Anyway, before we headed over to the range and pumped holes into a few targets, we had to go though the Individual Marksmanship Trainer (IMT). The IMT range was some high tech stuff! Located in a building a short walk away from our bunks, the IMT range was a large, long and dark room filled with projectors and simulator rifles. The purpose of the range was to train and teach recruits on handle the rifle, familiarize them with the targets, along with the procedures to take in the event of a rifle malfunction.
On top of that, the equipment at the range can track everything! From how steady you hold your rifle, to how you squeeze the trigger. The simulation rifles there were even able to deliver recoil, making the simulator that more realistic
Chilling in an air conditioned room for the whole day, shooting digital targets. Of course damn shiok la.
Towards the end of the day, we were required to pass an IMT test. In short, we had to shoot in all positions (Standing, kneeling, prone and foxhole) and in both day and night conditions.
I hit everything. 32/32, earning an easy marksman. I thought to myself, "Shooting no kick la! If I can ace this test, firing will be just as easy". Hah, I was so wrong
BTP - Live Range (Day 1)
Day 1 started real early. We took a bus towards the 100m range some 20 minutes away. I was quite excited, ready to hit as many targets as I could that day. The previous day, we (my section mates and I) found out that we were the last detail of the entire exercise. Settling down just after 8 in the morning, we sat down and waited.
And waited.
And waited.
T'was 1pm, while the rest were having lunch, when we were called up to shoot for the first time that day. At IMT, there were 6 ranges of 12 lanes each. Which means 6 details worth of people could shoot at the same time. At the range, there was 1 range of 12 lanes. Holy... That wasn't even all! We had 3 shoots that day too! Anyway, the first shoot was a zeroing shoot, meant to adjust our scopes to our aiming style. The targets were big, and easy to shoot. They were meant to be. Still feeling confident, we waited for the next shoot later that afternoon.
After lunch, things seemed to move faster, after about 3 hours, we were back at the range for our familiarization shoot, (A test shoot in the day). Ready make another flawless run, I steadied my aim.
My target came up, I took a breath, aimed and fired.
The target remained up (I missed)
Pulled the trigger yet another time, and the target still stayed up. All around me, targets were being shot. Flustered, I fired again, and finally the target went down. Hoping I was unlucky. I shot my last round in that magazine, and missed again. That was just the first out of 3 magazines. For that shoot, I hit 5 out of 12 targets. Not even near the marksman score. Lol, my ego fell so hard it shattered to bits. I was at a loss as to what happened. Was it my aiming technique? Was my rifle zeroed properly? Maybe I was too full, or maybe I was just unlucky. I didn't really know and it bothered me. Later in the night, I had a slightly better, but still unsatisfactory performance at the night shoot. Struggling to get a marksman, I hoped the next day was going to be better
BTP - Live Range (Day 2)
The next day, started similar to the first. we reached early and got ready for the shoot. This round was the real deal. Day 2 determined whether you could earn a marksman achievement; rumored to be a criteria for admission to command school. This time, I was worried. If I didn't get my marksman today, it's gonna be that much harder getting into command school. But instead of feeling flustered, I told myself to take it a shot at a time.
The first shoot came at us quickly, and before I knew it, I was already in the foxhole. I calmed myself down, and got ready to shoot.
The first target came up, and got shot.
The second target came up and also went down
This happened again, and again for the rest of the day shoots. I hit 16/16 test targets, and 16/16 practice targets. I didn't just perfect my test shots, I also hit all my practice shots too. Suddenly, my target wasn't for marksman anymore. It was for company best shot, the best shooter in the company. With a full IMT score, there was a very high chance I might be able to achieve it if I could shoot everything today as they ignored the fem shoot the previous day. That was when the pressure started to pile up. Between the day and night shoots, we had 5 hours to wait around for nightfall. Trying my best to keep shooting out of my mind, I talked a lot of cock with my friends around me till night came.
Night came, and it was the moment of truth. The first 6/12 rounds hit their targets, and when the 7th round flew out of my barrel, it missed its mark.
Ah well. So much for the high hopes.
Then again, I still walked away with a comfortable marksman award. Happy but a little disappointed, we left the range and headed back to our bunks
Next post: FIELD CAMP!?
Sorry guys and girls for the late posts, I'm really busy with BMT now to do the posts as regularly as possible. In fact, I'm now behind in writing. Hope ya'll don't mind - Matthew
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