Photo By Sgt. Angela Wilcox | U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Brianna Eisenhower, a combat marksmanship trainer assigned to...... read more read more
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U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Brianna Eisenhower, a field artillery cannoneer and combat marksmanship trainer with Weapons and Field Training Battalion, Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, does not truly love shooting.
“I love teaching and seeing goals being met,” Eisenhower said.
Regardless of her actual love, Eisenhower is still an accomplished marksman. Prior to joining the Marine Corps, she competed on her high school’s JROTC precision air rifle team. “It all just came naturally,” she said. Retired Marine Corps Major James Koerber, her school’s JRTOC instructor, recruited Eisenhower for the team.
“I competed and I did well. I didn’t meet anyone famous to help train me. The introduction to shooting was all I needed,” she said.
Fast forward to a 17-year-old Eisenhower and she has now decided to join the Marine Corps as a combat support contract.
“People love to say ‘nobody chooses artillery, artillery chooses you,” Eisenhower said. While serving as a cannoneer, Eisenhower completed two unit deployment programs to Japan with her battalion. She trained with the Japanese Self Defense Force focusing on artillery training.
Once she became a section chief and received her first Howitzer, it was time to become a teacher once more. “I never was a gatekeeper on knowledge,” Eisenhower said. When members of the section would struggle or be “thrown into the fire”, Eisenhower would be there to catch her team, giving the team the opportunity to learn, she said.
“Seeing my team deal with the pressure and then their faces when they fully understand what we were trying to learn is one of my favorite memories,” said Eisenhower.
Sgt Eisenhower is now a CMT with WFT Bn, working with the recruits from MCRD San Diego. Her mission now is to train recruits in entry level marksmanship, and she loves to teach the recruits to shot in whatever way that makes them comfortable.
“People love to put marksmanship in a box, that it can only be [implemented] this one way,” Eisenhower said. That not what marksmanship is at all, she said. Eisenhower focuses on 3 main efforts: perfect sight, perfect picture, and holding still.
“You need to commit to that process as your foundation,” she said, “Other than that, you make it your own. That’s what beautiful about marksmanship.”
Eisenhower and a team of all female Marines was asked to travel to Jordan for a subject matter expert exchange for U.S. Marine Corps Forces Central Command. The event was spearheaded by Naval Amphibious Force, Task Force 51/5th Marine Expeditionary Brigade.
The Marines and Jordanians discussed the differences and similarities in their rifle and pistol marksmanship fundamentals and also took part in a tactical shooting range.
Eisenhower said that fundamentally and mechanically the marksmanship with the Jordanians was the same. “It’s not about putting a person in a box,” she said, “If they have that aggressive stance then it can be very simple.”
The exchanged allowed for the female members of the Jordanian Quick Reaction Force to discuss and apply marksmanship with women who have similar experiences with weapons handling, equipment, and shooting techniques.
“We were able to show how we do certain things in the Marine Corps and also give hands on adjustments when asked,” she said.
Eisenhower said she would love the opportunity to come back for something so special to her. “It was awesome,” she said, “The team we had learned something new from each other and our partners.”
| Date Taken: | 02.22.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 03.01.2024 16:12 |
| Story ID: | 464655 |
| Location: | AMMAN, JO |
| Hometown: | RIO RANCHO, NM, US |
| Web Views: | 443 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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