SP4 VICTOR L. AUER
ROLL OF HONOR QUALIFICATIONS
1961 National Smallbore Rifle Prone Champion - Camp Perry, Ohio.
1971 National 50m Free Rifle Prone 60 shots Champion
1971 Pan American Games Cali, Columbia. (Gold individual medal & Gold team medal in 50m Free Rifle Prone 60 shots.)
1971 United States Distinguished International Shooter Badge
1972 National 50m Free Rifle Prone 60 shots Champion
1972 Olympic Games Munich, Germany. (Silver individual medal in 50m Free Rifle Prone 60 shots.)
1973 NRA Distinguished Smallbore Rifle Prone Badge
1974 National 50m Free Rifle Prone 60 shots Champion
1974 World Shooting Championships Thun, Switzerland. (Silver team medal in 50m Free Rifle Prone 60 shots.)
1975 Pan American Games Mexico City, Mexico. (Gold team medal in 50m Free Rifle Prone 60 shots.)
1976 Olympic Games Montreal, Canada.
Born 24 March 1937 in Santa Ana, California. Began shooting at age 10 when his father established the Brea Junior Rifle Club. His first match win was the 1948 California Sub-Junior Smallbore Rifle Prone State Championship. Earned the NRA Junior Distinguished Badge in 1952. Member of the Apache JRC that won the open smallbore rifle prone team match at Camp Perry in 1953 and of the Brea JRC that won them in 1954 and 1955 (see the American Rifleman cover of October 1954). Won Randall 2-man team National Championship with his father in 1954.
Won the 1955 National Junior Smallbore Rifle Prone Championship at Camp Perry. Won the 1956 and 1957 National Collegiate Smallbore Rifle Prone Championships at Camp Perry. Placed 7th in the 1956 Olympic Trials in 3-Position and was kept home on stand-by in case he was needed to go to Melbourne. Attended University of California at Los Angeles and won UCLA team honors in 1957, 58, 59.
Served in the U.S. Air Force Reserve 1960-66. Was the U.S. Air Force World Smallbore Rifle Prone Champion in 1961, 62, 63. Member of USAF teams that won prone and four-position team matches at Camp Perry in 1960, 61, 62. Member of the NRA Smallbore Rifle Prone Team that toured Europe in 1963. Won the Bell Trophy Match at Bisley, England in 1963 with a new record. Set National Records for the 3x600 50m prone aggregate with a 1799 metallic sights and 1800 any sights. Won the first USA medal of any sport in the 1972 Olympic Games. Won the Benito Juarez International Championships in 50m Free Rifle Prone 60 shots in 1974, 75, 77 and team gold medals 1974, 75, 76, 77. Won the 1976 Interservice 50m Free Rifle Prone 60 shots Championship. Awarded Army Commendation Medal in 1976.
Set over 140 individual and team National Records. Won 16 NRA Regional Smallbore Rifle Championships, ten NRA State Championships and eight NRA Preliminary Tryouts. Was on the Dewar Team 12 times between 1953-77. Vic was invited via the U.S. State Department and the Pentagon to coach the National Teams of Brazil (1973), Venezuela (1975), Equator (1976) and Puerto Rico (1977). He received honors of appreciation from their shooters and federations.
Author, film writer, teacher, and coach by profession. Graduated from UCLA in English Literature in 1963. Earned M.A. credits from UCLA and Exeter College, Oxford University in 1963. Was an UCLA Assistant Dean for the development of Athletes for Academics program 1981-84. Founding member of the Los Angeles Olympic Spirit Team 1981-84. Was one of the Olympic Torch carriers for the 1996 Olympic Games. Author of articles on shooting for the Olympian Magazine, the American Rifleman and the UIT Journal. His articles and translations have been published in over five languages.
Was a member of the USAR Shooting Team 1972 1978 while also serving as a Military Police instructor with the USARs 828th Station Hospital in Fresno, California.