It is the second day of Capstone, and 10:27 in the morning. I am out at the rifle range, and just finished zeroing my M-16. I decided to adjust my firing technique from what I had been doing in basic training, moving the rear sight away from my face. I really didn't want to get another black eye!
I actually ended up firing a lot better this way. On my last clip, I even got all of my shots in the same hole. Maybe I'll do better when I qualify next time.
We began the Capstone field exercise yesterday. We initially met in a gym and had to be separated into two groups of about 35 people each. You were either assigned to a site called D-MAIN or D-TAC (the former was co-ed, and the latter males only). We rode a bus out to our site (I am at D-MAIN) and set up cots in several large Army tents. Unlike basic training, we have the luxury of having a fan in our tent. Granted, it's still summer in Georgia, and will always be hot, but even having the hot air blow around does make a difference.
Even though we were split up, I'm still with a lot of folks from my class, which is a good thing. A lot of the other folks are younger kids with a short MOS school (5 weeks compared to our 20+ weeks). I don't think they've quite gotten out of the basic training-mindset, because they are treating me with respect, addressing me by my rank, and even occasionally going to the rank of parade rest with their hands interlocked behind their backs. I suspect that some of these folks with shorter AITs haven't had a lot of E-4s around... it's a little weird. Someone remarked that maybe the people coming into the Army with college and higher ranks are choosing longer, more technical AITs. Maybe there is some validity to that notion, I don't know.
I actually ended up firing a lot better this way. On my last clip, I even got all of my shots in the same hole. Maybe I'll do better when I qualify next time.
We began the Capstone field exercise yesterday. We initially met in a gym and had to be separated into two groups of about 35 people each. You were either assigned to a site called D-MAIN or D-TAC (the former was co-ed, and the latter males only). We rode a bus out to our site (I am at D-MAIN) and set up cots in several large Army tents. Unlike basic training, we have the luxury of having a fan in our tent. Granted, it's still summer in Georgia, and will always be hot, but even having the hot air blow around does make a difference.
Even though we were split up, I'm still with a lot of folks from my class, which is a good thing. A lot of the other folks are younger kids with a short MOS school (5 weeks compared to our 20+ weeks). I don't think they've quite gotten out of the basic training-mindset, because they are treating me with respect, addressing me by my rank, and even occasionally going to the rank of parade rest with their hands interlocked behind their backs. I suspect that some of these folks with shorter AITs haven't had a lot of E-4s around... it's a little weird. Someone remarked that maybe the people coming into the Army with college and higher ranks are choosing longer, more technical AITs. Maybe there is some validity to that notion, I don't know.
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