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Ultimate Training Munitions Supports 28Th Annual David E. Grange Jr. Best Ranger Competition
Training Munitions to Help Heighten Realism During Grueling 60-Hour Contest.

UTM Blue Bolt Weapon Conversion

Ultimate Training Munitions

NORTH BRANCH, NJ --(Ammoland.com)- Ultimate Training Munitions (UTM), a leading provider of weapon conversions and training ammunition for armed forces and law enforcement agencies around the world, today announced its support of the 2011 David E. Grange Jr. Best Ranger Competition (BRC).

UTM’s training ammunition system is the key product for the urban assault event scheduled for the first day of the competition, taking place at Fort Benning, Georgia, from April 15-17. UTM’s weapon conversion kits, part of the US Army Close Combat Mission Capability Kit (CCMCK) Program, will be utilized to help enhance the realistic nature of various BRC events.

“UTM’s products afford the competing Ranger teams the opportunity for increased realism during the competition but with less risk of getting hurt since they’ll be using non-lethal live fire ammunition,” said Eric Seto, UTM master trainer and retired US Army First Sergeant.

All Ranger teams will have their weapons converted to UTM at some point during the competition. The UTM Blue Bolt weapon conversion adapts standard service weapons, including M16/M4 rifles and M249 machine guns, for use in various real-world training scenarios. By removing the live bolt and inserting the UTM Blue Bolt users can convert from lethal live fire to non-lethal in approximately 30 seconds. The UTM Blue Bolt offers an important fail-safe safety feature – the 3mm offset firing pin. When the weapon is converted with the UTM Blue Bolt, the safety feature prevents denotation of live ammunition, M200 blanks or any other center-fired primer ammunition.

Competitors will also utilize UTM’s Blue Magazine. Designed with safety in mind, the Blue Magazine is manufactured with internal components that will only accept UTM Non-Lethal Training Ammunition (NLTA): UTM’s Man Marker Rounds, Reduced Velocity Rounds, Battlefield Blank Rounds and Silent Blank Rounds. Live, lethal ammunition is longer than UTM training ammunition and therefore can’t be loaded into the magazine and then loaded into the weapon.

The three-day Best Ranger Competition, designed to push Rangers to their limits, was established in 1982 and has been compared to both Ironman and Eco-Challenge competitions. The BRC challenges two-man Ranger teams in events that test physical conditioning, Ranger skills and team strategies. The physically and mentally demanding three-day competition features back-to-back events, allowing little time for rest and meals.

About UTM
Ultimate Training Munitions (UTM) is a leading provider of weapon conversions and training ammunition for armed forces and law enforcement agencies around the world. With headquarters in the United Kingdom and manufacturing facilities in England and the U.S., the company’s patented products are designed to simulate realistic training to better prepare soldiers and law enforcement officers for their missions. UTM provides a complete training system solution for use with 5.56mm, 9mm, .357cal and .40 cal weapons. UTM offers man marker rounds (MMR), target bullet rounds (TBR) and blanks (silent blank rounds & battlefield blank rounds) for use in pistols, rifles, submachine gun (SMG) and selected machine guns. In addition, the company supplies safety and personal protection equipment. Products are available on the GSA schedule, contract number, GS-07F-5749P. For more information visit: www.utmworldwide.com.

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We Happy Few – 82nd Airborne Division, 101st Airborne Division, 29th Division, 2nd Armored Division, U.S. Army Rangers
by James Dietz
AmmoLand features famous military artists from time to time as they are an integral part of the firearms history or shooting sports lifestyle.

We Happy Few - 82nd Airborne Division, 101st Airborne Division, 29th Division, 2nd Armored Division, U.S. Army Rangers

Military Artist James Dietz

Staunton, VA --(AmmoLand.com)- General Omar Bradley, commanding the First U.S. Army, had waited anxiously for the linkup of Omaha and Utah beachheads before declaring success in the American sector following D-Day. He considered this final event critical before the Allied invasion of Europe could be put into full swing. His concern over the linkup delay was confirmed when he received an Ultra flash from British intelligence at Bletchley Park indicating the German high command was aware of a gap existing between the American V and VII Corps. They ordered the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division to counter attack and split the two forces. It is interesting to note that this was one of the few times that information obtained from the German Enigma Code breaking was deemed so critical it was passed to a tactical commander. Such intelligence had previously been withheld for fear of tipping the Germans to the fact their secret code system had been broken.

For days the American Parachute Infantry had been engaged in combat with the German Army’s 6th Parachute Regiment in the vicinity of Carentan. It was now D+7, June 13, 1944. “…what a wonderful sight it was to see those tanks pouring it to the Germans with those heavy 50-caliber machine-guns and just plowing straight from our lines into the German hedgerows with all those fresh infantry soldiers marching along beside the tanks,” remembers then LT Richard Winters who commanded Easy Company, 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, “the band of brothers.” The scene, which followed, has finally been captured by renowned military artist James Dietz in We Happy Few. Infantry from the National Guard’s famed 29th Division, supported by the 2nd Armored Division’s “Hell on Wheels,” had raced forward to relieve the airborne troops from the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions seizing and holding ground since their historic jump on the eve of D-Day. What a joyous occasion it had to be as the American airborne, joined by the grateful French civilians, welcomed the arriving ground troops.

Clearly there was a difficult task ahead. Tragically many of the joyous American soldiers depicted in the print would not be there for another happy day, May 8, 1944, some eleven months later when Germany finally surrendered. But for a moment, they were “We few, we happy few.” The suffering and sacrifice of the past week was behind them, and they could briefly pause to enjoy a moment in time. This very historic moment, previously not depicted, is captured here in dramatic detail by the artist whose works continue to capture the American soldier in the best of times and the worst of times. The Band of Brothers is seen swapping tales with the Blue and Gray 29ers from Omaha Beach before heading to defensive positions in Carentan. The tankers of Hell on Wheels share smokes with the “All Americans” before beginning their difficult sweep across France. It is a scene which passed quickly, but is now reborn in the superb detail of this historic print.

Generals Eisenhower and Bradley were greatly relieved with the news of the successful linkup. At noon on the next day, July 14, 1944, XIX Corps, comprised of the 29th and 30th Divisions, was formed and ordered to attack south to St. Lo, while protecting the critical area between V and VII Corps. V Corps with the 1st and 2nd Divisions would link up with the British and continue attacking south, while VII Corps with the 4th and newly arrived 9th and 90th Divisions would continue west to capture Cherbourg. Any chance for the Germans to split the corps’ seam had been eliminated. The Allies were beyond the beachhead, and Germany’s fate had been sealed by American soldiers like those depicted in We Happy Few.

About:
Jim and his wife, Patti, live in Seattle with their dog, Sarah, who shares the distinction with previous Dietz pets, of being a regular in Jim’s paintings. Their son, Ian, is currently an officer serving in the U.S. Army. Jim works in a warm, pleasantly cluttered studio that resembles a WWI aviation bar, surrounded by uniforms, props and models that have made their way into paintings over the years.

You can buy your own Framed copy of this print at ImageKind.

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