in real time. Rather than waiting for manual target scoring, shooters can instantly see their accuracy down to the millimeter and make immediate adjustments.
“You get a lot more rounds downrange, and you can see your impacts in real time. There is no delay,” said Capt. Jacob Teuschler, an Indiana Army National Guard officer with the 2nd Battalion, 150th Field Artillery Regiment, who served as the officer in charge of the event. “As soon as you shoot, you see if you’re off-center and what adjustments you need to make.” By eliminating scoring delays, the ShotMarker system lets Soldiers focus on the fundamentals of marksmanship while dramatically improving range efficiency.
“I love to train, and nothing makes me happier than coming out to a unit and helping people shoot better,” said Staff Sgt. Brian Harder, the event's noncommissioned officer in charge. The TAG Match helps competitors identify weaknesses, refine their skills, and bring valuable training lessons back to their home units. The top-scoring shooters also earned the prestigious Indiana Governor’s Twenty tab.
Master Sgt. Ethan Chesser, with the Indiana Air National Guard’s 181st Intelligence Wing, took first place in this year’s competition. Sgt. Samuel Ruzga, with the Indiana Army National Guard’s 2nd Battalion, 151st Infantry Regiment, finished as runner-up. Both Soldiers will be invited to continue supporting Indiana National Guard’s marksmanship team in future events.
About National Guard marksmanship competitions
The annual TAG Match serves as the critical first step in a larger pipeline overseen by the National Guard Marksmanship Training Center in Arkansas. As the headquarters for the Chief of the National Guard Bureau's marksmanship program, the NGMTC orchestrates a nationwide training and competitive framework designed to build battlefield lethality and instructor-level expertise across all 54 states and territories. Top-performing shooters from the state level are selected to compete at the prestigious Winston P. Wilson National Championship and may ultimately earn a spot on the elite "All-Guard" Marksmanship Team, traveling to train and compete alongside joint and international partners.
(Story by Indiana National Guard Spc. Markeyon Caldwell)
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