The Civilian Marksmanship Program is a national organization dedicated to training and educating U. S. citizens in responsible uses of firearms and air guns through gun safety training, marksmanship training and competitions.

Seymour’s Jeannie Redicker belongs to a small class of civilians who have earned their Distinguished Rifleman’s Badge. She is in fact the 2,632nd individual to earn this honor, and only the 92nd civilian woman in the 150-year history of the badge.

Redicker recently spoke to The Tribune about earning the honor.

“The nationals are held at Camp Perry, Ohio, and it holds so much tradition that it is hard to imagine being a part of that history. The first woman to receive the Distinguished Rifleman Badge was in 1964, the year I was born and 80 years after its conception,” Redicker said.

“I remember the first time I shot at Camp Perry, before I took my first shots, I was in awe that I was on the same firing line that so many before me had shot record scores. I’ve met living legends on those firing lines and even made friends with some of them.”

“To have your name written in the history books of Camp Perry is surreal because when I come home, I’m just me, a farmwife, mom and granny,” she said. “It is indeed an honor to be among those who have also earned the distinguished rifleman’s badge. It takes a lot of practice and sacrifice to achieve this goal. Some spend years to achieve it and others never do.”

Redicker also won the Rimfire Sporter National Championships in 2018, 2019 and 2021. She spoke about changing her discipline to earn the DRB.

“I had been shooting Rimfire Sporter for five years and achieved all the goals I set in that discipline. In 2021, I won two national championships in two classes and had set a women’s national record,” Redicker said.

She also explained the sport for those who don’t know much about Rimfire Sporter.

“Rimfire Sporter is shot in three positions with both rapid and slow fire using a standard .22-caliber Rimfire rifle. It was a natural progression to go to high power, which is also shot in three positions but with a bigger caliber rifle and at longer distances,” Redicker said. “Rimfire Sporter is inexpensive to try and see if you like competitive shooting. High Power (Rifle) can be expensive and requires more gear to shoot successfully at longer distances. I could also shoot more matches shooting high power vs Rimfire Sporter.”

Redicker recommended heading west to Bedford where you can find matches going on pretty frequently.

“In southern Indiana, the Bedford Contingent Gun Range holds Rimfire Sporter matches once a month versus shooting High Power, where you can find a match somewhere almost every weekend,” she said. “At first I didn’t know about the Distinguished Rifleman’s Badge but as I got into shooting High Power, it became apparent that this is a goal that many strive to achieve, and I soon took on that goal also.”

There are even more goals to achieve for Redicker. She would like to increase her accuracy and achieve some higher classification.

“Yes, there are goals that I would still like to achieve. Each shooter is given a classification depending on the percentage in scoring they maintain,” Redicker said. “Right now, I hold a master classification, which means I shoot between 95 to 97.99 percent. I would like to achieve high master, which is 98% or higher. I’m close but still need to shoot consistently and gain less than half a percent to achieve that goal.”

“I’d also like to achieve the President’s Hundred honor,” she added. “That competition is held only once a year at Camp Perry during the national matches, so it may take some time to achieve that goal.”

The President’s Hundred Tab is a badge awarded by the Civilian Marksmanship Program to the 100 top-scoring military and civilian shooters in the President’s Pistol and President’s Rifle Matches.

Redicker was asked about how she began shooting.

It was a belief from a friend that convinced her to try it out competitively, she said.

“As I said before, it was a natural progression from Rimfire Sporter, which I started shooting at the encouragement of a friend and mentor. He saw potential in me that I didn’t,” she said.

The mental aspect also is a big part in competitive shooting, Redicker said.

“Competitive shooting is such a mental game, like most sports. You have to be able to clear your mind of all distractions and focus on your shot process,” she said. “This includes a bad shot, that you’ve taken. You can’t let that one bad shot lead to more bad shots as you berate yourself and forget to focus and follow your shot process.”

Redicker said this was the hardest part of the sport for her.

“I wasn’t sure I could overcome that and the self-doubts of if I was good enough and if I belonged in this male dominate sport,” she said. “So no, I had doubts that I would ever be good enough to earn a distinguished rifleman’s badge, but it appears I have.”

For now, Redicker will continue her journey in the sport of shooting.