Guns and Ammo

Hey Everyone,

Sorry again for the delay in posting. The honeymoon here at Ft. Dix is officially over. The luster of being in a new environment, with new people, learning new things has tarnished. Up until my last post we were learning things like driving, medical treatement, and operational theory. That was replaced with weapons training, troop movements, large group engagements, small squad tactics, grenades and claymore mines, detainee operations, searches (people and vehicles), and Improvised Explosive Device (IED) detection, identification, and avoidance. I'll try to delve a little into each subject to catch everyone up...

For the first couple of days after the Combat Life Saver class, we spent most of our time shooting. The first day we zero'd in our rifles with iron sights and then, for those of us with optics on our rifles, we sighted in our Close Combat Optics (CCO or 'red dot' optics). Its was a miserable, cold, windy day. I volunteered to help out on the range and serve as an assistant to the range master. I basically spent most of the day making sure no one killed me, their battle buddy, OR themselves. Once it was my turn to shoot with ironsights, my head was throbbing from sitting outside all day in the wind. I could barely see straight. It took me a while, but finally I got my rifle sighted in and came in from the cold...only to turn right around to sight in my optic. The CCO is an excellent piece of equipment for my M4 Carbine Rifle. Its not a scope as it has no magnification. It basically serves as a digital representation of your front sight post on the rifle. The only difference is that there is no parallax (if you don't know what that is just look it up). Basically, no matter what your position relative to the rifle, if that red dot is on target, you're on target. That part was much more fun for me and I ended the day on a positive note.
The next day was spent on the rifle qualification range. The weather was MUCH better and so was the task. Unlike the Air Force who uses paper targets, the Army uses 300 meter ranges with pop up targets. It was excellent! We fired at targets one at a time and targets that popped up in multiples. It was a great time and I qualified to Army standards.
Following the long range engagements with rifle, we moved to close fire exercises. Basically this covers shooting the rifle anywhere from 5m to 25m from your target and in a much quicker fashion than the long range. This range also included shooting while moving foward and back and side-to-side. I think EVERYONE enjoyed this range because it was more like the movies and it was hard to miss the target! I made it fun and used my CCO to make some rapid 'double tap' head shots. Once again, the day was going great and everyone was in a pretty good mood...until later that evening...
LOW LIGHT FIRE!!! When we found out that we'd be qualifiying in low light firing, we were all excited. But once we got there most of us changed our minds about this particular range. When we arrived, it was still early evening and the range was well lit. The cadre dragged ass as well as some Army dudes who were firing with us. By the time the first group went to fire the sun had set and it was quickly getting dark. By the time I fired, it was PITCH black. I couldn't see a thing. Once in a while the tracer fire from my rifle would hit in front of my target and I would be blinded by the light so that I REALLY wouldn't see the next target. I think my final count was 3 hits of 30 targets. I felt it was a complete waste of time. I let it roll off my back though because the next day was 9mm pistol qualification.
So I get out on the range ready to kick some ass with the pistol. I own a pistol very similar to the 9mm we use in the military and have had a great instructor teach me how to shoot. And if I don't say so myself, I'm a pretty damn good shot with a pistol. So the day comes and here I am; standing on the line ready to hit some more of those great pop up targets. The targets begin and I make quick work of the first 4 or 5. Then JAM! I rack the slide, and continue to fire. One round goes down range, and 'CLICK'...another jam...stovepipe jam! I rack and squeeze again and miss. Then ANOTHER jam. A pair of targets come up and I have a hard time getting the spent shell out of the chamber and I don't even get a shot off. I'm pissed! The range is done and I've had like 8-9 misfires or jams. I look at the pistol afterward and notice that there isn't a single drop of oil on the weapon. I KNEW I'd cleaned it before...didn't I? Well the answer to that is that I cleaned MY PERSONAL pistol at home before I left, not my service pistol. So basically I was shooting a piece that hadn't had a drop of lube on it in 4 years. I still hit 23 of30, AND qualified, but it wasn't the day I was looking for.
That about covers it for actual firing on the range for accuracy. Tomorrow I will fill you in on the second half of our training but now I'll just type a few words about how things are going here.
We haven't had a day off since we started. Everyday we are presented with a new set of tasks we have to master that we've NEVER seen before. Each day starts around 0530and ends late. And to top it off, we can't have a beer or go to a restaruant or just put on a pair of jeans and watch t.v. to blow off steam. We are in uniform 24 hours a day. If I want to go to the laundry room on the first floor, I have to be in proper PT uniform with shirt tucked in, shoes and socks on. To eat chow, its full uniform. To go down the hall at 0200 to take a leak...you guessed it...uniform. Its not a big deal for a week or two, but as I said at the start of this blog, the luster is beginning to wear. The routine is getting to everyone and most of us just want to get through it now and go home. Its the sum total of all the training, close quarters living, missing family and friends, being away from home, and lack of any 'down time' that is wearing me out. I'm ready to get this done and come home!!! I'm hoping that this is as bad as it gets. I suspect that in the next couple of days, we will turn the corner. As of today we only have 9 days left. I think after tomorrow we will start seeing the finish line and spirits will rise. Oh, one more thing. Did I mention the food sux? Eating at the chow hall sux! I hate waiting in line for food at EVERY meal. And here at Ft Dix, we have a 'youth challenge' program in the dorms across the street. Its basically a teenager boot camp for troubled teens. There's gotta be a couple of hundred of them. They don't give anyone problems, but guess where they eat? You guessed it...at OUR chow hall! So if you're on your way to the healthy line to get some turkey instead of the standard burger and fried chicken with fries, and you get stuck behind those bastards, you are SOL. It will be about a half an hour wait in line. So what do you do? You go for the chili hamburger that causes you to stink up the room for all your close living mates. But the joke is on you because they ate WITH you and made the same decision. So now, everyone in your room who wanted to get a good 'healthy' meal opted to go to the quick line rather than get stuck standing behind 'high school musical' and now the entire room smells like a sewer from the collective gas! Not a pretty picture I know, but hey, I had to vent...so to speak. Anyway, my parting message this eveing is this: Cherish your bed. Cherish your space. Don't take for granted the quiet in your home or the clean air in your bedroom. Use that kitchen of yours to prepare a great meal tonite! There are some of us who'd pay quite some price for any one of those things if even for only one night! -OUT-