"Yes, he just got here...yup, he would be happy to do it!...Yes (spells my last name slowly)" My sergeant walks over to me, "You got a detail next week, you get to be ammo duty at the range".
Now, I did ammo duty a lot in basic training. It's pretty easy, figure out how many people are firing and fill all their magazines with rounds so they can just walk up, grab their magazines and start shooting. I had to be at the Special Troops Battalion (STB) building at 0500 on the 26th.
Back in the rear (CONUS, America, home) we don't have any details. No staff duty, no cleaning duty, no range detail...we can just come in and do our work and leave. However, when we are in Kuwait, ammo detail is the ONLY thing we have to do. Because I just got here I'm sure my office was more than happy to elect me. That's fine though, it's not hard and I get to play soldier for a day out in the desert.
It's Jan 26th and I roll out of bed at 0415. I get out my IOTV, ACH, eye pro, ear pro, first aid kit and make sure all of my plates are adjusted. The IOTV is the army's fancy acronym for bullet proof vest, ACH is an "action combat helmet". When all my gear is worn it probably puts an extra 15 pounds on. So, I get all dressed up and make it to STB at about 0450. I wait...and wait...and wait. Around 0515 a sergeant shows up and asks me if I already got breakfast. When I say I've been here since 0450 he asked why I didn't receive the message that we were to eat at the DFAC and to report at 0545. Great... so I walk over to the DFAC, get a quick breakfast and some much needed coffee in me and make it back by the time to leave.
To get to the range we had to take a series of weird back roads and go through a few gates. Finally we got to a very high fence and we had to have been about a mile off the Camp, but not outside the perimeter. Someone in the truck in front of us opened the gate and they posted an armed guard, we passed through and went off road until we reached the range. The whole area was about a square mile with sand berms built up about 30 feet on all sides. There was a parking lot and the little ammo shack and, of course, the range itself. The range consisted of about 25 lanes and it was a 25 meter range to shoot paper targets. The weather wasn't too bad. It was a comfortable 50 degrees with a slight breeze and we started filling the magazines for the M9's.
The M9 is your basic 9mm handgun, filled with 9mm rounds. Each person was to get 4 rounds for familiarization and 2 10 round magazines for qualification. We had 25 shooters that day, so that meant 75 magazines filled and they were arriving in about an hour. We cracked open the ammo crates and started the tedious process of filling each magazine as prescribed. After about 45 minutes and some cut up and sore fingers, we got it done. Just in time as a bus-load of soldiers unloaded and got their initial range briefing.
The only bad thing was during the past hour the wind REALLY kicked up and was throwing sand everywhere. At least 25mph sustained with gusts into the mid 30's, what a bad day to have to shoot! Also, what a bad day to have to fill ammo. The ammo shack had only two walls and unfortunately they were facing the wrong way. It created a wind tunnel effect and the wind just screamed through that little shack. I felt like I was in a sandblaster. The whole operation became a complete mess. People were complaining that they couldn't see targets, rounds were getting blown all over the place in the ammo shack. I took a few of the ammo crates and built a little wall on my table which stopped the wind from blowing all of my rounds to the floor.
While the soldiers were firing M9's we got a start on the massive amount of M16 magazines we had to fill. The M16 firers received 6 3 round magazines for zeroing and two 20 round magazines for qualification. With 70 something soldiers qualifying on the M16 that meant more magazines to fill than we had on the range.
The wind was tearing through the range still and I was becoming cold and miserable, as well as sore from the weight of my gear I had on. It really upset me when I saw the NCO in charge of the range hanging out in her truck with her friends having a good ol' time. Heat was on, music was loud and they were all dancing. REALLY? What a horrible way to set an example to everyone else of what kind of leader you are. If you are put in charge it's only fair you are out there sucking it with everyone else!
We filled all the magazines we had and sat back and shivered as we watched the first round of soldiers qualify on M16s. After some time enough used magazines came back to us so we could fill the remaining soldiers ammo. I could see everything slowly fall apart from this point forward. The people controlling the tower (soldiers who direct the firing the range) were getting short with the soldiers trying to shoot because the safety's weren't doing their job. The NCO in charge wasn't taking charge so a lot of the people on the detail were just winging it and not communicating with other areas of the detail. That resulted in soldiers just standing there, not firing and not doing anything for long periods because the tower wasn't telling them what to do.
When on the range, the person with all of the control is the tower. The tower tells you when to come onto the range, when to go "hot" (off safety) when to fire, when to stop, when to check your paper you fired at, and when to exit. I don't know if the tower guys were getting frustrated so they decided to drag everything out and purposely take forever or what the deal was, but it was lunchtime and the first round of M16 firers hadn't finished and a huge group waiting to fire next was stuck outside in the cold sandstorm with us.
