Blather

Moi went shooting yesterday. The day started off easily enough- a couple of hours of classroom stuff. Then we got our TA-50 gear and weapons and went to the range. In case you forgot, TA-50 gear is named for the Tough Ass 50 pounds you wear. That stuff is heeeaaaa-veeee!! Then we had to load up magazines of .223 and go zero the weapons. Since I'd never touched an M-16 or M-4, I was unfamiliar with the operation of this weapon. The Army guy who was in charge of the range took pity on me and showed me how to do everything. Here's the charging handle, there's the magazine release, etc.

Too soon, we had to begin shooting. The first position was prone. I got down in the dirt and gravel and tried to get a sight picture. Among the sharp rocks and shell casings, the fine powder of Iraq's soil was extremely fine, like 7A pancake makeup. My body slid away from the vest because I was laying on the three .223 magazines and the two 9mm magazines which were attached to the front of my vest which, in turn, was rendered thicker by the afore-mentioned heavy-ass plate. The vest slid up towards my neck. The helmet's back hit the vest so I couldn't get enough of the helmet above my forehead to get a good look at the rifle's sights. The very first round gave me some recoil, scraping my right elbow. We were supposed to get three rounds off to see where the rifle was aimed. I got two off, because I just could not see well enough. One round hit the paper. The sergeant helped me by adjusting the helmet, removing the sling and coaching me on breathing. The next time, I got three rounds in a straight line, about four inches across. He adjusted my sights for me, and one more time I got three rounds in a decent sized triangle, but below the silhouette. He advised me to put the front post on the center of the target. The last time, I put three rounds in the one-inch circle inside the target. Woo hoo!!! Sure, it sounds like I'm a very quick study, but the credit has to go to the Army seargeant who gave me months of training in as many minutes.

Then we took a break while others in my group shot the Beretta. (I didn't shoot then because I was going to qualify later on.) Then it was my turn to qualify with the M-4. We loaded mags, walked out and took instructions. Prone again, darn! But I scooted my body forward along the ground, and that slid the vest down towards my waist. I could *barely* get a sight picture, but I did. I think I didn't shoot all the rounds from the prone position, but I shot enough. Then we backed up and shot more, some standing and some kneeling. I've qualified enough times to know not to just pull, pull, pull the trigger- I waited till I had a good sight picture and then squeezed the trigger. Kneeling wasn't very hard. The rifle is light, so even a geek like me can hold it and aim in.

We shot, then went up and counted the holes. I had plenty to qualify. Not exactly a perfect score, but very respectable. Then one more break, and out to qual with the Beretta. I'd never operated one, so I had to look at the guy next to me. I saw he was having trouble because the decock lever was not showing the red dot. I made mine show the red dot and when we got the command to fire, I pulled and shot center mass. I figured out the magazine release and slide release on my own. I kinda like the Beretta- it's a good gun. Anyway, I qualled the first time out, too. I beat my Immigration buddy who's had a Beretta as a duty weapon. He said if we got into a firefight, he wanted to be with me and my Beretta. Hee hee- I don't want to get into a fight with the 9mm, but ... I qualified. Thus, for someone who never touched an M-4, I did pretty well. Ditto the Beretta.

But the day wore me out. You try wearing 50 pounds while sweating four liters. Yep, I drank five liters of water yesterday, but only peed about one. The other four liters were in my clothes. I was muddy- sweat mixed with Iraqi powder was like paint. This training was physically more taxing on me than working Miami CET.

I came back to the tent, did some admin stuff, then took a shower. Oh, I felt soooo much better!! I was ravenous and achy, so I had to decide whether to eat or sleep. I jumped on the chow bus and rode to Sather AFB for chow. I ate plenty, too- hamburger *and* chicken, rice and watermelon and lots of kool-aid. Then I fell off the carb wagon by eating a scoop of ice cream and a macadamia cookie. Yeah, I've got to watch my carbs, but I was so drained yesterday, I thought my body could handle the extra 40 grams of carbs. By seven-thirty, I was back in the hooch, clean, fed and extremely exhausted. Around seven forty-five, I was asleep.

That was a tough day, yesterday. I've got a pic of my target under the M-4, with my dusty feet in the frame, but I'm not sure when it'll be OK to post it. I qualified with both the M-4 and the M-9 on the first try with each weapon. I'm kinda proud of this accomplishment.