Jimenez to keep shooting sports programs on target

LITTLE ROCK — Coaches at last weekend’s Archery in the Schools State Championship were greeted with a fresh face this year, as Jose Jimenez barely had two weeks under his belt as the new chief of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s Recreational Shooting Division when the event kicked off.

Jimenez, who retired from the Marine Corps in December at the rank of Chief Warrant Officer 3 after 20 years of service, says he’s excited about the challenges facing him at the AGFC and the opportunity to bring shooting sports opportunities to children and adults throughout the state, and he’s confident that the leadership skills he developed in his military background will help focus the efforts of one of the AGFC’s youngest and smallest divisions.

“Right now, we’re only four people, and as we grow in both funding and resources, we’re going to have logistical challenges that I hope to work through efficiently,” Jimenez said. “I’m excited to see that the agency is already working toward cross-training each other and working to break down divisional silos to meet our objectives. The more you can engage and work alongside others, the easier your job becomes.”

Jimenez was born in Brooklyn, and he spent nearly all of his childhood in New York. He was in high school when the terrorist attacks of 9/11 struck the city.

“I actually signed up to serve in the Marine Corps at 17,” Jimenez said. “After 9/11, I felt a true obligation to serve my country.”

This choice would see Jimenez serve in many locations, including Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan. He also served in Special Operations for seven years and was stationed in the United States with his last six years of service at Camp Pendleton in California.

“In the Marine Corps I actually started as an armorer, which is a weapons technician,” Jimenez said. “From there I went back to school and became a precision weapons technician, so basically an advanced gunsmith. I served three years with the Marine Corps Shooting Team. I enjoy gunsmithing as a hobby and doing some custom work in my free time, including cerakoting and laser engraving.”

His passion for firearms combined with his outlook on the AGFC’s goals of breaking down barriers to shooting sports for youth across the state made Jimenez an ideal fit to lead the newly formed division.

“I came up in an underprivileged community, and my family didn’t have money,” Jimenez said. “The fact that I might be able to affect kids and support them in learning about shooting sports made the AGFC seem like the right fit for me.”

Efficiency and experiences are part of the Jimenez family’s way of life. While he is getting the feel for the AGFC, he and his wife, Christine, are also in the process of finding a new location for their tiny home, a lifestyle they committed to many years ago with their three children — Rainey, Ellie and Josiah.

“We lived in a few houses, but when we would be stationed somewhere new, there were always times logistically when you were faced with an empty home until our furniture and possessions arrived where we were using an MRE box as a chair, table, TV stand for a laptop,” Jimenez said. “My wife actually masterminded the whole thing almost five years ago. After some convincing, I agreed to try with an RV first.”

The family lived in the RV for four years before upgrading to a 389-square-foot tiny home. Jimenez says the tiny home lifestyle has given them the opportunity to focus on experiences instead of the constant need to fill a home with possessions.

“The property we’re living on in California is a 140-acre ranch with goats, donkeys, pigs, peacocks and all other sorts of animals,” Jimenez said. “We limit the time we spend on electronics and focus on our family time and building memories. Our kids are sort of ‘free-range,’ and Arkansas really has a lot to offer us in that respect. I owe my wife a mini-donkey from a lost bet, and I imagine we’ll have some silkie chickens and other livestock again soon.”

Being new to the agency and Arkansas, Jimenez says he’s absorbing all he can to get his bearings and learn “who’s who in the zoo,” but his history of leadership throughout his career so far will serve as a solid compass to navigate that map.

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CUTLINES

MAN AT PISTOL RANGE
Jose Jimenez’s experience in firearms training, gunsmithing and team-building will be excellent assets as he takes command of the AGFC’s Recreational Shooting Division.

PORTRAIT
Jose Jimenez was chosen as the AGFC’s chief of recreational shooting in February after a successful career in the Marine Corps.

FAMILY
Jimenez and his family are excited to relocate from a ranch in California to similar country-living conditions in The Natural State.