Joint Security Area Soldiers sharpen combat shooting skills

By United Nations Command Security Battalion-Joint Security Area Public AffairsNovember 20, 2009

Joint Security Area Soldiers sharpen combat shooting skills
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

LIBERTY BELL RANGE, South Korea - The United Nations Command Security Battalion Soldiers who guard at the Joint Security Area inside the Korean Demilitarized Zone conducted a stress shoot exercise at Liberty Bell Range Nov. 18 to improve their physical stamina and weapons proficiency.

According to 2nd Lt. Greg Gifford from the UNC Security Battalion-Joint Security Area, the training was not easy.

"One might find that the weapons we were shooting were proficient," said Gifford. "The arms that were holding them and the bodies supporting those weapons, however, were the ones that were exhausted."

The event started with a 100-meter pull of a 200 pound dummy.

"We greeted this challenge with full strength, and for some, full stride, only to find the next event just as daunting," said Gifford.

To hone the coordination and technique needed to accomplish a mission in a combat environment, a 100-meter tire roll came next.

The JSA Soldiers then moved a pile of sandbags and five-gallon water jugs on to the rear of their Non-Tactical Vehicle.

"We had to load them on the NTV and then take them back to the designated area around 15 meters from the NTV," said Gifford. "For the rested soul, this sounds easy, perhaps simple, but by this point, we were smoked and the once easy task now had become the next hurdle to finishing this challenge."

After completing this task, the Soldiers moved to individual movement techniques. For most of the JSA Soldiers, the range was the reason they tolerated the other events. Gifford said the seven steps to the shooting platform was an event in itself.

"By this point, the only technique we were focused on is breathing in and out and keep our breakfast where we last placed it," said Gifford. "After climbing the stairs to the platform and with 'The Eye of the Tiger' playing in all of our minds in some form, we reached out to our ammo NCO holding our magazines."

According to Gifford, the Soldiers then gladly inserted one ten round magazine, rotated their selector switches from safe to semi and watched their lanes. The Soldiers then went back to the field to cheer on the next group.

"At the end of the exercise, each of us could say that our physical condition was definitely evaluated and the proficiency of our weapons was substantiated," said Gifford. "We all understand the meaning of stress shoot."

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