BILLINGS — A 2012 Billings Central graduate, Ty Arellano knew exactly what it was he’d be doing after high school.
Well, for the most part.
Arellano joined the United States Marine Corps, which was the plan for a while, but what came next was a bit of a surprise.
Arellano performed well in a shooting competition and is now part of the Marine Corps shooting team that travels the country competing on staged courses.
“We take all that we learn from competition and essentialy digest that and individually tailor it and learn from it. Then we teach that back to the fleet to make Marines more lethal," Arellano said. "Obviously, competition is not combat. But there are things that you can take from competition and aplly it in certain aspects for superior marksmanship, performance on demand, things of that nature."
Arellano’s love for guns dates back to his time as a child, when his grandfather took him out to shoot for the first time. He’s now stationed in Quantico, Virginia, and is shooting with and against the best in the country.
“How we've been able to become proficient is learning from the best shooters in the world. For the most part, those guys don't wear a uniform. They are civilians," Arellano said. "We get humbled all the time. We go to matches and I'll get dusted up by a 16-year-old female from Tennessee."
Later this summer, Arellano will compete in Europe, as he and a select few others will travel to Finland to compete in the IPSC Rifle World Shoot, which runs Aug. 4-9
“My girlfriend thinks I'm really weird, but if I do something as simple as get up from my chair while watching the Yankee game and go to the fridge to get another beer, I will drop step and do movements like I'm moving through a stage just to do something as little as that. When I'm grilling burgers out on the grill, I will stand in my basic shooting stance," Arellano said.
