Even with modern technological advances, the ancient skill of marksmanship is process and performance – the marriage of man and machine working as one, combining the capabilities of a weapon with an operator's focus and touch.

Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.) Kevin Yatar, senior Army instructor at Simon Sanchez High School, told KUAM News, "I think it's a 90/10 split – 90% being the student/athlete and the cadet themselves. And that self-discipline that they take into account when they negotiate their target."

20 cadets from across public school Junior ROTC programs have been honing their skills over the first two quarters of the school year for the first of two islandwide Top Gun competition hosted by Sanchez's Shark Battalion. Using JFK's cafeteria as a range to exhibit their skills, these sharpshooters were on-target in individual and team events.

"They they desire to take their skills and go onto the next level, they've got the foundational abilities on how to properly handle a rifle," LTC Yatar continued, explaining, "how to use the art, combined with the science of marksmanship."

The cadets demonstrated confidence and competence with the air rifle system to rack-up points; but before even thinking about looking through their scopes, they exhibited mastery of the most important skill of all. "First and foremost, it's about safety," he added. "Safety is paramount, and everything we do is safety. I told each and every one of these students they that are a safety officer first and foremost."

And the expert instructors, each a veteran servicemember, may have had itchy trigger fingers to show they've still got it, too.

Yatar quipped, "Maybe I'll invite all of the instructors to do a shoot-off after the kids."

The Top Gun event for the spring semester is planned for the end of February.