Post by 123 on Mar 23, 2017 4:06:36 GMT -5
Approaching by mini bus with my fellow cadets with me, adrenaline pumping with no real expectation of what would happen as none of us had ever been in this position. With the rumours spreading like flies and highly convenient lies… “once a cadet shot a guy” and “if you do this it brakes the rifle” as explained with the imaginary rifle in his hand and the adult instructors telling them to be quiet as some of us where nervous already but that was probably the mad man driving the mini bus like we had race car suspension because where he was sitting he couldn’t feel the bumps on the road but he can’t say he didn’t notice our heads hit against the roof every time he went over one.
As approaching the range like it was a haunted house no one was quite sure about, all we see is half stick half man cut out of an “attacker” which the targets that where sitting in front of the sand which is where all the rounds go if they missed. Which got me wondering why we were driving across the range with the targets up!
With the field before it filled with well-dressed cadets in the invisible clothing all lined up ready for the morning brief of what will happen throughout the day. Cadets struggled to keep still as they heard the ammunitions rattle behind them like skittles into a bowl as the magazines got loaded and the weapons stripped, cleaned and assembled for the day.
We get split into our group of twelve for the day as only twelve can shoot at a time and with over 100 cadets it’ll take up the full day so we just done revision whilst trying to predict when someone would shoot.
But it was clear a bit of anxiety ran through the crowd as we could see and hear people shooting and with everyone barley a teenager it’s not a normal process to go through. With one of the lessons getting taught was the purpose of target shooting and as everyone presumed it was because the army do it and it’s the army cadet force the instructor came out with “ the main purpose of target shooting is to build confidence and teach you how to conduct yourself around a potentially lethal weapon system that is designed to kill someone but that’s not we teach you, we use it as purely a mental tool which aids you to focus and listen to instruction and present yourself as a person to a high standard” as we are all sat under a tree from the blazing sun and him leaning up against some abandoned hazard sign, laying down why we do it and how it’s not all about joining the army. After that it was clear the usefulness of marksmanship and the patience required as it settled everyone’s anxiety when we got told it I to improve ourselves.
As we go through more lessons on how to clean and strip the weapon the thrill is still among us that the weapon we get to shoot is one that the army use and then you get the random guy that seems to know everything about every weapon then start to wonder why someone hasn’t checked him out to be a bit dodgy but it was all fun and banter. until a space freed up due to another cadet afraid of the weapon crying towards the field of us which then it the match to and explosion of giggles and the “it’s only a…” when I heard that I felt bad for her as although others are more confident around the weapon there’s still the down fall of tragedy that guns linked too and that can be overwhelming. As the adult instructor turned our attention away and how to clean the rifle he talks about the breathing techniques on how to shoot effectively as the accuracy is determined on your breathing, now at fourteen years old first time ever seeing a weapon an getting to shoot it is a big step and with hearing another twelve gun shots and the smell of gun powder really gets the blood flowing.
My group was called next and to wait by the range command office. A shed the size of a toilet. And not to move until called over by the staff.
When the last shot goes, we start to approach the briefing point where we got told what’s happening and read a declaration about the range s it was our first time. But once we had done all that we were good to go. We get given muffin like ear protectors and a pair of safety specs and a A4 piece of paper with two black squares on it. With my expectation to hit the half man half stick target, it turns out we were to stick the paper on the target and that was our target.
With the paper stuck and the “safety” goggles and ear defenders we get the command “dress behind the weapon” whilst we walked towards the weapon I lied in fear of not being able to hear the guy shout as I couldn’t hear a thing with the ear muffs. As I look up the spine of the weapon I hear a “take control of the weapon” where I must show in front of the instructor I can safely check the weapon and confident in that the weapons clear. When the instructors happy there’s no obstruction they wave their hand furiously and the range conductor like they are trying to wave back the nus they just missed to get the conductors attention. With the last call “ready” where over the ear defenders a huge click of a dozen rifles coking handles gently house the first round from the magazine therefore making the weapon live and the adult instructors fear for an accident. And the final “IN YOUR OWN TIME, FIRE EIGHT ROUNDS TO THE TARGET ON YOUR RIGHT AND THEN 8 ROUNDS TO THE TARGET ON YOUR LEFT IN YOUR OWN TIME SHOOT” as the fear of pulling the trigger swept amongst us, I certainly didn’t want to pull first, then everyone jumped with the person next to me “BANG” and then everyone proceeded.
with everyone finished their shoot wait to hear “STOP STOP STOP” and “PRESENT ARMS” to show there was no more rounds to fire in the chamber then we had to pick up the casings and then go collect our target. To get to the target, you obviously have to walk over the range but its a weird feeling given that your walking across hundreds of rounds and dead fuses of ammunition.
