Army ROTC senior, Cinnamon Obrey wins badge in excellence for shooting competition with the Virginia National Guard

Cinnamon Obrey, a senior in Army ROTC, recently earned her Excellence in Competition Badge, awarded at the Virginia National Guard Marksmanship Competition. She also serves as the Office in Command for Liberty’s ROTC Tactical Marksmanship Program. However, these successes did not come about overnight, as Obrey’s journey with shooting started at a young age.

“I have been shooting since I was 5 years old,” Obrey said. “My dad got me my first rifle and started teaching me the fundamentals of marksmanship and gun safety.” 

Obrey has been shooting her whole life, which is what sparked her interest to compete. 

“I felt capable and knew I would have a lot of fun with it,” Obrey said.

 She also explained how Liberty’s gun range, Liberty Mountain Gun Club (LMGC), has a strong relationship with ROTC and provided resources that helped equip her to compete. 

“Because we have an amazing resource and ROTC specifically has a great relationship with LMGC, we actually get to go up there and practice with rifles every week,” Obrey explained. Liberty’s gun range is one of the best she’s been to by far because of its clean facility and knowledgeable staff, Obrey explained.

As for life after Liberty, Obrey stated that she has committed to the National Guard.

“When I graduate, I’ll be commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army National Guard. It’s essentially two days a month, and maybe two weeks in the summer,” Obrey said. 

In addition to her plans with the National Guard, Obrey is also a psychology counseling major and hopes to pursue a career in that field. She is passionate about helping others and hopes to continue her education by completing her master’s degree online. 

Not only has ROTC impacted Obrey’s career, but also her personal life. Obrey and her husband, who is also a part of ROTC, met their freshman year in the program and got married before their junior year. She explained that her husband will be going on active duty and they are currently waiting to hear where he will be located. 

However, Obrey did not expect her college experience to go this way. 

“ROTC has definitely been the best and most unexpected part of (attending Liberty). I actually had no idea that I was going to do this when I came to school,” Obrey said. 

Obrey went on to explain how her original plan was to enlist in the Virginia National Guard, but to her surprise, she got a call saying she had received a scholarship for which she applied for back in May before her freshman year. The scholarship allowed her to do both the National Guard and ROTC.  

Though her path was unexpected, Obrey says that she is grateful for the outcome and everything ROTC has done for her. She expects that gunmanship will continue to play a role in her life for the foreseeable future.

Nichols is a feature reporter for the Liberty Champion