FORT BENNING, Ga. ( WRBL ) — What would it take to trade a 10-year career with the Marine Corps for a new beginning in the U.S. Army? For U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Shane Butler, it was competitive shooting.
Stacked with several Olympians and national champions, the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU), based at Fort Benning, has a presence wherever it competes. It was the unit’s reputation and skill which convinced Butler to switch branches and compete with the USAMU’s service rifle- and NRL Hunter teams.
“When AMU steps out on the range, everybody knows about them,” said Butler, who joined the unit three years ago. “Even if you don’t know who AMU is, you quickly learn because you see the black hats. You see the confidence of a team walking out that knows that when they got there, they’re going to win.”
Butler was first introduced to the USAMU as an outsider, after joining the Marine Corps Shooting Team in 2019. Before that, Butler had grown up hunting and shooting the occasional clay on his family farm in Kentucky, but he had never shot competitively…