 I initially started shooting when I was probably around the age of eight with my father shooting shotgun and from there I started smallbore and went to a high park clinic which would be shooting the air 15 when I was 13 and I instantly fell in love with it. Once I actually started shooting the distance I was hooked. I loved competitive shooting. I love the nature of it and the fact that it may be the same course of fire but it was never the same day on the range. I was down there for 10 years as a shooter and an instructor teaching squad designate and marksmanship and close quarter marksmanship and competing in international and national competitions. It then propelled me forward to coming to the National Guard and representing Pennsylvania and the Guard as a whole. Competing in these competitions allows me to bring back gained knowledge to the Martian Training Unit to help our soldiers to maximize their time downrange and become better competitors and better soldiers as a whole.