FHL Day 8

Fort Hunter-Liggett

The days are passing, still filled with tons of information and hands-on experience. We've been adjusting to the schedule, the weather, and each other. Well, maybe not so much with each other, but I won't write about that until I cool down. We're only 8 days in and we've already come upon some issues that could be detrimental to unit cohesion and possibly lives. But again, that will be up in a few months when I have something else chewing at my mind. On to the good stuff.

The M16 qualification day was a disaster in my opinion. I don't think any of our soldiers shot more than a 30 out of 40 targets. I think it was due to the new instruction we received last week, coupled with the new optic sights that many of us have never used. I am by no means the best shot in our group, seeing as there's a former Marine marksman instructor as one of our team leaders, but I am usually in the 35 to 38 range as far as qualifying. I've hit all 40 on twice in my short career, but I feel like I can do it every time I get up to the firing line. Well I shot a freakin' 28 out of 40 the other day, and it really pissed me off. I relied on the instruction of the NonComissioned Officers (NCOs) that were teaching the classes, even though they were telling me to fire completely different from how I usually do, and I got screwed. I used the AimPoint red dot scope, which is supposed to be easier, and I shot horribly. The only thing that saved my ass was being able to see my iron sights through the scope. I turned that shit off after missing 12 targets in a row, and I hit every one after that. So much for new technology, I think we were set up for failure on this one. Oh well, I'll make sure to hit all 40 next time up. After that qual we went through NBC qual (shooting with the mask on), night qual (shooting with no night vision), and then NV qual (shooting with night vision and infrared lasers), and I hit every one of those damned targets all night. I'm going to try to keep an open mind to this new training we're getting, but I'm also going to stick to my guns on the important stuff, like being able to cut down anyone that opposes me.

The past few days we've been covering the family of machine guns the Army has. There are four main machine guns that have evolved from as far back as World War II. Starting from smallest round to largest, they are: M249 SAW, M240B, M2 HBMG, and the Mark19.

The M249 Squad Automatic Weapon is the smallest of the machine guns, but the most used at the squad level. There are usually at least two of these weapons in each squad in any combat or combat support platoon. The M249 fires the 5.56mm rounds from either linked drums or loose round magazines. Linked rounds are preferred over the magazines, as they tend to jam and they hardly ever feed correctly. The only time a magazine would be used is as a last resort, i.e. the enemy is overtaking your position and you have no ammo but magazines. The M249 is relatively light, at about 15 pounds unloaded with no optics or flashlights or any of that high speed crap. They can be outfitted with shorter barrels, making it easier to pop around corners and spray some lead. SAW gunners are also notorious for slapping all kinds of optic sights, flashlights, front hand posts, and lasers on their weapons. The SAW is extremely effective at putting a high rate of rounds on the enemy at the squad level, between 650 and 850 per minute. It's use of the standard NATO 5.56 round is a plus also, as the last resort scenario was mentioned earlier.

The M240B is the Army's medium machine gun. This is by far my favorite weapon. Extremely dependable, the M240B throws 7.62mm bullets out to an area range in excess of 1,000 meters. It is very accurate, and it packs quite a punch too. The M240B can be mounted to HUMVEES, PLS trucks, LMTVs, MTVs, helicopters, or carried at the squad level. It's technically a crew served weapon, requiring an extra soldier to carry the extra barrel and load of rounds, but one tough guy could handle it. It's just a badass machine gun to have around, and it really keeps the enemy's head down with just the sound of it.

Next is the "Ma Deuce", or M2 Heavy Barrel Machine Gun (HBMG). The M2 is the epitome of intimidation. Insurgents run when they see one mounted on the top of a HUMVEE. It's distinctive report can be heard hundreds of miles away, and it can cut through 6 inches of fortified concrete. The M2 fires the huge .50 caliber round, the projectile measuring one half of an inch across. The whole bullet is about 8 inches long, the length of an average man's hand. With the tripod included, the whole setup weighs about 128 pounds. Definitely a crew served weapon! It is most commonly mounted from vehicles and helicopters, but it can be effectively operated at the ground level by three soldiers. It only fires about 450 to 500 rounds a minute, but it can reach out and 'touch' an insurgent up to 2 miles. Talk about range.

Lastly is the Mark19 40mm grenade machine gun. It is probably the most unknown machine gun the Army has. Relatively new, the Mark19 was derived from the need to put high explosive 40mm grenades out farther and faster than the original M203 grenade launcher, which is mounted underneath the M16. This machine gun can, set at a 45 degree angle or a tripod, can fire 18 consecutive grenades out at about 800 meters before the first round fired hits the ground. That is quite a bit of hell coming down on you if you happen to be wearing a turban and wielding an AK47! Especially since the 40mm High Explosive grenades have a 5 to 8 meter kill radius, and a 10 to 15 meter shrapnel radius. It's large, simple components and ammunition make it easy to operate and maintain. The Mark19 is the Army's juggernaut, just a heavy SOB that sends a lot of fire power down range at a pretty high rate of speed. It can be mounted to any vehicle, but mostly infantry and artillery units use it now.

Everything else is going as well as it can I guess. We are still knockin' out the tasks we need to to get out of this freaking country. A few days ago I took a quick moment to think about how my friends and family's lives still keep rolling on without me. When I'm away on orders or on a mission, I never think about what movie star wore what at what awards ceremony, or what sports star got caught doing what illegal act, or even what president said what at what press conference. Some people say I should pay more attention to that stuff, even the bullshit movie and music industries, just to get my mind off Army stuff. I tend to disagree more often than not, seeing as I'm being trained to keep myself and those around me alive and well. If I space out and start thinking about Beyonce and how good looking she is, I may get myself or some else injured or killed. This stuff is not to be taken lightly, these insurgents are not to be underestimated, and the environment over there is a lot more dangerous than most of these soldiers in my unit think. There is no "on/off" switch with me, I'm all or nothing, dead stop or pedal to the metal. I've ruined a relationship because of it, lost touch with friends and family, and missed out on many of life's great opportunities, but that's the way that works best for me. It's kept my ass and a few others' around me alive on more than a few occasions.

Anyway, we have all the machine gun ranges and qualifications tomorrow, which will be a short day. I don't even know what is on tap after that, but it can't be much seeing as we only have about 8 days left here before we move on to our Mobilization (MOB) site. Ta ta for now.

-Mac