Day 20

Being that yesterday turned into a classroom day instead of a qualification day, I thought we'd qualify today. Not so. Turns out that our pre-qual day at the range is serving as our qualification. If we scored well enough that day, then we're qualified. If we didn't, we're not qualified and won't be. For those, though, who are taking the M4 rifle forward to Oz, they were pulled aside late yesterday to qualify. Fortunate for me, I had a round two days ago that met the qualification standard, just barely. So, I get the marksmanship ribbon for the rifle. Score! Two ribbons I've always wanted and now I have them. It took me 14 years to get them but I got them...in the same week. So, instead of qualifying, we headed straight to the heavy weapons range.

50 cal

Heavy weapons = 3 different machine guns that are fully automatic and powerful. The weapons we familiarized with today was the M240, the M249 "SAW", and the infamous 50 caliber machine gun. That round for the 50cal is nearly 3/4 of an inch wide! If attached to the top of a truck or Humvee, it'll rock the entire vehicle. In the field we were shooting into were old vehicles and a variety of tanks and some silhouettes of people. This time at this particular range was a lot of fun and even nicer since we didn't have to clean the weapons. Once everyone had their turn on the three weapons, we all picked up the brass casings and boarded our buses for the next stop. (If you want to view videos of me shooting the 50cal and 249 SAW, see my "wall")

Next Stop: Reflexive Shooting and the M4 Stress Shoot. Reflexive shooting is hard to explain. The concept behind it is to be able to move quickly and swiftly in different directions and get off 2 quick rounds at the person/enemy. We first stood at 25 meters and always kept the rifle at the "extreme low ready." That means we're holding it straight up and down...barrel pointed at ground. Then, we'd be facing front, left, or right. If we were facing right, for example, the tower would announce "target left!!!!" and we'd turn our head left to look at target. (remember, we're facing right but the target/enemy is on our left). The next command would be "Ready, up!!!" and we'd pivot towards the target, raise our weapon up, place it on "Fire" and fire off 2 shots quickly then back out of the position (rifle on safe, rifle pointed at ground, and turn to the right again where we started). We did this at 25m, 15m, 10m, and 5 meters.  Then, we did it again. There is a bit of danger here, too. If someone isn't paying attention, they could raise their weapon and fire but not turn. Since there are 28 of us in a row, they would shot their fellow sailor. Not good!  So, instructors are within a few feet of each other and are even wearing kevlar vests and helmet. No incidents today but it was fun.

Next was lunch! MRE's? Nope! The ham sub sandwich was a very welcome change from the normal "entree" at the range. Thank you, thank you, thank you! That and a banana and I was good to go. I found a little pile of pine needles to sit on alone and listened to some of the new Zac Brown Band's new album on my iPod. It was shaded and a time just to unwind and get away from everyone.

The M4 Stress Shoot is similar to the M9 stress shoot a few days ago. I started seated in a HUMVEE, then got out, ran (in full body armor, by the way) around a few barriers and end behind a tall barrier, crouched to the ground to stay safe. From this point on, I stopped at several barriers and fired off shots from the standing, crouching, kneeling the prone positions. It was far more difficult than I expected... to run, get down, get up, then run again with all that armor on. Still, I actually had fun and learned a little. This video is also posted on my "wall" if you're interested.

Afterwards, we cleaned up the brass from the field and headed on back to the classroom for one singular brief...the Law of War and Rules of Engagement. After being in the hot sun in armor, I fought to stay awake. Just before that, we all cleaned our weapons to keep them in good working condition.

I think I'll call it a wrap for tonight. I am having trouble just staying awake to type this. I was up until midnight last night and up at 5am so I'm beyond pooped. I'm looking forward to a short day tomorrow, too. Not too much left to do, here!

Goodnight, everyone!