Members of USPSA,
My name is Ben Berry, and I am honored to be the incoming Area 6 Director for the 2024-2027 term. When Donna approached me about writing an introduction of myself for the magazine, I knew I should not pass up the opportunity.
Perhaps surprisingly, I didn’t grow up around guns, and instead found my way into shooting through IDPA. In 2009, I was invited to come check out a match, and was very interested despite not yet having actually shot a gun. After watching a few matches and talking to as many competitors as I could, I took some lessons and shot my first match with a borrowed 1911 in .45 ACP (mercifully shooting handloads, so probably only 170 power factor or so). After that, I got a few guns of my own, and shot IDPA regularly for a few years. In 2012, some friends who shot both games prevailed on me to come try this USPSA thing, which at the time I thought it was just a bunch of unrealistic running around and spraying bullets. But I was hooked once I realized it was more challenging than it appeared.
I joined USPSA and worked the 2013 NC Section match, my first level 2 match. In 2014, I became RO certified and worked the Nationals in St. George that year, and went on to get my CRO certification the next year. In the last ten years, I’ve only missed working two NC Section matches.
My wife Stephanie Berry (who I met through IDPA), has been NC Section Coordinator and run the annual section championship since 2018. We live together in Raleigh, NC with our two kids, who are respectively 3 years and 6 months old, as well as two dogs and a cat. My professional background is in software development, particularly backend databases and APIs.
I’ve been match director of a local indoor match since 2021, where the outlaw format gives me the chance to put on mostly USPSA-style stages with a few ideas not allowed by our current rules.
In 2014, I started practicing seriously after taking a class with Steve Anderson who opened my eyes to the idea that you could get really good through dry fire of relatively small drills. I was B class at the time, and went up a class a year until making GM in Production in 2017.
Production has always been my home in the sport, in part because I shot it during its heyday. The sense that by shooting the stock gun division, it wasn’t a gear race, just a straight up shooting contest has always been appealing to me. Of course, there is no denying the now-ubiquitous nature of red dots, but I still think there is space in the sport for a stock optics division that could bring back that feeling in a modern era.
My first goal as area director is to increase transparency and accountability. If we don’t pull the organization out of the net-negative financial state we are in, eventually we will not be able to keep the lights on. Additionally, when we make decisions, to the greatest degree possible, the membership should feel heard, and understand the factors that went into the decision.
I would like there to be a sense of vision and unity to the equipment divisions, so that there is a distinction between them and purpose for each, catering to the demand for different styles of competition.
I’d like to see USPSA restored to the reputation I once knew, of being the premier action shooting sport organization. This means giving clubs reasons and resources to make them want to become or stay affiliated, as well as making the process of joining as a new shooter welcoming and helpful.
I’d like to see the USPSA National Championship as a the biggest event on the shooting sports calendar, where the best in the sport come together to compete on the best stages with the best staff and the best coverage of the event, so the members and non-members at home can keep up with the action and see the pinnacle of the sport.
Ultimately though, I am cognizant that I don’t know what I don’t know. I have a lot to learn and look forward to hearing from you, whether you reside in Area 6 or not. I think we make the best decisions by hearing all the arguments for each solution to a problem and picking the one that best accomplishes our goals and values as an organization, and to do that I need to hear a diverse range of viewpoints and perspectives. My USPSA email is [email protected]. Please drop me a line.
I also host a half-hour weekly podcast called “Short Course” where I talk about practical shooting, matches, logistics, USPSA, multigun, and anything else related to the sport that I think is worth paying attention to. If you would like to hear more of my thinking on various topics, please browse the catalog of episodes going back to 2018 and give it a listen.
Originally published in January/February 2024 issue of USPSA Magazine.
