(no subject)
Well, I'm not a SAW gunner anymore; they reassigned those weapons to people who need more firepower, so I'm back on the M4. We went to the range this week. Wednesday was my day at the range. I spent about 4 1/2 hours zeroing my damned weapon, and then it was time to go to the qualification range a few hundred meters down the road. I got my ammo and went out to qualify, and right on my first target I got a round stuck in the barrel and a double feed. One of the NCOs from the shop was there, and he fixed my problem and told me to get back to shooting, that I could still get a decent score. It double fed AGAIN right away. Apparently, whoever was assigned this weapon before me didn't clean it very well, and/or I dirtied it up something awful at the zeroing range. I went to get more ammor b/c by this time there was no way I could get a decent score, and the sergeant oiled my bolt and chamber for me. On the next iteration, I jammed up a bunch, causing me to have to perform SPORTS (Slap up on the magazine, Pull the charging handle, Observe the chamber and barrel and ejected round, Release the charging handle, Tap the forward assist, Squeeze the trigger) a lot. Since these weren't double feeds, SPORTS fixed the problem every time, but since it happened so often, I didn't get to even engage some of the targets before they went back down. I was able to hit everything I did get to shoot at though, so my score was 25/40. Something kind of funny happened towards the end, though. I was in the prone unsupported firing position, and I was getting flustered and pissed off at the performance of my weapon. Just as I was reaching my most pissed off point after not getting to shoot at an easy, close target, and before the next targets popped up, my helmet fell over my eyes and I discharged into the ground about 3 meters in front of me, causing the sergeant to yell "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU SHOOTING AT?!?!" Looking back, it was funny as hell, but at the time, I wasn't too happy. Anyway, I finally got a decent score when he told me to use his weapon instead, since mine was too dirty. I got 35/40, just 1 short of expert. So, in summation, taking forever to zero pays off, since I qualified with a higher score and in fewer tries than a lot of people who only took 20 minutes to zero.
Wedding planning is a pain in the ass. If I had information to share, I'd share it. We're thinking it might be best to do a civil ceremony and invite family and close friends to be witnesses, and then have the church do a blessing of the union once I get back from Iraq.
Wedding planning is a pain in the ass. If I had information to share, I'd share it. We're thinking it might be best to do a civil ceremony and invite family and close friends to be witnesses, and then have the church do a blessing of the union once I get back from Iraq.