Lucas Corrao
EN 1320
31-Mar-15
Unit Two, Assignment 3

“You cannot be disciplined in great things and undisciplined in small things. There is only one sort of discipline – perfect discipline” -General George S. Patton, Jr. This quote was drilled into my head while I was in basic training in Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri I can still remember the first time I fired an M-16. The rush I felt firing that weapon was unlike anything I had ever experienced. Still to this day, the resounding crack and the simultaneous recoil from the round being propelled from the muzzle of that weapon sends chills throughout my body. Watching the plastic green target drop, from the force of the round and then the next target following suit was exhilarating. Shortly after a round feeding malfunction shifted my joyous mood to a feeling of dread. Fortunately, discipline and muscle memory allowed me to keep a calm head and fix the malfunction in time to fire a third round and hit my third target. This memory always stuck with me allowing me to become one of the best shooters in every company I was a part of the Army. As I walked up to the firing line that warm July morning, I could feel my stomach starting to knot up from the anxiety and nervousness that I was feeling. it was my first time firing an assault rifle and the fear of failing heavily on my mind. I had previously only fired a shotgun, but that is a weapon of point and shoot. Knowing that I wanted to do well, as to not get criticized for not being able to shoot, I was repeating the four steps to firing correctly. “Steady firing position, good sight picture, breathing, and trigger squeeze” I mumbled to myself over and over again trying to ingrain that knowledge into my sub-conscience so that I wouldn’t have to actively think about it and I could focus on the target in front of me. I heard the command to move onto the firing line and prepare for the moment I had been waiting for with both dread and excitement. As soon as I knelt down and took my prone position to prepare for that moment my nerves calmed and my head cleared. The time was finally here. As I lay in the prone position, my left hand nervously clutching the metal magazine filled with 5.56 rounds, I take a deep breath to steady my body from the anxiousness I hear the first command “Load your first magazine, leave the weapon on red status.” As if I had done this a thousand times my left hand instinctively slides the magazine into place without a conscience thought. I lift the weapon slightly up and down retesting the weight of the weapon with the loaded magazine to gain a familiarity with the new weight. “Load your first round in to the weapon now.” I heard the range safety officer say through the loud speaker. I use my left hand to reach up behind the rear sight assembly and quickly pull the charging handle to the back and release it, allowing the bolt group to load the first round into the bolt housing chamber. My right hand moves into the position to fire (tip of the middle finger on the trigger, index finger resting on the magazine release, and thumb on the firing selector) I tighten and release my grip on the firing handle to ease the stress of my hand while I wait for the third and final command. “Shooters, place your weapon on semi and fire when ready. This is now a hot range. Good luck shooters.” The command finally comes from the range safety officer.
I pull the butt stock of my rifle deeper into my shoulder pocket to gain more steadiness. I align my right eye and the two sight posts so that I can see the first target and both sight posts making the “W” we’re told to “see” in training. I inhale and exhale to steady my body. I repeat the inhale and as I exhale the last bit of breath out of my lungs, I squeeze the trigger until the bolt group pushed the firing pin into the back of the round casing causing a small explosion forcing the round to expel down the barrel and go hurdling toward the target at a high velocity and knocking the target over. I stare at the knocked down target and a small grin finds its way onto my face. Suddenly the second target pops up to the right of the first and fifty meters further away than the first target. I adjust my elbows, never allowing the weapon to leave my shoulder, keeping it tight against me, as I make the small adjustment to line up the next shot. I see the target and line the posts up and aim center mass of the target. I without thinking, make the line take a breath and fire. Once again the round fires and the target immediately falls to the goal. The third target pops up, this time one hundred meters further back than the first target. Now I am shooting at a target two hundred meters away. I lift the weapon slightly to match the different levels of elevation between the target and myself. I steady my breathing and line up the shot and squeeze the trigger instead hearing the bang of the round going off I hear a metallic click of the bolt not hitting a round. My heart rate flew through the roof and my mind raced about what could have possibly gone wrong. I immediately start going through what the army calls SPORTS, Slap Pull Observe Release Tap Shoot. I quickly hit the bolt release so make sure the bolt returned from the rear position, which it was. I pulled the charging handle to the rear pulling the bolt to the back and when I released the handle it didn’t automatically return forward. Knowing it was a feeding issue I quickly hit the magazine release button and dropped the magazine. As soon as the magazine fell from the magazine a round dropped with it. I looked through the ejection port and saw a round jammed in the chamber. I grabbed my Gerber and popped the round out of the chamber I grabbed the magazine and reloaded it into the weapon, charged the handle, regained my line of sight and squeezed the trigger firing my next round and striking the target before the time allotted ran out. I continued firing and hitting every target from that point on with no further issues.
That day I learned a very important lesson, one that has never been forgotten. Always keep a calm head and remember that little problems can be solved by just taking a moment and figuring out the issue instead of freaking out and letting the stress devour you. The answer is always in front of you. Sometimes all you have to do is start over and go from there.