FINALLY about noon somebody brought pizza, of course we could only have 2 pieces. Ugh. I scarfed my pizza then continued filling magazines until finally everything was set up for the second round of M16 firers. Again, more waiting in the miserable conditions and I got to watch the NCOIC just hanging out in her truck with her friends. In another truck next to them there were people in there that hadn't even come out when we first got there! Why were they even in there? Why weren't they helping us cold people and rotating in and out of the warm vehicles so everyone could have some warmth. I had sand in my nose, ears, mouth and in my teeth. I would have to wash out my mouth with a bottle of water here and there because I was feeling sick from literally eating sand. I remember wondering to myself what would be worse. Being out there in the cold sandstorm, or being out there in July when it was 120 with humidity. I decided I would have rather taken the cold sandstorm and felt a little better about my situation.
I remembered how in basic training 200+ soldiers would qualify in a matter of 6 hours, I didn't understand how only 70 soldiers could take over 8. It was 1630 when the last two soldiers finally qualified. Everyone was tired and crabby. I helped with all of the loading back onto the trucks, cleaning up the shells (brass) from the sand around the range and the final sweep. Now, the final sweep up was a little comedic. We actually had to sweep the sand from the concrete where the firers stood. So, we would sweep it into piles and someone would shovel it up and throw it back onto the range, where, inevitably, it would blow right back in our faces and back onto the concrete. At that point we were all so miserable (except the one in charge...in her truck) it was just funny how crappy that detail was. I got a ride back to STB from an annoying young soldier and a female he was trying to impress by driving the truck like a maniac off road and listening to loud music. I wanted to beat the crap out of him, but I figured it wouldn't be the best idea.
I got out of the truck and walked to my office and I didn't have to say a word. "Wow...go take a shower and get some sleep soldier" my sergeant said to me. I took probably the longest and most deserved hot shower in the history of showers, had some dinner and relaxed in bed. I was so glad to finally be in a better room at that point.
The whole detail took 10 hours but what are you going to do. I figure whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger right? If anything I hope that everyone out on that detail learned something so next time it runs smoother. I know senior NCO's saw the NCO in charge not really doing anything so she will get what she deserves. I guess I felt like I earned my deployment patch that day. I worked outside for 10 hours in a sand storm, wearing my battle gear, not eating much food and feeling miserable most of the time. All while live ammunition was being fired all around me. It's the closest I ever want to get to true combat.
Now, I did ammo duty a lot in basic training. It's pretty easy, figure out how many people are firing and fill all their magazines with rounds so they can just walk up, grab their magazines and start shooting. I had to be at the Special Troops Battalion (STB) building at 0500 on the 26th.
Back in the rear (CONUS, America, home) we don't have any details. No staff duty, no cleaning duty, no range detail...we can just come in and do our work and leave. However, when we are in Kuwait, ammo detail is the ONLY thing we have to do. Because I just got here I'm sure my office was more than happy to elect me. That's fine though, it's not hard and I get to play soldier for a day out in the desert.
It's Jan 26th and I roll out of bed at 0415. I get out my IOTV, ACH, eye pro, ear pro, first aid kit and make sure all of my plates are adjusted. The IOTV is the army's fancy acronym for bullet proof vest, ACH is an "action combat helmet". When all my gear is worn it probably puts an extra 15 pounds on. So, I get all dressed up and make it to STB at about 0450. I wait...and wait...and wait. Around 0515 a sergeant shows up and asks me if I already got breakfast. When I say I've been here since 0450 he asked why I didn't receive the message that we were to eat at the DFAC and to report at 0545. Great... so I walk over to the DFAC, get a quick breakfast and some much needed coffee in me and make it back by the time to leave.
To get to the range we had to take a series of weird back roads and go through a few gates. Finally we got to a very high fence and we had to have been about a mile off the Camp, but not outside the perimeter. Someone in the truck in front of us opened the gate and they posted an armed guard, we passed through and went off road until we reached the range. The whole area was about a square mile with sand berms built up about 30 feet on all sides. There was a parking lot and the little ammo shack and, of course, the range itself. The range consisted of about 25 lanes and it was a 25 meter range to shoot paper targets. The weather wasn't too bad. It was a comfortable 50 degrees with a slight breeze and we started filling the magazines for the M9's.
The M9 is your basic 9mm handgun, filled with 9mm rounds. Each person was to get 4 rounds for familiarization and 2 10 round magazines for qualification. We had 25 shooters that day, so that meant 75 magazines filled and they were arriving in about an hour. We cracked open the ammo crates and started the tedious process of filling each magazine as prescribed. After about 45 minutes and some cut up and sore fingers, we got it done. Just in time as a bus-load of soldiers unloaded and got their initial range briefing.
