Range Day

I spent a good deal of time today on the range. Now not to be insulting, but the range is where you go to fire your weapon for proficiency. Don't go thinking that the range is some lovely place where you reminisce with Roy Rogers and the gang. And of course, we had to make it as realistic as possible - so we went in the mid afternoon wearing our 70 + pounds of gear. Additionally, to paint the scene correctly, I'd have to mention that it was about 120 degrees. So I think you can fathom my next comment - It was hot. I thought that it was going to be a miserable experience and then I fired my weapon and of course all three bullets didn't even hit the target - much less the silhouette I was aiming at. Great start. The Gunner, USMC Chief Warrant Officer (think poster child for old crusty Marine), comes over and says, " Let me see that rifle, and see if we can't unscrew you." So now all the attention is on me and I am feeling about two inches tall. He throws in a dip and grunts a little and proceeds to take the firing position. Next, he proceeds to fire three well aimed shots - and misses just as badly as I did previously. My confidence rises and I make a point to remind everyone that the "Gunner missed too!" The Gunner was very calm and muttered profanity and passively passes my M16 back and says "interesting" as he walks off. About 5 mins later, he comes back, and makes a slew of adjustments and low and behold I am back on track.

After that, we went through a myriad of drills and moved onto the scoring portion. We tallied up the scores and wouldn't you know it - I out shot the three Army Soldiers that work w/ me. Good times. Who says that Navy guys can't shoot? I guess all the time I spent on John L Hall playing the Navy SEAL video game paid off. Go figure.