Once we are finished and handed our rifles, goggles, ear defenders and target we had to stand in one big line. All 100 cadets had to stand in a straight line and the adults helping had to stand in one big line and the range commander stood in front of everyone “ when I come to you, you must swear that you have no ammunition or pyrotechnics in my possession and I will report anyone who has…and check all your pocket and boots in case any fell into your clothing” and “that it’s a criminal offence to take any of the military weaponry and that you understand the charges of you commit the offence” so he starts at the twenty plus adults all saluting him saying the declaration with us in the background jumping like mad men trying to see if any ammunition fell onto us.
As approaching the range like it was a haunted house no one was quite sure about, all we see is half stick half man cut out of an “attacker” which the targets that where sitting in front of the sand which is where all the rounds go if they missed. Which got me wondering why we were driving across the range with the targets up!
With the field before it filled with well-dressed cadets in the invisible clothing all lined up ready for the morning brief of what will happen throughout the day. Cadets struggled to keep still as they heard the ammunitions rattle behind them like skittles into a bowl as the magazines got loaded and the weapons stripped, cleaned and assembled for the day.
We get split into our group of twelve for the day as only twelve can shoot at a time and with over 100 cadets it’ll take up the full day so we just done revision whilst trying to predict when someone would shoot.
But it was clear a bit of anxiety ran through the crowd as we could see and hear people shooting and with everyone barley a teenager it’s not a normal process to go through. With one of the lessons getting taught was the purpose of target shooting and as everyone presumed it was because the army do it and it’s the army cadet force the instructor came out with “ the main purpose of target shooting is to build confidence and teach you how to conduct yourself around a potentially lethal weapon system that is designed to kill someone but that’s not we teach you, we use it as purely a mental tool which aids you to focus and listen to instruction and present yourself as a person to a high standard” as we are all sat under a tree from the blazing sun and him leaning up against some abandoned hazard sign, laying down why we do it and how it’s not all about joining the army. After that it was clear the usefulness of marksmanship and the patience required as it settled everyone’s anxiety when we got told it I to improve ourselves.
As we go through more lessons on how to clean and strip the weapon the thrill is still among us that the weapon we get to shoot is one that the army use and then you get the random guy that seems to know everything about every weapon then start to wonder why someone hasn’t checked him out to be a bit dodgy but it was all fun and banter. until a space freed up due to another cadet afraid of the weapon crying towards the field of us which then it the match to and explosion of giggles and the “it’s only a…” when I heard that I felt bad for her as although others are more confident around the weapon there’s still the down fall of tragedy that guns linked too and that can be overwhelming. As the adult instructor turned our attention away and how to clean the rifle he talks about the breathing techniques on how to shoot effectively as the accuracy is determined on your breathing, now at fourteen years old first time ever seeing a weapon an getting to shoot it is a big step and with hearing another twelve gun shots and the smell of gun powder really gets the blood flowing.
My group was called next and to wait by the range command office. A shed the size of a toilet. And not to move until called over by the staff.
When the last shot goes, we start to approach the briefing point where we got told what’s happening and read a declaration about the range s it was our first time. But once we had done all that we were good to go. We get given muffin like ear protectors and a pair of safety specs and a A4 piece of paper with two black squares on it. With my expectation to hit the half man half stick target, it turns out we were to stick the paper on the target and that was our target.
With the paper stuck and the “safety” goggles and ear defenders we get the command “dress behind the weapon” whilst we walked towards the weapon I lied in fear of not being able to hear the guy shout as I couldn’t hear a thing with the ear muffs. As I look up the spine of the weapon I hear a “take control of the weapon” where I must show in front of the instructor I can safely check the weapon and confident in that the weapons clear. When the instructors happy there’s no obstruction they wave their hand furiously and the range conductor like they are trying to wave back the nus they just missed to get the conductors attention. With the last call “ready” where over the ear defenders a huge click of a dozen rifles coking handles gently house the first round from the magazine therefore making the weapon live and the adult instructors fear for an accident. And the final “IN YOUR OWN TIME, FIRE EIGHT ROUNDS TO THE TARGET ON YOUR RIGHT AND THEN 8 ROUNDS TO THE TARGET ON YOUR LEFT IN YOUR OWN TIME SHOOT” as the fear of pulling the trigger swept amongst us, I certainly didn’t want to pull first, then everyone jumped with the person next to me “BANG” and then everyone proceeded.
with everyone finished their shoot wait to hear “STOP STOP STOP” and “PRESENT ARMS” to show there was no more rounds to fire in the chamber then we had to pick up the casings and then go collect our target. To get to the target, you obviously have to walk over the range but its a weird feeling given that your walking across hundreds of rounds and dead fuses of ammunition.
Once we are finished and handed our rifles, goggles, ear defenders and target we had to stand in one big line. All 100 cadets had to stand in a straight line and the adults helping had to stand in one big line and the range commander stood in front of everyone “ when I come to you, you must swear that you have no ammunition or pyrotechnics in my possession and I will report anyone who has…and check all your pocket and boots in case any fell into your clothing” and “that it’s a criminal offence to take any of the military weaponry and that you understand the charges of you commit the offence” so he starts at the twenty plus adults all saluting him saying the declaration with us in the background jumping like mad men trying to see if any ammunition fell onto us.