The only bad thing was during the past hour the wind REALLY kicked up and was throwing sand everywhere. At least 25mph sustained with gusts into the mid 30's, what a bad day to have to shoot! Also, what a bad day to have to fill ammo. The ammo shack had only two walls and unfortunately they were facing the wrong way. It created a wind tunnel effect and the wind just screamed through that little shack. I felt like I was in a sandblaster. The whole operation became a complete mess. People were complaining that they couldn't see targets, rounds were getting blown all over the place in the ammo shack. I took a few of the ammo crates and built a little wall on my table which stopped the wind from blowing all of my rounds to the floor.
While the soldiers were firing M9's we got a start on the massive amount of M16 magazines we had to fill. The M16 firers received 6 3 round magazines for zeroing and two 20 round magazines for qualification. With 70 something soldiers qualifying on the M16 that meant more magazines to fill than we had on the range.
The wind was tearing through the range still and I was becoming cold and miserable, as well as sore from the weight of my gear I had on. It really upset me when I saw the NCO in charge of the range hanging out in her truck with her friends having a good ol' time. Heat was on, music was loud and they were all dancing. REALLY? What a horrible way to set an example to everyone else of what kind of leader you are. If you are put in charge it's only fair you are out there sucking it with everyone else!
We filled all the magazines we had and sat back and shivered as we watched the first round of soldiers qualify on M16s. After some time enough used magazines came back to us so we could fill the remaining soldiers ammo. I could see everything slowly fall apart from this point forward. The people controlling the tower (soldiers who direct the firing the range) were getting short with the soldiers trying to shoot because the safety's weren't doing their job. The NCO in charge wasn't taking charge so a lot of the people on the detail were just winging it and not communicating with other areas of the detail. That resulted in soldiers just standing there, not firing and not doing anything for long periods because the tower wasn't telling them what to do.
When on the range, the person with all of the control is the tower. The tower tells you when to come onto the range, when to go "hot" (off safety) when to fire, when to stop, when to check your paper you fired at, and when to exit. I don't know if the tower guys were getting frustrated so they decided to drag everything out and purposely take forever or what the deal was, but it was lunchtime and the first round of M16 firers hadn't finished and a huge group waiting to fire next was stuck outside in the cold sandstorm with us.
FINALLY about noon somebody brought pizza, of course we could only have 2 pieces. Ugh. I scarfed my pizza then continued filling magazines until finally everything was set up for the second round of M16 firers. Again, more waiting in the miserable conditions and I got to watch the NCOIC just hanging out in her truck with her friends. In another truck next to them there were people in there that hadn't even come out when we first got there! Why were they even in there? Why weren't they helping us cold people and rotating in and out of the warm vehicles so everyone could have some warmth. I had sand in my nose, ears, mouth and in my teeth. I would have to wash out my mouth with a bottle of water here and there because I was feeling sick from literally eating sand. I remember wondering to myself what would be worse. Being out there in the cold sandstorm, or being out there in July when it was 120 with humidity. I decided I would have rather taken the cold sandstorm and felt a little better about my situation.
I remembered how in basic training 200+ soldiers would qualify in a matter of 6 hours, I didn't understand how only 70 soldiers could take over 8. It was 1630 when the last two soldiers finally qualified. Everyone was tired and crabby. I helped with all of the loading back onto the trucks, cleaning up the shells (brass) from the sand around the range and the final sweep. Now, the final sweep up was a little comedic. We actually had to sweep the sand from the concrete where the firers stood. So, we would sweep it into piles and someone would shovel it up and throw it back onto the range, where, inevitably, it would blow right back in our faces and back onto the concrete. At that point we were all so miserable (except the one in charge...in her truck) it was just funny how crappy that detail was. I got a ride back to STB from an annoying young soldier and a female he was trying to impress by driving the truck like a maniac off road and listening to loud music. I wanted to beat the crap out of him, but I figured it wouldn't be the best idea.
I got out of the truck and walked to my office and I didn't have to say a word. "Wow...go take a shower and get some sleep soldier" my sergeant said to me. I took probably the longest and most deserved hot shower in the history of showers, had some dinner and relaxed in bed. I was so glad to finally be in a better room at that point.
The whole detail took 10 hours but what are you going to do. I figure whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger right? If anything I hope that everyone out on that detail learned something so next time it runs smoother. I know senior NCO's saw the NCO in charge not really doing anything so she will get what she deserves. I guess I felt like I earned my deployment patch that day. I worked outside for 10 hours in a sand storm, wearing my battle gear, not eating much food and feeling miserable most of the time. All while live ammunition was being fired all around me. It's the closest I ever want to get to true combat.
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