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Out of curiosity, don't they have shooting ranges where you can work on your shooting when you're stationed in the States? I'd think that they'd LOVE to have you guys develop your marksmanship on your own time. And I hope they don't charge you for the ammo lol.
The answer is "sort of." You can use the ranges on a base any time you want, provided you reserve the range ahead of time and can supply the things you need to run a military range (safety officer, officer in charge, and a corpsman [medic]). Realistically, individuals rarely use a range; it is usually used by a whole unit at once. Said unit has a budget for ammunition, so how much you get to shoot is dictated by that.
Until my first deployment I was assigned to a 155mm artillery unit. During boot camp & my time at the school of infantry I fired about 1200 rounds through the M-16, 800 through the M249 and 20 through the M240, threw 2 real hand grenades and about 20 practice ones, and fired 6 or 7 chalk-filled M203 grenade launcher grenades. In the 3 years with the arty unit, I fired...70 rounds through my M-16. However, as a unit we shot about 600-700 rounds of 155mm every year, and those puppies aren't cheap. Each one makes a crater about 50m in diameter :)
When I went on my first tour, however, we got a big budget boost for marksmanship training, and I shot several thousand rounds through the M249, M240, and M2, a couple hundred grenades, and my all-time fave, one shot with an AT-4 rocket launcher. ^_^
Anyway, the point of my meandering post is that no we don't get charged for ammo, but at the same time we don't get to shoot whenever we feel like it. :/ On the flip side, after initial training, the worst Marine shooters are still very, very good. :)
Thanks for the info. So basically it's too much trouble to do it that way unless the unit has a whole bunch of guys who want to work on their marksmanship. Ironically, afik it's a lot easier to arrange here in Canada but they can't transport their weapons to another base if they hold a competition or something lol.
I am glad someone thought to ask this question because its one I wondered while I am on base and bored. I have heard someone practicing here at the range and I have only heard it twice since i've been here.
Larry, I've always been curious about that and it would have been one good reason for me to join the armed forces. Unfortunately, the commitment is too long and the money's too short if I sign on as a 2nd Lt. This should give anyone who knows my opinion from Bill's thread a good chuckle.
Thanks for the D.R. Harris shave soap Mikey!
Mikey, you're just amazing. Thanks for sending another one of the nice apothecary mugs and a Trumper's sandalwood soap.
Since this seems to be an ongoing effort, any chance of making this thread a sticky? I'm always willing to support our troops but somehow I almost missed this thread.
Jack
Good idea. Not sure why I didn't do that originally.:shrug:Quote:
Originally Posted by maclean3
Beat me to the punch Kyle lol