D-2/52 just south of the Tamiami Trail on Krome avenue in Florida was my first duty station and I was barely eighteen at the time.
In '79 we were taken to a gun range on the Tamiami trail just east of Krome avenue. We were going to shoot as much of the units ammunition supply as possible instead of turning it in. The last four Nike Hercules Air Defense Artillery sites were being deactivated.
I wasn't a full-fledged firearm enthusiast at the time but I was excited to be going to the range. All I knew about shooting was from Basic training at Ft. Bliss.
I had never fired at .45 before and knew squat about how to properly shoot one. (I did disassemble one while bored as the CQ runner one dull morning. The CQ went freaking ballistic when he woke up and saw his pistol in pieces on the table.)
I was a scrawny PFC at the time and shooting the .45 one-handed in the classic stance (which I only knew from pictures) left me quite intimidated by the recoil and torque. I couldn't imagine how anyone could shoot these things with any degree of accuracy. (My carry pistol today is either my Coonan or my Ruger SR1911 10mm)
Switching over to the M16 I had a great deal of fun blasting through magazine after magazine. Accuracy was not our goal so speed was the game of the day. Full auto was strictly prohibited.
At one time I took a break and spent my time reloading a ton of magazines with some of my scope-dope buddy's.
Back at the line I ran through another magazine when our Battery Commander and our LT stopped next to me. I can't remember the BC's name but he asked if he could run a magazine through my rifle. He ran the magazine dry and then handed the rifle back to me. Me, being the not-particularly-well-versed-in-handling-hot-firearms person I was at the time grabbed the weapon by the barrel and promptly let out a loud "Woooooooo!" and dropped the rifle on the ground between us.
The captain and LT both looked at me for a moment and then the LT calmly asked, "Are you okay Fulwood?" I replied, "Yes I am. Thank you Sir." But they probably didn't understand me because I was so busy trying to stuff my hand in my mouth. Needless to say I was finished shooting for the day.
D-2/52 was my first duty station and I have good memories of that swampy Mosquito infested place.
In '79 we were taken to a gun range on the Tamiami trail just east of Krome avenue. We were going to shoot as much of the units ammunition supply as possible instead of turning it in. The last four Nike Hercules Air Defense Artillery sites were being deactivated.
I wasn't a full-fledged firearm enthusiast at the time but I was excited to be going to the range. All I knew about shooting was from Basic training at Ft. Bliss.
I had never fired at .45 before and knew squat about how to properly shoot one. (I did disassemble one while bored as the CQ runner one dull morning. The CQ went freaking ballistic when he woke up and saw his pistol in pieces on the table.)
I was a scrawny PFC at the time and shooting the .45 one-handed in the classic stance (which I only knew from pictures) left me quite intimidated by the recoil and torque. I couldn't imagine how anyone could shoot these things with any degree of accuracy. (My carry pistol today is either my Coonan or my Ruger SR1911 10mm)
Switching over to the M16 I had a great deal of fun blasting through magazine after magazine. Accuracy was not our goal so speed was the game of the day. Full auto was strictly prohibited.
At one time I took a break and spent my time reloading a ton of magazines with some of my scope-dope buddy's.
Back at the line I ran through another magazine when our Battery Commander and our LT stopped next to me. I can't remember the BC's name but he asked if he could run a magazine through my rifle. He ran the magazine dry and then handed the rifle back to me. Me, being the not-particularly-well-versed-in-handling-hot-firearms person I was at the time grabbed the weapon by the barrel and promptly let out a loud "Woooooooo!" and dropped the rifle on the ground between us.
The captain and LT both looked at me for a moment and then the LT calmly asked, "Are you okay Fulwood?" I replied, "Yes I am. Thank you Sir." But they probably didn't understand me because I was so busy trying to stuff my hand in my mouth. Needless to say I was finished shooting for the day.
D-2/52 was my first duty station and I have good memories of that swampy Mosquito infested place.
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