Two Carroll County deputies received advanced rifle training thanks to a local business that sponsored the trip.
Carroll County Chief Deputy Adam Eubanks and Deputy Mark Beck attended a three-day Rifle Challenge held in the Allegheny Mountains in West Virginia.
“People came from all over the world,” Eubanks said. “There were 50 people attending the class.”
Eubanks and Beck were sponsored by McRee Precision of Carroll County, a custom rifle maker specializing in military and law enforcement rifles, and the rifles the shot during the course were built in Carroll County.
Eubanks said he and Beck worked with Scott McRee, who also attended the training, for five or six days prior to leaving for West Virginia.
“There is a lot of science and math behind shooting,” Eubanks said. “[McRee] gave us some good, sound advice, and told us to trust our data – environmental and other factors taken into effect.”
The extra effort paid off for the deputies, who finished 15th and 16th out of the 50 military and law enforcement officers attending the training.
“This was a time for us to learn to compete against civilian shoots, military shooters, and law enforcement,” Eubanks said.
Eubanks said in long-range shooting, intelligence gathering is a big part of the job, as most times shooters are high above the ground with a birds-eye view of the area.
“Mostly, we now have the weapons capacities of keeping the public and other officers safe,” Eubanks said. “We don’t get trained to perform. We train so that if you have to you can do what you need to do.”
Like the McRees, who also donated a custom rifle to the Carroll County Sheriff’s Department, individuals and businesses throughout the county have helped purchase training equipment and other safety equipment to the department.
“A lot of citizens in Carroll County have been highly responsible for us being able to do these things,” Eubanks said.
