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    Unqualified shooter numbers drop at MCB Hawaii

    Unqualified shooter numbers drop at MCB Hawaii

    Photo By Cpl. Adam Korolev | Staff Sgt. Patrick Adolphin, a Marine with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463 and a...... read more read more

    PUULOA TRAINING FACILITY, HI, UNITED STATES

    04.03.2015

    Story by Lance Cpl. Adam Korolev 

    Marine Corps Base Hawaii

    PUULOA RANGE TRAINING FACILITY, Hawaii — Marines are expected to qualify with their rifles on an annual basis, and their rifle score validates how familiar they are with firing a rifle.

    It also shows how well they absorbed the formal education instructed to them by rifle coaches and affects their cutting scores. As a result of an expert rifle score, some Marines walk away with bragging rights, while some are forced to return due to a sub-par score. In recent months, however, the number of unqualified shooters has dropped dramatically.

    For years, Marines have had to endure the gravel-ridden, dusty and unleveled firing line. During the 2014 calendar year, 26 annual rifle-training details, each composed of 250 to 275 Marines, attempted to qualify on the range. Of those 26 details, 127 of those Marines were forced to return to the Puuloa Range Training Facility in order to re-qualify. In December of that year, due to the new technology and range standards, the Puuloa RTF was shutdown to install rubberized firing mats to aid shooters.

    Since its completion in January, four annual rifle-training details have cycled through the range and have only seen two unqualified shooters.

    “These statistics are beyond average,” said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jordan Kramp, the officer in charge of Puuloa RTF and an Elgin, Ill., native. “If you do the math correctly, we have run four annual rifle training details in this calendar year, and we have taken two UNQs. At this rate on these new firing mats, we’re on pace to take no more than 12 UNQs. That’s more than a 1,000–percent increase.”

    The $200,000 project aims at promoting comfort at the 200-, 300- and 500-yard firing lines by providing support to the key body parts that are central for effective shooting.

    “You shoot 40 of the 50 rounds during qualification day of annual rifle training in the sitting and prone position,” Kramp said. “You have to ensure you have a solid foundation, and the firing mats provide that cornerstone. (Shooters’) limbs are no longer sliding around because of the frictional pad created by the firing mats ensures that your shooting foundation does not fluctuate during recoil. The elbows especially play a vital role at the 500-yard line, and if your elbows are moving, then you’re losing your hold. The Marines I’ve talked to think it’s a monumental increase in their scores, and their attitude is better because they don’t have to buy new cammies."

    In October, Pfc. Alexis Gooding, a Marine with Headquarters Battalion aboard MCB Hawaii, returned to re-qualify at Puuloa RTF. Initially firing a mere 86 out of 250, she was sent back in order to walk away from the range with a reasonable score.

    “It’s a nice range, but the ground was hard with red dirt everywhere, and I never felt comfortable shooting before they introduced the rubber mats,” Gooding said.

    According to Gooding, she felt she would return to the range with another unqualifying score, but to her surprise, the uneven, rocky, molten colored ground had been replaced.

    “I was nervous to go back because I didn’t want to (be disqualified) again and I felt a lot of pressure,” Gooding said. “But, when I shot on the mats I felt a lot more comfortable, and I could keep my hold because of the rubber material.”

    After the second attempt, Gooding not only qualified, but also shot an expert score.

    “I shot a 325, and it’s because I felt a lot more comfortable. I’m glad to have passed,” Gooding said. “It’s important to be a decent shooter because we’re Marines and that’s what makes us Marines. Some of us might not have an infantry MOS, but we’re all taught the same fundamentals.”

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 04.03.2015
    Date Posted: 04.03.2015 14:21
    Story ID: 159096
    Location: PUULOA TRAINING FACILITY, HI, US
    Hometown: ELGIN, IL, US

    Web Views: 87
    Downloads: 0

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