My name is SGT Sherri Jo Gallagher. I have been a member of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit for the last three years. In that amount of time, I have had the opportunity to instruct many Soldiers in marksmanship, as well as win two national titles for my team. The USAMU team travels around the United States on an average of six months out of the year. Our travels involve training the warfighter in marksmanship skills and competing in matches to maintain our proficiencies and further develop our skills. Competing and winning in the matches we participate in allows us to learn lessons that we can pass on to other Soldiers as well as earn the necessary credibility we rely on as instructors.

This year I had to opportunity to compete in Army Soldier of the Year competitions. I am currently the USAMU, ASB, USAAC, and TRADOC Soldier of the year. I will be participating in the Army Best Warrior competition next month to determine the overall Army Soldier of the Year. Along with that I was able to compete with my team in the Interservice and National Championships. This year I won the Highpower National Championships with a score of 2396 out of a perfect score of 2400. This beat the previous record by 9 points. Since being on the team, I have earned 21 National Records.

I am very proud to be a member of the Army Marksmanship Unit because we have the ability to strengthen the Army’s prowess in marksmanship and assist Soldiers to grow in their knowledge and confidence in the rifles they rely on everyday while fighting for our country and its cause.