Motivation
Find something you want, go all out to achieve it, and once you have it, never let go of it. Don't just be willing to kill for it, be willing to die for it.
My Path
It's been one hell of a week, and there's still another one quite a bit like it ahead. The week was the beginning of "Range Week." Very similar to "Zero Week," it's not just a single week, but closer to two weeks. This last week focused on marksmanship with the M16A4 rifle and M9 pistol. We would march out to the range every morning with the rising sun, stage our gear, and make our way to the pistol range. The pistol course of fire is brand new and is focused more on combat marksmanship than competition marksmanship. From what I've heard, it's easier than before, but it's hard to compare the new and old because they are so different. Our platoon would run through dry-fire exercises that were identical to the qualification course and then live-fire the same drills on the range. This was good preparation for qualification, but for those who had never handled a pistol before or weren't familiar with the M9 it wasn't a lot of rounds to establish good fundamentals with live-fire. It's not too bad from the seven yard line, but the fifteen and twenty-five yard line requires a lot of practice. And those are the yard lines we shoot the fewest rounds from.
After the pistol range, my platoon and 5th platoon headed to Range 2 to pull targets in the pits. One Marine from each platoon would man a target, so two per target, and after receiving rounds would drop the target below the berm, repair, mark, and score the target, and run it back up above the berm. We did this while 3rd and 4th platoon were on the firing lines. Yard line took approximately an hour, and we shoot from three different yard lines. It wasn't too bad of a gig in "the pits," the name for the target area. I was able to each chow and air out my feet, put on fresh socks, and make head and water calls. One day were in the pits for an extra hour as we waited for a bad thunderstorm to pass. The storms out here are amazing. The only downside to the storms is the humidity afterward.
Once we finished up in the pits it was our turn to shoot on the range. For the rifle course of fire, as I mentioned before, we fire from three different yard lines. We fire twenty-five rounds at the two hundred, fifteen from the three hundred, and ten from the five hundred. The two hundred yard line consists of a slow fire in 20 minutes from three positions: sitting, kneeling, and standing, firing five rounds in each position. Then there is a ten round rapid fire in the sitting, to be completed in 60 seconds. At the three hundred yard line is a five round slow fire from the sitting to be completed in 5 minutes, and another ten round rapid fire in 60 seconds. This rapid fire is in the prone position. All the way back at the five hundred yard line is a ten round slow fire in the prone position, to be completed in 10 minutes. None of these are overly difficult if you observe the wind and utilize the RCO properly.
Friday was supposed to be our qualification day, but the anticipation of another nasty storm pushed the rifle qualification to Saturday. We were able to get the whole company qualified on the pistol Friday and were released relatively early. At the pistol range I had shot my best on Tuesday, our first day with rounds, and progressively shot worse as I began to mess with my stance and grip. Prequal-day I shot a low Sharpshooter ranking. I was not happy and knew I could do better. There was talk that they might take our prequal scores if the storm hit us hard this weekend. Thankfully it didn't and I was able to shoot a 272/300 on pistol, earning an Expert ranking (264 was the lowest you could shoot and still achieve expert). That same day, we prequalled on rifle as well. I shot a low Expert ranking with a 222/250 (220 is the lowest to earn Expert). I had a rough day on the two hundred yard line that day and anticipated much better for Saturday.
Coming off the two hundred yard line on the actually qual day for rifle I had improved my score by 9 points, much better. But some how I managed to screw up the three hundred yard line, which is usually my bread and butter. I had a 4 point cushion and ten rounds left at the five hundred. I bettered by prequal five hundred yard line score by one point, finishing with a score of 221/250 and an Expert ranking. Technically I have yet to officially earn that ranking, as we still have Table 2 of the rifle course of fire to complete on Tuesday. It is focused on more combat oriented marksmanship and close quarters. Marines have been able to finish Table 1 with a 205/250 score and come off Table 2 perfect (100/100) and earn Expert ranking overall. I have a bit of a cushion here as well. It's said to be a much easier course of fire than Table 1, but I will not take it for granted.
This next week will be very busy again with more time at the range, including an overnight. We will be conducting night live-fire exercises, utilizing night vision, and shooting with a full combat loadout on. I'm more than excited. We'll conclude the week with a company 6 mile hike and then it will be time for some well deserved R&R. You probably won't hear from me until next weekend, but I should have a lot to report!
WOD
Resting Until in Garrison
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