USAMU machinist named MMA Soldier of Year

[USAMU]

By Paula J. Randall
U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, Accessions Support Brigade

FORT BENNING, Ga. - Sgt. 1st Class Shawn Waller, a machinist with the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, has been selected as the Military Marksmanship Association Soldier of the Year for 2006.

MMA president retired Col. Bruce Meredith made the announcement at the MMA Annual Membership Meeting Jan. 19 at the Pool International Shooting Complex. Meredith presented the Soldier of the Year Award to Waller - a .40-caliber Military and Police pistol donated by the Smith and Wesson Corporation.

A native of Garfield Heights, Ohio, Waller graduated from Garfield Heights High School in 1988. He received a diploma from Cuyahoga Joint Vocational Machine Trades School in 1988 and is furthering his education through the Army's online college program.

Waller joined the Army in November 1989 and attended Basic and Infantry Training at Fort Benning. He was assigned to the Army Marksmanship Unit as a shotgun shooter and later joined the Custom Firearms Shop as a gunsmith and machinist in 1992. He and his wife Debbie live in Phenix City, Ala., with their two children, Colby and Chelsea.

Waller expressed gratitude to the MMA for the award and thanked all the members of the USAMU Custom Firearms Shop for their contributions.

"I'd like to share this award with all 30 members of the Shop because we all work together as a team," Waller said.

"SFC Waller performed his duties as a machinist and gunsmith during 2006 in an exemplary manner and distinguished himself by impacting every competitive team in the unit," said Sgt. 1st Class Steven C. Young, noncommissioned officer in charge of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit Custom Firearms Shop. "This award is very well deserved. As a USAMU machinist for the past 15 years, SFC Waller has probably made a bigger impact on the unit than any other Soldier."

According to Young, Waller fabricated course, trophy and long range barrels used by the USAMU Service Rifle Team, which dominated the
2006 Interservice and National Matches to include setting a new 1,000 yard team national record.
Waller also produced bushing and sights, machined and ground slides in the accurizing of M-9 pistols for the Service Pistol Team, which resulted in the first clean sweep of the Interservice Pistol Championships by USAMU in over two decades.

He was also instrumental in the development and production of a modular rib sight system for the USAMU Shotgun Team's Trap Team that resulted in a team Gold Medal at the World Championships.

Waller fabricated several .22-caliber rimfire barrels for the USAMU International Rifle Team that were used to win numerous medals and championships including a Silver Medal at the World Cup Finals. He also chambered barrels for the USAMU International Pistol and the Action Combat Pistol teams, which enabled them to have tremendously successful seasons, according to Young.

"Adding to these extraordinary accomplishments was his ability to assist the unit in its other two mission objectives of enhancing
combat readiness and promoting the Army," Young added. "SFC Waller
helped to fabricate over 100 barrels used in the technical inspections of the 3rd Infantry Division's Squad Designated Marksman Rifles in support of their redeployment to Iraq."

(Formed in 1956 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to raise the standards of marksmanship throughout the U.S. Army, the Army Marksmanship Unit is assigned to the Accessions Support Brigade of Fort Knox, Ky., which is under U.S. Army Accessions Command, of Fort Monroe, Va. The Marksmanship Unit trains its Soldiers to win competitions and enhances combat readiness through train-the-trainer clinics, research and development. The world-class Soldier-athletes of the USAMU also promote the Army and assist recruiters in attracting young Americans to enlist in the Army. For more information on the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, contact the Public Affairs Office at (706) 545-5436, paula.pagan@usarec.army.mil or http://www.usaac.army.mil/amu/.)