June 22, 2005

here we are all in line at the range waiting for our turn to shoot. Every 6 months we have to fire our weapons to maintain our qualifications.

It was a long day. We picked up our weapons at 5:30 AM and I didn't get my turn to shoot until around 1 P.M. Here I am waiting my turn to fire.

We fire 40 rounds and have to hit a minimum of 26 of the targets to pass. If you don't pass you have to keep coming back to the range every month until you do. The first 20 rounds they give you are fired with a sand bag to rest your weapon on. This makes it much easier because you can steady the barrel and not jerk the weapon as much. The next 20 rounds are from what we call the "prone unsupported position." This is just a long word for on the ground. There is no sandbag and you have to prop the weapon up using your elbows to fire. It's much harder to keep the weapon steady like this and a lot of people fail here. Above it a picture of the soldiers shooting to adjust thier sights.

I think every range in the Army is dedicated to some dead soldier. This one was no exception. The last time I qualified I failed to make the minimim 26 targets and failed. They let me fire aagain that day and I managed to barely get just 26 to qualify. I wanted to do better this time, so i took my time adjusting my sights this time and managed to shoot all 40 targets! That was the first time I ever got perfect since I came in the Army. I had the highest score on the range that day.

When I got home, I went to the local corner grocery store off post. Korea has the best Ice Cream I;'ve ever had and I wanted to try a new floavor today. Well, I couldn't decide, so I bought one of every ice cream bar they had. They had this awesome one that was cantaloupe flavored. That is the best ice cream I've ever had. I went out and bought 5 more of them, they were so good. I normally am not a fruit guy. I like chocolate a lot better, but this is seriously some good ice cream. Way better than baskin robbins or Ben and Jerry's. I know what you're thinking. It's just Ice cream for crying out loud! Your right, but trust me, if you have ever tried it you would understand.