It has been 40 years since the U.S.Army Marksmanship Unit was formed upon the orders of Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower. In that span, hundreds of top-flight shooters have traveled the world,blasting their way into national and world record books. But it was the 1964 team that set the tone for the rest to follow, grabbing 7 medals-2 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze- at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo. "That was probably the most successful Olympic shooting team in the history of the sport", said Lones Wigger, retired colonel and international rifleman who brought home a gold and silver medal in 1964. Wigger was among approximately 350 former Army Marksmanship Unit shooters- many of them retired from the military- who ventured to Ft. Benning for the 40th anniversary reunion. "I went over to Tokyo and kicked tail. But really, it was just a culmination of a lot of work and a lot of effort," said Wigger, who spent 23 of his 25 years in the Army at Ft. Benning and now lives in Colorado Springs, CO. Wigger was one of 4 former Army shooters inducted into the USAMU Hall of Fame Saturday evening. Others - the late Lt.Col. Tommy Pool, Mstr.Sgt. Loyd Crow and Col.Jeremiah McKenzie. But it was the man who got the AMU off the ground and later was team captain for that successful 1964 Olympic squad who was the center of attention Sunday afternoon. The Marksmanship Unit honored the late Col. Thomas Sharpe II by naming its headquarters building after him, including the unveiling of an oil portrait that was placed in the building's small foyer....etc. Mrs. Sharpe talks about her husband...Army shooting team designed to raise the overall efficiency of military shooters as well as garner recognition by competing in world championships and the Olympic Games....when Eisenhower signed the bill creating the unit in March 1956 "we were thrilled to death"...etc, more about Sharpe's background. Over the years, the Army's elite marksmen have racked up more than 300 individual and team national titles, 40 world championships and 19 Olympic medals. However...it hasn't won a Olympic medal since the 1988 Games in Seoul, S. Korea... Wigger said it's really no surprise that the unit isn't taking more medals with the world of shooting having grown much more competitive over the years because countries are placing more emphasis on the sport. It also didn't help the U.S. shooters any when the Soviet Union broke up several years ago, fragmenting a strong team into about a dozen tough competitors. "It's super competitive now" said Wigger, the captain of the 1988 team. "In Seoul, 21 different countries won medals in shooting. That's just unbelieveable. Besides, it's just really tough to win an Olympic gold medal, with there being so many good shooters from all over the world. On that particular day, you've just got to have the performance of a lifetime in order to have a chance to win."