MADISON – Gary Seal’s military career in the Marine Corps started at Parris Island, S.C. in 1984 and continued with avionics training on A-4 and F/A-18 aircraft.

“Soon after, I shot my way onto the USMC Shooting Team and competed on a national level for both high power and pistol competition,” Seal said. “I finished fourth place in the NRA Nationals at Camp Perry in 1987 in 1,000-yard, long-range competition.”

“After several years of competitive shooting, I chose not to reenlist and moved onto civilian life and completed my college degrees at Athens State University in both math and business management,” Seal said.

After college, Seal enlisted into Alabama Army National Guard in 1999 with 152 Patriot Air Defense unit. “Once the war in Iraq began, it was clear the needs of the Army were to have more Military Police that can be deployed into theater so our Patriot unit was re-classed to a Military Police unit in 2003,” he said.

Seal’s unit attended active duty MP School at Fort Leonardwood, Mo. and deployed as 152 MP unit from Scottsboro for homeland security tour. They performed physical security on Redstone Arsenal’s gates and perimeter.

In 2006 for 18 months, 152 MP unit deployed to Ashraf, Iraq for a U.N. mission and then Camp Bucca, Iraq to assist operations for 24,000 detainees. The tour occurred during the surge in Iraq.

Next, Seal transferred to 203rd MP BN to prepare for a tour to Basrah, Iraq in 2009. “We worked close with Iraq military and police to train them in security operations. After my third tour, I transferred to MP school in 2014 for Alabama National Guard, 200th MP Regiment, Fort McClellan and became an MP Instructor until I retired from the military in October 2016,” he said.

He and wife Alison have been married 19 years. “Honestly, I owe her all the praise for supporting me during my military career. Without her, none of it would have been possible,” Gary said. Alison works as a paralegal at Lanier Ford Law Firm.

Their children are Laura Lee, 28, restaurant owner/manager in Gaithersburg, Md.; Ryan, 26, sheriff deputy in Montgomery County, Md.; and Nick, 16, student at Westminster Christian Academy.

For 16 years, Gary has worked as Patriot Air Defense Instructor and engineer for Raytheon to train U.S. and foreign military in Air Defense Operations.

Away from work, Gary is an avid golfer and enjoys fishing, time with family and the outdoors.