Editing Charles Whitman (section)

===U.S. Marine and college student===
During Whitman's initial eighteen-month service in 1959 and 1960, he earned a [[sharpshooter]]'s badge and the [[Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal]]. He achieved 215 of 250 possible points on marksmanship tests, doing well when shooting rapidly over long distances as well as at moving targets. After completing his assignment, Whitman applied for a scholarship to the Naval Enlisted Science and Education Program (NESEP), an initiative designed to send [[Enlisted rank|enlisted personnel]] to college to train as engineers, and after graduation, be [[Commissioned officer|commissioned as officers]].<ref>{{harv|Lavergne|1997|p=19}}</ref><ref name="officer1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.officer.com/investigations/article/12159322/the-texas-tower-incident-part-one|title=The Texas Tower Incident, Part One|website=Officer|date=19 January 2016 |access-date=2019-09-26|archive-date=2019-09-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190926163133/https://www.officer.com/investigations/article/12159322/the-texas-tower-incident-part-one|url-status=live}}</ref> Whitman earned high scores on the required examination, and the selection committee approved his enrollment at a preparatory school in [[Maryland]], where he completed courses in mathematics and physics before being approved to transfer to the [[University of Texas at Austin]] to study mechanical engineering.<ref name="officer1"/>