Brin had grown up just outside Fort Benning, in Columbus, Georgia \u2014 practically within earshot of the firing ranges. Her grandfather, Master Sergeant (Ret.) James Caldwell, had been a civilian marksmanship instructor with the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit. For twenty years, he\u2019d coached everyone from infantry squads to Olympic hopefuls.<\/p>\n
After Brin\u2019s parents were killed in a car crash when she was six, her grandfather raised her himself.
He was strict, fair, and relentless.<\/p>\n
At eight years old, he handed her a bolt-action .22 rifle and said, \u201cYou\u2019ll treat this with more respect than anything you own.\u201d<\/em> He\u2019d tell her,<\/p>\n \u201cAnyone can shoot when everything works, Brin. But a real marksman knows how to shoot when it doesn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n It was the line that shaped her entire career.<\/p>\n
By twelve, she could field-strip an M16 blindfolded.
By fifteen, she was running malfunction drills in the rain until her fingers bled.<\/p>\n\n
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