USA Shooting has announced the hiring of a new Chief Executive Officer, Craig Kozeniesky, a retired Marine Corps Colonel.
Kozeniesky is relocating to Colorado Springs, Colo., and will assume his duties as CEO in early January of 2023.
A true leader who is passionate about USA Shooting, Kozeniesky certainly has the credentials to lead the organization. He served in the United States Marine Corps for 27 years and is a combat veteran of Operation Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition, Kozeniesky has been connected with USA Shooting for more than 10 years, most notably in relation to his son, Lucas. The younger Kozeniesky captured a silver medal with teammate Mary Tucker at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in the 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team event.
“I am honored and humbled to join the leadership team at USA Shooting, an organization that I have been associated with since 2009 when my son started on his path to shooting excellence as a novice shooter,” Kozeniesky said. “As a career military officer, I see this opportunity as an extension of service to this great nation.”
Kozeniesky’s military career includes infantry, reconnaissance and joint special operations assignments. Since his retirement from the military, Kozeniesky has worked at the Nevada Secretary of State Office as the deputy secretary for operations and also in U.S. government contracting. Most recently, he was vice president of development for PrairieFire, a start-up in the shooting sports, training and destinations sectors.
“As chairman of the board, I consider it an esteemed honor to welcome Colonel Craig Kozeniesky to the helm of our organization,” Chad Whittenburg, chairman of the USA Shooting Board and president of the USA Shooting Federation, said. “Colonel Kozeniesky is a proven leader in the shooting industry and the Marine Corps, both in and out of combat.”
USA Shooting’s temporary CEO team has been formally dissolved. Brent McPherson will serve as interim CEO and Alex Szablewski will serve as interim COO until January 2023 when Kozeniesky officially starts his role.
“I am looking forward to building on the successes of our Olympic and Paralympic teams as we move towards Paris 2024, expanding our development pipeline across all disciplines, increasing our engagement with member clubs at all levels, and gaining support and backing from the vast U.S. shooting sports community,” Kozeniesky added.
Learn more about USA Shooting at usashooting.org.
