Marines qualify on crew served operations

FORT SILL, Okla. -- After a relatively short convoy from Oklahoma City, F Battery, 2nd Battalion, 14th Marines were blissfully rewarded with weapons ready at their fingertips and ammunition to send flying down Kerr Hill Machine Gun Complex.

"I joined to do cool stuff like this," said Lance Cpl. Joshua Henson, who had no problems firing the M240 accurately off an up-armored humvee June 8.

His safety cadre called him the one-shot wonder as targets at distances of 400, 700, 800 and 1,000 meters felt the sting of bullets and swiftly went down.

The cadre stood by the Marines to ensure they did all the correct steps to fire, and fix jams on the M240 as well as the M2 .50 cal for the unit's crew-served weapons table two qualifications.

"We're testing their immediate actions to make it muscle memory. They go through how to clear the weapon and get that guy back in the fight as quickly as possible," said Capt. Luke Rogers, Headquarters 2/14th platoon commander and range officer in charge.

The purpose of the training was so they can pull moving security to effectively defend fellow Marines and the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System. F Battery deployed in 2007 and has the distinction of being the first Marine Corps HIMARS battery to deploy into combat.

"With an artillery battery it's a valuable asset so we have to pay a lot of attention to local security. We roll pretty heavy with crew served weapons," said Rogers.

The vehicles staggered in height as humvees were paired with seven-ton trucks. Each set either had an M240 or M2 .50 cal mounted on top and a Marine attached yelling "Half load. Full load. Gun up," before firing the weapon.

As the lower bass of the .50 cal was syncopated to the higher pitch of the M240 an occasional misfire would take place and the shooter would put their head down and count to five before opening the bolt and extracting the round.

The bursts of ammunition also followed a rhythm as the Marines were instructed to shout "Run, fluffy bunny, run," or some version with stronger language to keep an efficient trigger pace that balanced shooting and ensuring they didn't waste rounds if they needed to correct their line of fire.

"It was easy once you get the hang of it," said Lance Cpl. Diego Alcala.

Alcala, seated high atop the seven-ton vehicle, caught his rhythm once he steadied his turret to help accurately fire downrange.

When asked why he became a Marine he said, "I want to die saying I did something. I don't want to have a mundane life."

The Marines are stationed out of Tinker Air Force Base, and Rogers said they consider Fort Sill their backyard. They take to ranges here three times a year to stay proficient on small arms and rocket artillery.

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