Good info, Jeff, and good shooting to you and your wife. Good luck in your quest to get "Double Distinguished".
I have bronze EIC (Excellence in Competition) badges in both rifle and pistol. As you earn more EIC points, you eventually earn the Silver EIC badge (when you reach 20 points) and ultimately the Distiguished Shooter Medal (when you reach 30 points). If I remember correctly, points get harder to earn as you progress. You can't just continue to be the top gun at local matches and earn your points. You must continue to attend higher and higher levels of competition to win more points.
I haven't shot a leg match in over a decade, but I sure enjoyed them. My last match was at Fort Benning, GA. The Army Marksmanship Unit was putting on a week-long "train the trainer" marksmanship class. My commander at the time knew I was heavy into shooting, so he sent me. Our week ended with a two-day EIC match. It was a nice feeling of accomplishment to place in the top 10% shooting beside former Olympic Team members, President's 100 tab awardees, and other high caliber folks. I made EIC points with the pistol, but missed them with the rifle. I missed the rifle cut-off score by one point.
idahochukar2, being double distinguished (Earning Distinguished Medals in both the rifle and pistol) is a heck of an accomplishment. When I got the paperwork that accompanied my awards, the stat sheet stated that there were fewer than 300 Double-Distinguished shooters since the inception of the program (late 1800's, if I remember correctly). I got my badges back in the middle 90's, so I am sure there are a few more more now, but being double distiguished is still a very rare thing. Hang onto those medals. There aren't many of them around.
