AAST on target at matches

Trooper comes out of retirement to claim 10th national win

Philip Hemphill, 57, retired from Police Pistol Combat shooting after claiming an unprecedented ninth national title in 2007. This year he was back in the competition, and took the top prize yet again.

Philip Hemphill, second from left, accepts the
High Scoring Trooper pistol from Springfield representatives.

Citing NFL quarterback and fellow Mississippian Brett Favre as paving the way for him to come out of retirement, Hemphill of the Mississippi Highway Patrol says he only thought he was ready to call it quits. When he changed his mind, his fellow competitors worldwide, who have come to know and respect him over the years, welcomed his return with open arms.

California Highway Patrol officers Cecil Doss, right, and
John Koon, center, compete in the two-man match.

Hemphill’s score of 2,989-215x beat out nearly 400 other law enforcement competitors, making the captain a record-setting 10-time champion of the annual National Police Shooting Championships, held September 21-24 in Albuquerque, N.M.

“What I missed most about the nationals, besides the healthy competition,” Hemphill said, “was mentoring the up-and-coming champions. This event is full of world-class shooters, and I realized I wasn’t ready to walk away from it.”

Jeff Sones of the Texas DPS Pistol Team, left, stands with the Gunny.

R. Lee Ermey, a.ka. the Gunny, center, joins the California Highway Patrol Pistol Team for a photo. Ermey spoke at the NPSC awards ceremony and also made an appearance at the range.

First held in 1962, the NRA-sponsored matches utilize real law enforcement shooting skills. Competitors start with guns holstered and fire timed matches with both revolvers and semi-automatic pistols from varying distances and positions. The aggregate scores from the revolver and semi-automatic pistol matches are used to crown a national champion, with center shots known as Xs being used as tie-breakers.

AAST sponsored its annual barbecue dinner, where state troopers gathered the night before the matches began, to enjoy remarkable camaraderie and delicious food at the home of New Mexico state trooper Andy Baldridge.

Competing troopers gathered for the annual AAST-sponsored barbecue dinner.

AAST was proud to once again sponsor the High Scoring State Trooper Award for the NPSC, widely considered the world's most prestigious law enforcement shooting competition. This year the prize, a Springfield XD pistol provided by Springfield Armory, was claimed by Hemphill, marking 14 of the 17 times he has claimed AAST’s top prize. We thank Springfield Armory for their generosity in providing the AAST High Scoring Trooper Award again this year.

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