Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 22, 1993 TAG: 9307220430
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BRIAN DeVIDO STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Long
Dressed in full camouflage attire, he's been known to carry various weapons on his back while jogging around the streets of Pulaski.
He is a former kickboxer and an expert marksman.
The next time he's spotted, stop him and ask him to identify himself.
Then give him a warm handshake. He deserves it.
Jeff Walke recently finished competing in the Bisley Matches, an international shooting competition near London, where he won a couple of medals. Walke was one of 16 shooters chosen to compete on the U.S. Army Reserve shooting team.
Teams from England, Canada, France, Australia and other countries competed in the matches. Walke left for England June 27 and spent three weeks there.
During that time, Walke and his team won their share of medals, survived the stifling heat and met Queen Elizabeth.
"I got to stand right beside the old gal," Walke said. "She's tough. She came out and fired the first shot of the competition, even though it was pouring outside."
The first week of competition included Walke's favorite contest: Military Combat Matches, which mainly consist of biathlon events. The shooter sprints short distances or runs up to two miles while stopping to shoot at obstacles. It takes stamina and an expert eye to pull it off.
"My strength is in the running matches," Walke said. "I can shoot well after exerting myself."
Exertion is certain after running in hot, humid conditions when you're decked out in full battle garb: camouflage outfit, helmet, protective shooting mask, boots, water and a seven-pound rifle.
"It's rough, man" Walke said, shaking his head. "I thought I'd die. The sun's not usually out in England, but it came out that week. It was about 90 degrees out there." Add a few more degrees with all that equipment on.
But that wasn't enough to stop somebody who's been shooting competitively for 10 years. Fresh out of the Marines at 23, Walke came home to Pulaski and joined the Army Reserve.
Bill Cooper, a national shooting competitor from Wytheville, got Walke interested in the sport. A year later, Walke had won his first national match.
When he was asked three months ago if he would like to travel to England as part of the national team, Walke jumped at the chance. "I was excited to be moving into the international shooting ranks," he said.
He even took a "Rocky" approach to training for the Bisley Matches. First, he ran three miles a day in full camouflage gear and weapons. "People looked at me funny when I ran," he said. "Especially police."
Gene Arnold, whom Walke called "an old military shooter from the '60s," built a range on his farm for Walke to train on.
"It's just outside Pulaski," Walke said. "It has ranges from 200 to 600 yards. He walked up to me and told me, `You go practice and win for the U.S.' He never charged me a cent." Walke shot four hours a day at his new training site.
The U.S. team won three individual gold medals and two team gold medals. Walke won two individual medals, a silver and a bronze.
Walke has another goal in mind for the near future: "I want to be the U.S. national champ at 1,000 yards," he said. "It's the longest distance you can shoot and the hardest match there is to shoot. It takes extreme discipline to pain."
Walke described it this way: "You strap a 16-pound rifle to your arm. Circulation becomes almost nil. You lay on your belly stretched out, with a thick, heavy leather jacket on. It's usually 100 degrees in August, which is when the championships are."
Doesn't sound like the start of a pleasant experience?
"It's in Camp Perry, Ohio, right near Lake Michigan. There's a lot of wind coming off the lake, so you've got to be a good meteorologist. You can't change a thing for 22 minutes while you fire one round at a time. One slight movement, sneeze or wrong type of breathing and you'll miss."
Now it sounds even less pleasant.
"At 1,000 yards, you can't hardly see the target. To even have a chance at winning, you have to hit 97 percent of the targets."
And afterward? "There's usually a big, black circle around your arm when you're done - from the circulation being cut off." Sounds like fun. But this is coming from a man who's been studying various martial-art forms for 20 years, a man who's competed in more than 25 amateur kickboxing matches, a man so tough the U.S. Army Reserves team named him "The American Gurkha."
The American Gurkha?
"It's a special elite fighting force for the Queen," Walke said.
"They're from Nepal, and you can tell 'em to guard a location and he'll either be there when you get back or his bones will be there," he said. "They were some of the best shooters I've seen.
"I like the intensity of competition. I like being the first, and being the best."
by CNB