Air and Army National Guardsmen and -women from across the nation will come together at the at the world-class biathlon venue to train for the national-level competition and a possible shot at representing their states and nation internationally – or quite possibly at the Winter Olympics – as a member of the National Guard team.

This event will offer a greater number of Soldiers and Airmen the opportunity to participate in a practice biathlon and instruction generally only available to national-level athletes. National-level coaches will be conducting the training and instruction at the camp.

This week’s event covers everything from basic skiing techniques to competitive marksmanship. On the final day of the event, the training will culminate with what is expected to be a fun and competitive practice race.

This training opportunity is open to men and women, experienced and novice athletes.

“Basically, this is an open door training event for the purpose of presenting the sport of biathlon to the individual National Guard states,” said Spc. Andy Wilkens, Colorado National Guard Biathlon coordinator. “The Chief of the National Guard Bureau Championships serves as the selection springboard for the ‘All Guard’ team, which offers greater training and support for the athletes who show excellence to compete at the international level.”

Dating back to 1973 when the U.S. Army transferred the program to the Vermont National Guard, the National Guard Biathlon has a long history of supporting and developing biathletes who, in turn, have been accepted into the World Class Athlete Program and competed in World Cup and Olympic biathlon events.

“The National Guard Biathlon is one of four military competitions funded directly from the National Guard Bureau’s Youth and Athletic Services office,” said Maj. Andrew Parsons, National Guard Biathlon coordinator.  “As coordinator, I receive and dispense these funds by paying travel and allowance costs for Airmen and Soldiers to attend and compete in biathlon competitions, both domestically and abroad.”

Events are held each winter in the east, central and western regions of the U.S. and the military competition concludes at the Chief of the National Guard Bureau races held during alternate years at Ethan Allen Firing Range in Jericho, Vt., and Camp Riley in Little Falls, Minn.

CONG participants for the Oct. 8-12 training event will be representing the 5th Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group; Company C, 1st Battalion, 157th Infantry; and the 100th Missile Defense Brigade (Ground-based Midcourse Defense).

Upcoming biathlon event dates, travel inclusive, are as follows:                 

Dec. 8-12, 2010: All Regions Snow Camp, West Yellowstone, Mont.
Jan. 12-16, 2011: Central Regional Biathlon Races, Camp Ripley, Little Falls, Minn.
Jan. 20-23, 2011: East Regional Races/North American Championships, Jericho, Vt.
Feb. 2-6, 2011: West Regional Biathlon Races, Soldier Hollow, Midway, Utah
March 6-13, 2011: Chief National Guard Bureau Championships, Jericho, Vt.