Grass Week

"EVERY MARINE A RIFLEMAN"

It matters not that Sara's MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) is Aviation Maintenance when it comes to this hallmark of Marine Corps history.  The Marines set themselves apart by their shooting prowess.

To develop those skills, Sara and her Platoon have spent this first of two weeks, Grass Week learning how to shoot the Marine Corps way.  Sara has learned the fundamentals and positions she will use.  In a recent letter, she said she expected to spend hours in each position "snapping in."

Sara is working with the very same M16 that she was issued at the beginning of training and has been carrying every day for these last many weeks. Her service rifle is, more accurately, the M16A2, and is a 5.56 mm, Lightweight, Magazine fed, Gas operated, Air cooled, Shoulder fired weapon  constructed of steel, aluminum, and composite plastics.  Well alrighty then!  That's a mouthful.  Sara and her fellow recruits learn to remember all that by the acronym LM-GAS. So, long story short, Sara's BFF is her M16A2 LM-GAS.

She told us she had "a blast" disassembling, cleaning and reassembling hers.  (I am glad for her mechanical aptitude considering her future MOS... those jet or whirlybird jocks need a talented wrench standing behind their equipment.)
So, this week, Sara's new Combat Marksmanship Instructor (her CMI)  has taught her weapons safety fundamentals and marksmanship with her M-16A2.  He introduced 4024 to the four shooting positions:  Sitting... Prone... Kneeling... and Standing... learning how to fire, how to adjust the sights and how to take into account the effects of the wind and weather.

"Snapping in" involves hours of dry firing while in these four positions, preparing the body to remain steady while they shoot.  Sara also will visit the ISMT or Indoor Simulation Marksmanship Training facility, which is similar to a video game, but provides her and her CMI immediate feedback on her technique.

By the time Sara fires that first actual shot next week ("Firing Week"), she will have dry-fired her rifle from each of the four positions thousands of times.

Justin, I'll bet you a bet that if Sara ever gets back to that huge ranch and your Dad's AR15, you will see a difference... ya think?