By Ashley Dugan, CMP Staff Writer
The Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) would like to announce the addition of three new State Directors: B.P. Murphy of Maine, Tony Rowe of Delaware and Mike Carter of Tennessee.
The CMP State Directors are representatives who help boost marksmanship programs by providing leadership, resources, program information, coordination, networking, motivation and publicity for marksmanship activities within their respective states.
B.P. Murphy – Maine State Director:
B.P. Murphy of Hallowell, Maine, began in marksmanship as a junior smallbore athlete in the mid-1980s. He soon became interested in highpower service rifle and decided to attend the Camp Perry National Matches for the first time in 1990, where he made lasting connections with other like-minded individuals on the range. Murphy is a Distinguished Rifleman and has made the President’s Hundred three times, with two top-10 finishes. He’s a U.S. Army Reserve team veteran and is married with two teenage boys. Interestingly, Murphy also dabbles in amateur astronomy.
“My primary interest in becoming a State Director is to improve communication among the various clubs and shooting programs,” he said. “Finding information online should be reasonably easy, but I have found that in many cases the clubs have a limited presence and are technologically challenged.”
“I also want to increase the number of trained instructors and coaches in the state,” he went on. “Junior shooting sports athletes deserve high quality instruction from the volunteers they have in their programs. Formalized training is the first step on that journey.”
Murphy admits the shooting sports infrastructure in Maine needs some improvement, with focus mostly needed on indoor shooting ranges. He hopes to make “dirty and dingy ranges” a thing of the past and to familiarize youth athletes with modern electronic target systems whenever possible.
Anthony (Tony) Rowe – Delaware State Director:
Tony Rowe of Felton, Del., has been involved in marksmanship since he was eight years old. His start in competitive shooting came when he joined the Seaford NJROTC unit. He showed the unit the benefits of the sport and has taught the program for the last eight years, competing in area championships and even at the national level. Rowe is married and enjoys spending time with his many children and grandchildren. He’s also an avid motorcyclist.
“My biggest joy and pleasure is watching the young shooters excel in their endeavors to become proficient and embrace the aspect of shooting competitively,” he said. “I want to increase the ability of young men and women to learn and enjoy the sport of shooting in the same manner as I do. I also want to increase awareness of gun safety and the importance of teaching it to as many as possible.”
As a State Director, Rowe hopes to make as many contacts as possible to support junior programs and to increase access across Delaware to help programs thrive and grow.
Mike Carter – Tennessee State Director:
Mike Carter of Nashville, Tenn., started in marksmanship back in 1971 on his middle school’s rifle team and has been actively involved ever since. He mainly competes in smallbore rifle and standing air rifle while also participating in highpower prone, on occasion. He’s involved with several marksmanship clubs and associations in smallbore and air rifle and even offered his own suggestions to CMP smallbore manager Brad Donoho for growing the smallbore program. He has acquired numerous wins at the state and national level, including at the CMP National Matches at Camp Perry. He’s married, with three children, and has been a computer enthusiast since the 1980s.
“As the coach of the 3PAR rifle team since 2015 and spending countless hours with the CMP at Anniston, and Camp Perry, I felt the state of Tennessee being without a voice was long overdue,” he said. “I believe my competitive shooting interest, communication skills and current involvement with youth shooting sports puts me in a good position to help the CMP and the youth shooting programs in Tennessee succeed in their mission.”
As State Director, Carter hopes to create a statewide database of youth programs to bring junior athletes together and help their teams grow. He is also dedicated to generating interest in smallbore competition – in turn, encouraging young athletes to join collegiate- or national-level teams and continue in marksmanship throughout their lifetimes.
Learn more about these and all other CMP State Directors through our website at https://thecmp.org/training-tech/state-director/. You may also apply for vacant State Director seats – currently available in Washington State, Nevada, North Carolina and Vermont.
Questions on CMP State Directors? Contact Sylvia Schoewe at (419) 635-2141 ext. 726 or email sschoewe@thecmp.org.
The Civilian Marksmanship Program is a federally chartered 501 (c) (3) non-profit corporation. It is dedicated to firearm safety and marksmanship training and to the promotion of marksmanship competition for citizens of the United States. For more information about the CMP and its programs, log onto www.TheCMP.org.