Up With the Stars

With protection like this (BM3 Green,) who needs guns!

Having fun shooting the 50 Cal with Drill Sgt Soesbee.

The M249 with Drill Sgt Toms, he really helped me with the M16 too.

Breakfast at the DFAC. Cereal and fruit around the corner.

Gear loose after a little more sleep on the bus, always gotta have the guns.

Hard to believe, but I am just 3 training days away from being done with my training at Camp McCrady. This past week, we mustered under the stars each morning at 0515. On Tuesday morning I commented to my housemate how normal it felt to be in full gear headed to the drill deck in the dark. I know I am a morning person but come on- how could that feel normal? After muster we either headed to the Dining Facility or classroom for a quick breakfast and then loaded the buses for the ranges at Ft Jackson. We normally stepped off the buses at sunrise.


Monday was a normal day at the range shooting the 9mm and a little classroom training. But the rest of this weeks training was hindered by two consecutive evening's violent thunderstorms. We had completed our training for the day by the time the storms rolled through but arrived at the range the following mornings to find the power out. We do not always need power at the range to shoot, but for those two specific days we were scheduled to shoot live rounds with the M16 at pop-up targets between 25 and 300 meters that require computerized support. On Tuesday the instructors improvised and we held classroom training in the field. The range came back up just before noon and we were able to go ahead with the live fire. Already feeling pretty hot and worn out by the time I fired, Tuesday was painful day for me. Wearing full gear and shooting from three positions, I really struggled with moving and re-sighting between the targets. That and my M16 kept slipping off my shoulder so I ended up taking the recoil to my bicep for 80 rounds. I left the range exhausted and have been sporting a nasty arm bruise ever since. The good news is that I sought help and Drill Sergeant Toms patiently worked with me. He showed me how to pull my IBA over a bit so I could put the butt of the rifle in my shoulder pocket and also taught me to slightly move my hips so I could smoothly transition between targets. On Wednesday the range did not come back up, but I put his instruction to good use on Thursday and had a much better performance. And no more hits to the bicep! Alpha Company remained good natured through the disruptions to our schedule and by Friday we were back on track.

If this were camp, then Friday was our special field trip. We headed to a cool range to shoot the big fully automatic machine guns: the 50 Cal, the M249 and the M240B complete with tracer rounds. With the exception of the hearing damage I probably incurred (with hearing protection,) even I thought it was pretty fun. Mostly due to the unbridled enthusiasm of our normally reserved Drill Sergeants. Even they were loving it. I have included a picture of me shooting the 50 Cal. with Drill Sergeant Soesbee- both of us smiling with rounds headed downrange. The accuracy and range of the weapons was pretty astounding. Again, more "just in case" training.

We finished the week with classroom training Friday afternoon and were done by noon on Saturday with indoor M16/9mm shooting (pneumatic weapons) that included simulated night time fire. Although it was full gear, as has become the norm, it was in air conditioning and even those waiting outdoors were treated to rare cloud coverage. Moods were elevated as everyone prepared to scatter on liberty. Many chose to get a room out in town but I have remained in what I refer to as my bungalow. I did head to Walmart (I know, pathetic) and saw Dinner for Schmucks (less pathetic, and funny) with a classmate. Today I did laundry and will head out later for a group dinner. I am happy to have some free time to catch up on correspondence and maybe even take a nap. Thanks so much for the e-mails and blog comments. I really look forward to getting on the computer at the end of the day. During the storms the internet was down for two days, it was a bummer.

Although the last day of training is Wednesday, we will find out tomorrow when we fly out. I am looking forward to getting boots on ground and starting my counter. Depending when we travel, my next blog post may get thrown off a bit but I will continue to aim for a Sunday update.

Love to all at home, and thanks again for keeping in touch!