FORT SILL, Okla. (Oct. 27, 2016) -- Every Soldier in the Army regardless of military occupational specialty is a rifleman first and foremost, said Drill Sgt. (Staff Sgt.) Eric Teufel, D Battery, 1st Battalion, 31st Field Artillery.
With that tenent, Soldiers in basic combat training learn to fire the M16 rifle, or its shorter version the M4 carbine, early in BCT. At the start of Week 2, trainees are issued their rifles and will live with them 24/7 until they graduate. They will receive 10 blocks of instruction in rifle marksmanship (RM) during their nine weeks of training.
About 230 Soldiers in D/1-31st FA spent the morning of Oct. 21, at the Sgt. Terence Begley Automated Field Fire Range shooting as part of their fifth block of instruction in basic rifle marksmanship (RM).
"We want to ensure the Soldiers' rifles are 100 percent zeroed, and also to get them familiarized to 200 and 300 meter distance targets," Teufel said.
The computerized AFF uses hit sensors to determine where bullets are impacting the target, said George Ponder, Range Operations Training Area officer. A Soldier/coach sat at computer screen next to their battle buddy who was firing the weapon. The screen showed where the rounds were hitting so the observer could provide immediate feedback to the shooter. If a round missed the target nothing would register on the screen. The observer also looked down range, so if dust was kicked up by a round, they could tell the shooter the shot was low. Targets at the AFF are set at 75, 175 and 300 meters.
Earlier in BCT, Soldiers learned weapons safety, rifle assembly and disassembly, cleaning, trouble-shooting, and fired at 25 meter targets as they learned how to zero the iron sights on their rifles, the drill sergeant said.
At the AFF range Soldiers shot 40 rounds, said Capt. Jeff Caslen, D/1-31st FA battery commander.
"This is the first time the trainees will shoot further than 25 meters," Caslen said. "The AFF gives them confidence when they see they are hitting targets at 200 and 300 meters."
Now in Week 3 of their training, Caslen said the Soldiers are in the walk phase of shooting, as part of the crawl-walk-run training methodology.
"Through the next few RMs it gets a little more complicated," he said.
"After the AFF instruction, the trainees still have five more dates at small arms ranges, Caslen said.
This will include ranges with multiple and pop-up targets and shooting from behind barriers. The culminating shoot will be for qualifying on the M16 during RM 10.
"Even after qualifications, they will still fire live rounds when they do buddy-team training," said Treufel, who was recently selected as the Fort Sill NCO of the quarter. "They will be side-by-side as they do rushes on the enemy."
Riflemanship is constantly ingrained in the trainees even during any downtime that might occur during the day, Teufel said.
"We will focus on rifle marksmanship: explaining the ins and outs, having them disassemble and reassemble, and clean weapons multiple times throughout the day," he said.
The drill sergeants might also ask a Soldier to back brief a platoon on some aspect of rifle marksmanship that was taught the day before, such as weapons safety, just to see if the training points were clear, he said.
Later in BCT at U.S. Weapons Day, Soldiers will learn to fire the M249 squad automatic weapon machinegun and M203 40mm grenade launcher attachment to the rifle, Teufel said. Trainees do not fire the 9mm pistol.
At the AFF Teufel said things were going well.
"The flow seems to be going good, no issues with any of the equipment and everything is on track to be a successful day," he said.
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