FORT KNOX, Ky. – Zeroing your weapon is important for precision and discipline. For Cadets like Nicole Jeffery and the rest assigned to 4th Regiment, Advanced Camp, they did just that on a hot day during group and zero training, June 23, 2025.

Jeffery, University of Texas at El Paso, Alpha Company, was first to fire her weapon and first to clear her target. She’d wait with ease for the rest of the range to finish zeroing their weapons.

Her experience comes from 12 years of active-duty service in the Army.

“I feel that has a little bit to do with it,” said Jeffery, about her performance on the range.

Jeffery has five children, four girls and one boy, whom she shares with her husband, Sterling. Their names are Tegan, Terran, Annie, Aria and Maddox.

For them, she has a goal.

“I want to show my daughters that they can be successful in a male dominated field,” said Jeffery. “If I can be a mom, have children and a successful career, then they can; you don’t have to choose between having a career or being a parent.”

She enlisted in the Army for better opportunities than one would have working at Little Caesar’s in Gallipolis, Ohio.

Through the Army’s Green to Gold, a program for active-duty Soldiers to earn a degree and potentially a commission, Jeffery found better opportunities.

“I really want to branch S1 human resources (Adjutant General), if not medical services or (Military Intelligence),” she said.

Jeffery hopes to retire well as an officer, potentially as a major, after 10 more years of a flourishing career.