COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Texas A&M has one of the most renowned ROTC programs in the country. For two cadet sisters, this year's National Army Small Arms Championship was a family affair.
Attending the same college, being ROTC cadets together, and of course, being sisters, Hayle and Jesse Mayer are used to celebrating life together.
“We push each other — like she succeeds and does amazing and I'm like, 'yes, that is my sister'," Hayle Mayer said.
At the end of March, they celebrated another milestone together; competing in the U.S. Army Small Arms Championships in Georgia.
The week-long championship hosted marksmen from across the country, but cadets like the Mayer sisters were harder to find.
Cadets from a handful of other universities attended, but most competitors were active duty or reserve service members.
From tying their tourniquets to encouraging and looking up to each other, they're doing it all side by side. If all goes well, they are not planning on parting ways anytime soon.
“I'd like to be able to branch in the armor, do combat arms for a while to eventually go into military intelligence,” Hayle Mayer said.
Her sister, Jesse, has a similar path.
“I kind of just want to go straight military intelligence,” Jesse Mayer said.
Doing that together, would seemingly make the experience that much more memorable.