Well, this weekend, in our ongoing efforts to ensure our safety during our stay here, we got to qualify on the M16A4. It's not the short, carbine M-4 you see most of the guys up in Iraq and Afghanistan carrying, but rather the full size M-16 with the rail system added on. The rail system is a series of ribs that allow you to mount sights, lights, and lasers on the weapon to make it easier to hit what you're aming at.

We spent the morning going over the equipment (it was brand new) and learning about the operation and setup of it all before heading out to the range to actuall zero and qualify.

It was our "virtual Saturday" that we had to fire, but if you have to spend your day off doing something, it might as well be shooting. It was also the first time I've shot since getting my "new eyes" last year...(LASIK surgery)...I wasn't disappointed.

Shooting first with our iron sights, I was able to zero in only 9 shots, and then we switched over to the Close Combat Optics (CCO) system. Basically, that's the "red dot" sight that, once it's zeroed in, all you have to do is put the red dot on the target, and theoretically, you'll hit it. All of the fundamentals still apply, though...you have to make sure you have a steady aiming position, good sight picture, breath control, and trigger squeeze.

We qualified, and then later on, got to use night vision devices and lasers to shoot targets at night. We used our SANG counterparts' pop up target range for the training...I was knocking the 150 to 250 meter targets down with no problem at all.

Oh yeah, the eyes are better, but the shooting isn't 27/40 hits. So, as long as there aren't more than 27 of them for every 40 shots, I'll be OK!