Bill Fairless, 71, of Vienna, Ill., finally earned his Distinguished Rifleman Badge after decades of tracking it down. For over a century, claiming a Distinguished Badge has been one of the most coveted and difficult achievements in the competitive marksmanship world. Badges are earned after reaching Excellence-in-Competition (EIC) points at designated events, which may take years to accumulate, if at all, with most individuals doing so with a modern AR service rifle.
Amazingly, Bill Fairless claimed his with a vintage M1 Garand from the World War II era.
“It’s hard to describe,” he said of earning his Distinguished Badge. “I didn’t know if I’d ever get it done because I’m getting older, and my eyes are getting worse. But it’s an honor to get to do it, and I’m glad we could do it with those Garands. It gave me a chance.”
His final EIC points arrived during the Civilian Marksmanship Program’s (CMP) 2024 Talladega D-Day event, held in June at the Talladega Marksmanship Park in Alabama. His last points were the first he had earned since April 2017.
“It’s so hard to get, and all the people before who got it, you know, I really respect them that they can get it and how long it takes some people to get,” he said with his deep Southern drawl.
Fairless’s own journey to a Distinguished Badge began in the mid-1980s when he heard it was possible to own an M1 Garand. In order to receive one though, he had to shoot qualifying matches at a local club. And so, he did.
“I wanted one just because I thought it’d be neat to have one – and then once I got to shooting – well, I love shooting it,” he said with a laugh. “It’s my favorite gun to shoot. I don’t know why. I just like them.”
His dad carried an M1 during World War II and decided that he, too, wanted to get qualified. He earned a Garand of his own alongside Fairless and, though he didn’t continue competing, always kept the rifle as well as a can of ammo in his home. The Garand became more than just a gun – it was a special bond between father and son.
“He got a kick out of me shooting these matches,” Fairless said. “I actually won a medal for him with a Japanese rifle he brought back at the end of the war. He was tickled to death with that. It was a bronze, but I gave it to him. Made his day.”
It wasn’t until 1990 that Fairless shot his first leg match – a competition where leading competitors have the chance to earn the EIC points needed to receive a Distinguished Badge.
“It was one of those things where I thought, ‘There’s no way in the world I’ll ever get any points or anything.’ And I didn’t for a long time,” he said.
Fairless eventually earned his introductory points before frustratingly suffering a competitive drought for the next several years. It wasn’t until scopes became legal in competition that he was again on his way to claiming points.
“I was one of the first people to do that because my eyes were getting bad. I had to do it, or I was going to quit,” he said. “Everybody caught up with me and passed me, so when they started shooting these Garand Matches again, I thought, ‘Oh hey, that’s my chance.’”
After retiring as a teacher in 2010, Fairless thought he’d take off to see the country by competing in CMP’s annual Travel Games in Arizona, Alabama, North Carolina and other states along the way – with the goal of finally earning a badge.
“I shoot the Garand better, comparatively, than I do an AR,” he said. “At the Eastern Games in North Carolina, all I shot was the Garand. I didn’t shoot an AR – just to practice. All the 600-yard matches and thousand yard matches – I shot the Garand.”
He went on, “They were all kind of laughing at me, and I said, ‘I’ve got a reason!’ It helped a lot. My best score at Talladega was 600 because I’d been shooting all that long stuff.”
Though he fared well in matches, as the years passed, competitions became less and less about goals and more about the memories.
“Shooting’s fun, but I come see my buddies and shoot with them,” he admitted. “You get together and, after we’re done shooting, we’ll go get pizza together somewhere. That’s a big part of it.”
He found a particular kinship in another regular at CMP matches, Bill Ellis, who travels all the way from England to the United States to compete. By chance, the two were paired up for a match over a decade ago and have chosen to compete alongside one another at countless events ever since.
“We pair up together real well, whether it’s pulling targets or whatever, shooting and coaching one another,” Fairless said. “it’s pretty neat – neat to visit with somebody from another country.”
Outside of the social aspect of the sport, Fairless has found the longevity of it has added to the enjoyment.
“This is the only sport I know of that you can keep doing until you get a lot older. You can’t do basketball or baseball or any of that kind of stuff, and this – you can take somebody my age right next to somebody that’s a junior, and we sit there and compete together,” he said.
“It’s pretty neat get to meet a lot of people – people with a lot of really good experiences. And everybody’s willing to help you – all of them. Well – maybe not one or two – but other than that…,” he joked.
“When I go back home to my range, everybody thinks, ‘Golly, you’re good,’ and I say, ‘I’m not good. These people are good,’” he said of his fellow competitors. “You just pick it up. I’m always listening, and they’re good at telling you what they’re looking for. That’s what I like about it. They’re all helpful.”
Using his vast experience with a Garand, Fairless gained a Master Marksman Award for Distinguished Excellence (another competitive marksmanship title) through the Garand Collectors Association back in 2023 – the tenth individual to do so. And now, through the help of others and his relentless spirit, Fairless’s name has been added to the list of competitors with a Distinguished Rifleman Badge.
Though he improves his game a little each time he steps onto the firing line, his scores still ebb and flow. But, he’s still trying and says he’ll keep going as long as he can.
“I’ve had a blast,” he said with a smile. “It’s been fun.”
– – Ashley Dugan, CMP Staff Writer
The Civilian Marksmanship Program is a federally chartered 501 (c) (3) non-profit corporation. It is dedicated to firearm safety and marksmanship training and to the promotion of marksmanship competition for citizens of the United States. For more information about the CMP and its programs, log onto www.TheCMP.org
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