Snipers by Day and Fathers by Night

Story by: Sgt. Calab Franklin, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs

FORT HOOD, TEXAS – As the new year begins and the training within the 1st Cavalry Division takes pace, two GREYWOLF snipers with 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cav. Div., take to the woods with no hopes of being found, Fort Hood, Texas, Jan. 20, 2021.

The two Troopers, Spc. Jarrod Thomas and Cpl. Dalton Palmer would both seem like regular dudes if you met them on the street or within their homes amongst their families, but if you catch them in their duty uniform then you would probably never get to tell the tale. The two U.S. Army Soldiers are among one of the most elite, precise, and feared sections of a combat team; a sniper platoon.

“I have always liked ballistics and guns,” said Thomas. “It is interesting to me; the trajectory, wind, and other things that can effect the round from point A to point B.”

Thomas is a Husband and the father of two daughters, a four-year-old named Malia and a one-year-old named Juliana who are two of the biggest reasons for his service.

“I joined to have a better life for my family, better myself as an individual, fins more meaning than just yourself, you know, you are fighting for something bigger. This is my country, I love America,” said Thomas.

Becoming a U.S. Army Sniper is no easy task - there are several intense, technical, and extremely difficult tasks you must undergo at the qualification course such as advanced camouflage techniques, concealed movement, and terrain utilization.

Palmer stated, he enjoys the individual challenges and group-oriented training that occurs within a sniper section and that he always encourages the Troopers around him to go to Fort Benning, Georgia and complete the sniper course.

Palmer, like Thomas, also has a family of his own with a wife and a daughter named Bethany, but the word “family” has an extension to his work as well.

“Since we are such a small section, everyone we work with is family,” said Palmer. “I know anybody and everybody in here has my back.”

When asked why he joined, Palmer simply stated that he just wants to serve his country.

At the end of the day, these two GREYWOLF Troopers embody the spirit of the 1st Cav. Div. and prove to be among the most elite of Cavalry Soldiers. Both men plan to continue their service and perfect their craft as snipers as snipers in the future, ensuring their units have precise and lethal firepower on the battlefield.