M-16 Range
We got up at 0445 this morning and ran through the morning like it was basic training. We had about 15 minutes to shit/shower/shave and be in line for breakfast chow. Then we had to be in formation at 0530. We all came running up to formation with seconds to spare. It was still pitch black outside and people were very anxious because it was weapons qualification day (for the M-16A2). We marched down to the street where we met up with A and B companies and boarded busses to get to the range. The first range was set up to zero in our individual sights on our M-16s.
I laid in the prone and focused on my "four fundamentals" of marksmanship: breathing, steady body position, aim, and trigger squeeze. The tower called out "fire when ready"... So I lined up with my target and let loose three rounds. I got up and went over to see how I shot.
When I arrived I found that six not three! I looked at the firers to my left and to my right; both of their targets had their respective three holes. There were two really tight shot groups on opposite parts of my target. The range safety came over to observe my target and was just as equally confounded. So I shrugged and went back to my firing point. I fired another three rounds and again there were twice as many holes as there should've been. It was like the scene in Pulp Fiction where Samuel Jackson kept trying to figure out how the bullets missed him. Now I looked all over down the line.
At about the time that I saw Sjobeck looking very confused, Merryman (to my right) asked, "Hey Sjobeck? You got any shots on your target? I'm pretty sure that you've shot Dock's Target." The mystery was solved, but unfortunately, I had not zeroed my M-16 and had to be recycled in order to get a clean target.
After the zero range we were bussed over to a separate range performing the qualifications. There was a lot of talk going on as I waited for my turn to shoot. I was significantly delayed as I had been one of the last groups to zero. The word around the sewing circle was that the Army Rangers on post had been having problems with this range and that they had only been able qualify 56% of their unit the day before. Now, if only 56% of an Army super-unit qualify at a range, I'd view that as a range problem and not a unit problem. I was a little more than hesitant to believe this. But I did witness a mechanic going out to fix lane number two (of twenty) by kicking the targets. Some of the targets refused to move as he assaulted them.
I lucked out and qualified on number nine with a sharpshooter score. (31/40 and 20/20 NBC fire). Then we waited for the blistering sun to set so that we could do a night fire. The evening dragged on as we chatted and goofed around trying to burn time. When my turn came, I lucked out and got number nine again and qualified for my night fire.
Around 22:00 everyone finally finished firing. We all crammed into a few busses and recounted our weapons-qual stories... That is, until we started moving. The bus driver (a sergeant) drove the bus down the gravel roads as if the bus was the General Lee from Dukes of Hazard. We fishtailed at every intersection, we slipped onto the shoulder at the passing of every vehicle, the only thing we didn't do was hit a jump over Boss Hog's limo.
Afte being around gunshy individuals with M-16's and live ammo, i'd have to say that the ride back was the most dangerous portion of my adventure. Boy, was I glad to get to my bed.
I laid in the prone and focused on my "four fundamentals" of marksmanship: breathing, steady body position, aim, and trigger squeeze. The tower called out "fire when ready"... So I lined up with my target and let loose three rounds. I got up and went over to see how I shot.
When I arrived I found that six not three! I looked at the firers to my left and to my right; both of their targets had their respective three holes. There were two really tight shot groups on opposite parts of my target. The range safety came over to observe my target and was just as equally confounded. So I shrugged and went back to my firing point. I fired another three rounds and again there were twice as many holes as there should've been. It was like the scene in Pulp Fiction where Samuel Jackson kept trying to figure out how the bullets missed him. Now I looked all over down the line.
At about the time that I saw Sjobeck looking very confused, Merryman (to my right) asked, "Hey Sjobeck? You got any shots on your target? I'm pretty sure that you've shot Dock's Target." The mystery was solved, but unfortunately, I had not zeroed my M-16 and had to be recycled in order to get a clean target.
After the zero range we were bussed over to a separate range performing the qualifications. There was a lot of talk going on as I waited for my turn to shoot. I was significantly delayed as I had been one of the last groups to zero. The word around the sewing circle was that the Army Rangers on post had been having problems with this range and that they had only been able qualify 56% of their unit the day before. Now, if only 56% of an Army super-unit qualify at a range, I'd view that as a range problem and not a unit problem. I was a little more than hesitant to believe this. But I did witness a mechanic going out to fix lane number two (of twenty) by kicking the targets. Some of the targets refused to move as he assaulted them.
I lucked out and qualified on number nine with a sharpshooter score. (31/40 and 20/20 NBC fire). Then we waited for the blistering sun to set so that we could do a night fire. The evening dragged on as we chatted and goofed around trying to burn time. When my turn came, I lucked out and got number nine again and qualified for my night fire.
Around 22:00 everyone finally finished firing. We all crammed into a few busses and recounted our weapons-qual stories... That is, until we started moving. The bus driver (a sergeant) drove the bus down the gravel roads as if the bus was the General Lee from Dukes of Hazard. We fishtailed at every intersection, we slipped onto the shoulder at the passing of every vehicle, the only thing we didn't do was hit a jump over Boss Hog's limo.
Afte being around gunshy individuals with M-16's and live ammo, i'd have to say that the ride back was the most dangerous portion of my adventure. Boy, was I glad to get to my bed.
posted by SGT Dock at 13:00
2 Comments:
I talked to your mom.
I miss you.
I will be writing you in the next couple days.
DUDE!! you have the BEST writing skills. so nice to read what you are up to. i owe you a letter and will get on it this week...but dont expect the writing to be as good as yours. take care/love you!
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