Texas A&M cadet sisters compete at All-Army championship

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (NewsNation) — The U.S Army Marksmanship Unit just hosted its annual event, the U.S. Army Small Arms Championship (All-Army), where all active duty, reserve, National Guard and ROTC members compete in a weeklong live-fire competition.

For two Texas A&M University Reserve cadets, the competition was a family affair.

Sisters Jesse and Hayle Mayer participated in the weeklong competition, together.

Jesse, a senior at Texas A&M University, said it was her second year competing. She said there are marksmen from all over the country that come and compete in both rifle and pistol matches.

“I love it because it really stresses precision and accuracy the kind of our standard shooting that we normally practice. So it’s an enormous challenge. It’s really, really cool,” she said.

Hayle, who is only a sophomore at the university, competed in the competition for the first time. She said while Jesse and her push each other to compete well, it’s usually out of support because they want each other to do the best that they’re able to do.

But for Hayle and Jesse, the military is their life, it’s in their blood. Both of their parents were U.S. Marines, their grandfathers were soldiers and their grandmother was an airman.

Jesse said she knew she wanted to follow in their footsteps most of her life. However, she confirmed she wanted to join the Army in high school.

“I think my parents were just such a big example to me, and that I wanted to just follow in their footsteps, and I wanted to serve my country,” she said.

Less than 20% of the active duty force for the U.S. Military is female, according to demographics released by the U.S. Department of Defense.

But Hayle said the military is so much more open to having women now than it ever has in the past.

“The military is a great thing for anyone to do, especially now that it’s so open to females. There’s not as much of the struggle is like there used to be,” Hayle said. “There’s just so many opportunities. Like, don’t hold yourself back. If this is something that you want to do, absolutely go for it, fight for it. You can do it and you succeed.”

Jesse said her dream is to become the best platoon leader that she can be.

“I just want to be the best platoon leader for my soldiers possible. I want to make sure wherever I am, I’m like a shining example of what the Army wants us to be. And I really, really want to be there and just serve my soldiers,” she said.

Hayle agreed, saying she also wants to be the best that she can be. She explained that their parents did an incredible job raising them, and she wants to be the best woman she can be based on the pillars and foundation their parents gave them.