Photo By Sgt. Jessica Ito | Lance Cpl. Shane O’Flynn, a member of the Marine Forces Reserve Marksmanship...... read more read more
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CAMP PERRY, Ohio – Lance Cpl. Shane O’Flynn’s love of the firing line started when he was barely 16, after a friend of his suggested he try competitive shooting. He never thought a simple suggestion would lead him to where he is today.
“I shot as a junior, and that’s what made me want to join the Marines,” O’Flynn said. “Marines coached at all the clinics I went to.”
O’Flynn, a combat engineer with Company B, 4th Combat Engineer Battalion, 4th Marine Division, is the newest member of the Marine Forces Reserve Marksmanship Training Unit. He began his competitive marksmanship career on a junior competitive marksmanship team from Virginia. There, he had a chance to learn about marksmanship fundamentals from Marines, as well as what the Corps was all about.
“I was always surprised that the Marines were out there coaching the junior team, because they didn’t really have to,” O’Flynn said. “Even when the day was over, you could go up to the Marines with a question about something you were struggling to understand. They would put down whatever they were doing to help a group of 15- to 18-year-olds.”
After the examples set by his Marine coaches and five years of shooting as a junior marksman, O’Flynn decided to enlist.
“There were a lot of good role models among the Marine coaches, and I’d sit there and think to myself, ‘I want to be like that guy,’” said O’Flynn.
The fundamentals he learned as a teen followed him into his career, and he found out about the MTU while attending the combat marksmanship coaches course.
“Two of the course instructors were Marines I had shot with before in competitions,” O’Flynn said. “I started talking to them about their work, and found out about the MARFORRES shooting team. From there, I found out what I could do to become a part of the team.”
O’Flynn has been a member of the team since February. Like all members of the shooting team, he has completed the CMC course as well as the combat marksmanship training course. In addition to the formal training he received in certification courses, O’Flynn says his time with the shooting team teaches him something new every day.
“I’ve learned as much about competitive shooting with the team as I have in the past five years of shooting,” O’Flynn said.
| Date Taken: | 07.31.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 08.01.2013 13:05 |
| Story ID: | 111194 |
| Location: | PORT CLINTON, OH, US |
| Web Views: | 67 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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