The Range is Clear!

Today was a day many of us have been looking forward to - we finally get to fire the M-16's we have been carrying around for weeks. Just to make sure we get full enjoyment out of the day, the Army in its wisdom decided to wake us up at 0430, or 4:30am. Also in its infinite wisdom, the Army forgot you need lights to see your targets, so after eating chow and being bussed to the range, we spent a good 45 minutes waiting for the sun to come up. In spite of that snafu, it proved to be a fun day. We had about 170 people (all of A Company), but only 32 firing lanes. So, we were divided into firing orders. It takes time, in the interest of safety, to bring each firing order on and off the range. So, at any given time, most people were involved in "concurrent training" - dry fire exercises designed to train certain aspects of marksmanship without firing rounds. They are useful - up to a point. However, you can quickly get more than enough of them. As a result, much of the day became "hurry up and wait". Still, the time spent on the range was fun and instructive. Before you can hit a target reliably, you have to "zero" your weapon - set the sights so that they are right for the way you hold it, allowing for your anatomy. Before you can zero, though, you need to be able to place two groups of three shots reasonably close together. Today, we were trying to group. To accomplish that, we fired at a paper target 50 meters away, with a 1/6th scale replica of a real target. That simulated firing at a real target 300 meters away. Today not only did I group, but I zeroed as well. Sweets are generally off-limits during BCT, but zeroing earned me a Moon Pie. They don't really taste very good, but I sure enjoyed eating it.