Contributed by Maggie Chiolero
This year, in lieu of watching cars launch off a cliff, my husband Mike and I celebrated our country’s 250th anniversary by launching a nonprofit organization: Leatherneck Marksmanship. The goal? Teach the basics of rifle and pistol marksmanship to young men and women enlisting in any branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, instilling in them the skills and confidence they need to succeed throughout their military careers.
Mike retired from the USMC in 2007 after serving as an armorer and primary marksmanship instructor. Over the years, he’s had the opportunity to instruct thousands of people, but four specific individuals stand out: young men and women preparing to enlist in the USMC, Army and National Guard. They gave us the idea to start this “business,” and the desire to offer the training at no cost is what made us decide to launch it as a nonprofit.
Our plan is to work directly with recruiters to identify 20 young men and women from the Mat-Su Valley to train this fall, scaling to 40 in 2027. Before they report for duty, we will provide a full-day marksmanship course to each trainee that includes both classroom and range instruction. We have selected specific firearms, accessories and gear to utilize for training that represent cost-effective alternatives to current standard-issue military equipment. We are developing partnerships with both MVS Shooting Range and Birchwood Recreation & Shooting Park to ensure range and classroom availability. And both Mike and I intend to volunteer our time. Our goal is to raise $10,000 in start-up funding to purchase new equipment and ammunition. If you’ve got extra .22LR or 5.56, we’ll take it.
Thanks to generous support from family and friends, and a recently launched sweepstakes in partnership with Blue River Aviation, we are well on our way. By enlisting, these young men and women are making a commitment to serve and protect all of us. We aim to honor their commitment by providing them with a competitive advantage at the beginning of their military careers. They will still have a lot to learn, but by teaching them a stressful and valuable skill in advance, we can give them a head start. We’d love your help to spread the word. If it was up to Mike, he’d still be serving. Through Leatherneck Marksmanship, we both can.
