Rifle's Ashley Clegg Making a Difference at The Range and In Modern Warfare
Senior Ashley Clegg has recently completed her four-year career as a cadet-athlete on the Army West Point Rifle team. A team captain this season, Clegg took on leadership responsibilities for first-year Head Coach Leighton Dempster as they laid the groundwork for the bright future of the Rifle program. Rifle won matches vs. John Jay and MIT.
Clegg shot a 572.8 season-long smallbore average, a 579-air rifle average and a 1151.8 aggregate average.
Clegg is a Law and legal studies major and had a 3.43 GPA in the fall semester, placing her on the Dean’s List. She is branching as a quartermaster and will report to Fort Drum in New York upon graduation in May.
“Serving as the team captain for Army Rifle has been one of the most rewarding experiences to promote leadership and development. It has prepared me to lead with compassion and care for my teammates.” – Ashley Clegg
“I’ve known Ashley for about 8 years now and it has been great watching her develop and embrace her leadership style. This year as team captain she helped lay the groundwork for our new team culture by bettering herself and her teammates at every opportunity. I have no doubts that she will be a confident, passionate, and authentic leader as a quartermaster officer.” – Head Rifle Coach Leighton Dempster
In addition to being an athlete, team captain, and a Dean’s List student during her days at West Point, one of her most impressive feats has come through her education-based research which has reached high levels of the Army.
This past October, she represented USMA at the Association of the United States Army conference in Washington, D.C. She presented her research that is relevant to the advancement of the Army through strategic thinking and project-based education.
Her research started through a class with West Point Professor COL John Hartke while focusing on the application of the Law of Armed Conflict, which focused on the usage of high-energy lasers in modern warfare.
COL Hartke, who is the Professor of Photonics and Head of the Department of Physics and Nuclear Engineering further explained Ashley’s research and what it meant to the future of the Army:
“Ashley started her research with me last year when we were discussing the application of the Law of Armed Conflict (LOAC) as related to high-energy laser (HEL) weapons. Last summer she graduated from the Army’s Space Cadre Basic Course (ASCBC) here as her MIAD. Based on her work during her cow year, applying LOAC to HEL weapons, completing ASCBC and being a law major. She accumulated a unique set of skills to address the pressing problem associated with using lasers against commercial satellites in space. Given the current situation in Ukraine and other potential hot spots, she has done a great analysis of the challenges and is contributing in a meaningful way to US policy development.
She is presenting her findings and analysis in both the legal community that is engaged in these problems and in the HEL development community so that they better understand the emerging legal and policy constraints that may impact the material development as well as the tactics, techniques, and procedures associated with using these HEL systems in modern warfare.” -- COL Hartke
Team Captain Ashley Clegg represented USMA at this year's Association of the United States Army conference in Washington, D.C. @AUSAorg
— Army Rifle (@ArmyWP_Rifle) October 12, 2022
Ashley presented her research that is relevant to the advancement of the Army through strategic thinking and project-based education.#GoArmy pic.twitter.com/vOvVtToUky
She again presented her research in March, at the U.S. Space Command’s annual Legal Conference, USSPACECOM. The three-day hybrid event hosted more than 450 participants to foster discussions related to the theme, Cooperation in Space. The conference covered a breadth of issues across all sectors of space, including the U.S. military, U.S. government interagency partners, academia, the civilian and commercial sector, and U.S. partner nations.
“Ashley has been a fantastic ambassador for West Point, presenting her research with confidence and professionalism to the wider defense community. Her research focuses on the use of High Energy Lasers against satellites and the legal issues associated with it. By exploring legal issues with an eye on the horizon of technological innovation, Ashley showcased West Point as the intellectual capital of the Army.” – Professor Hitoshi Nasu
Clegg will again present her research at the Science and Technology Symposium for the directed energy professional society, on April 3-6 in San Antonio, Texas.
