Q-Day
I have officially dubbed today "Q-Day." While I wish I had the creative juice to throw together a sentence or two heavily accented with the letter "Q," I'm a bit fried at the moment.
I call this Q-day because one of the Companies here was qualifing with their M16A2's today. For the past two weeks they have been learning safety, breathing, aiming, firing, and all that goes into using their weapon with proficiency. It's a tough day for many because this is a skill that is not dependant on anything that may have led them to the Army. It's not just the fast people, the strong people, the smart people, the "gamer" people, the country people, the city people, or the suburban people who qualify. There's little to know way of looking over a group of Soldiers and saying, "He'll qualify marksman" or "he can't hit the broad side of a barn." There are people who get everything else who have a hard time qualifing. There are people who are "rocks" (not a term of compliment) who score well. It's a very subjective thing.
Anyway, in the end, to qualify, a soldier must hit 23 out of 40 targets...58% to be considered "proficient," or Marksman. If he can hit 30 out of 40 (75%), he's considered a Sharpshooter. If he hits 35 out of 40 (88%), he's qualified as an Expert or Sniper. For many that I saw today, just hitting the 23 was hard enough. I didn't see anyone hit more than 28.
Like I said, it's not like you can pick out which people are going to be good at this. But, it is a skill that can be learned, there is not question, quandry, or query about that!
I call this Q-day because one of the Companies here was qualifing with their M16A2's today. For the past two weeks they have been learning safety, breathing, aiming, firing, and all that goes into using their weapon with proficiency. It's a tough day for many because this is a skill that is not dependant on anything that may have led them to the Army. It's not just the fast people, the strong people, the smart people, the "gamer" people, the country people, the city people, or the suburban people who qualify. There's little to know way of looking over a group of Soldiers and saying, "He'll qualify marksman" or "he can't hit the broad side of a barn." There are people who get everything else who have a hard time qualifing. There are people who are "rocks" (not a term of compliment) who score well. It's a very subjective thing.
Anyway, in the end, to qualify, a soldier must hit 23 out of 40 targets...58% to be considered "proficient," or Marksman. If he can hit 30 out of 40 (75%), he's considered a Sharpshooter. If he hits 35 out of 40 (88%), he's qualified as an Expert or Sniper. For many that I saw today, just hitting the 23 was hard enough. I didn't see anyone hit more than 28.
Like I said, it's not like you can pick out which people are going to be good at this. But, it is a skill that can be learned, there is not question, quandry, or query about that!