Photo By Maj. Gretel Weiskopf | Spc. Lebron Adams, 193rd Company, 525th Military Police Battalion, takes aim with his...... read more read more
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From Joint Task Force - Guantanamo Bay
GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba - The ground feels cool as you lie down, the stock of your weapon fitting into the pocket of your shoulder and your eye focuses through the iron sight of your M16A2. You then turn your focus to breathing – in, 2, 3... out, 2, 3... pause and squeeze the trigger.
For some Soldiers, qualifying with your assigned weapon brings back marksmanship skills learned in basic training, such as setting the same focus area, aiming for center mass and squeezing the trigger at the natural pause in your breathing. Whatever techniques Soldiers use, staying qualified on your assigned weapon is a core skill that is required at least twice a year.
Joint Task Force Headquarters and Headquarters Company Soldiers qualified on that core skill at U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay's Windward Pistol and Rifle range, Oct. 20-22.
"It is important that each Soldier be familiarized and qualified with their weapon," said 1st Sgt. Alfred Gomez, JTF, HHC. "Even though we aren't in a combat zone, a Soldier's next deployment could be [to one] and there your life could depend on your marksmanship."
The Windward range consists of 15 lanes with paper targets 25 meters away from the firing line. On the paper target there are silhouettes meant to look as if they are at different distances: two at each distance from 300 meters to 50 meters, in increments of 50 meters.
Soldiers have 40 rounds to qualify with and need to fire 20 rounds lying on their stomach with the help of sandbags to support the weight of the weapon, otherwise known as the prone supported position. Then they fire 10 rounds in the prone position without the help of sandbags and 10 rounds in the kneeling position.
The range was run by Soldiers from the 193rd Company, 525th Military Police Battalion. They provided range safeties and medical support throughout the three-day qualification period. The 193rd also had its own Soldiers qualifying and familiarizing on their assigned weapons - the shotgun, the M-16 rifle and 9mm handgun.
Spc. Lebron Adam, 193rd MP Company, said he has been to the range 12-13 times in the two-and-a-half years he has been in the Army.
"By being out here so much, just my overall familiarization has improved and I've been able to review the finer points of weapon qualification," said Adams.
Over three days, approximately 85 HHC Soldiers were able to qualify on their assigned weapon.
"Anytime you take a large group of people to the field, especially for range qualification, and come back safe, it was a successful training event," said Gomez.
http://www.jtfgtmo.southcom.mil/
| Date Taken: | 10.31.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 11.03.2008 09:27 |
| Story ID: | 25847 |
| Location: |
| Web Views: | 226 |
| Downloads: | 196 |
This work, Core Skills of Being a Soldier, by MAJ Gretel Weiskopf, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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