Range Time

Being a great teacher is something I admire as I am not the best coach.  Did have a small success with a very bad shooter years ago.

An Army Captain and aviator in my Engineer Group had a Marksman badge. He felt not having an Expert badge hurt his promotion prospects. I had an interest in helicopters. We worked out a trade; bootleg dual in a H-13 for shooting lessons.

One of the things that helped keep me sane was our Rod and Gun Club. We had access to a rifle range on Saturday afternoon and Sunday where we could shoot our privately owned firearms. We could also draw and shoot our assigned M-14s by jumping through some complicated hoops. Meant our Company Commander had to put his ass on the line. Thankfully, two of the three Company Commanders I served under had clangers. Via the Rod and Gun club, we could buy surplus, mainly Belgian, 7.62 NATO Ammo.


Started the Captain on a .22 rifle.  He had a horrid flinch. It took about six range sessions to overcome that. He was damn accurate when he didn’t flinch. Next, we started with my personal Mannlicher-Schoenerauer .308 with a set trigger and thick butt pad. The rifle was scoped. He would work on his form and sight picture while I would stand to the side and operate the trigger. Once he saw he could hit the targets, he gained confidence. Next, he started squeezing the trigger. With the set trigger, trigger pull was extremely light and, with the butt pad, recoil was tame. He  stopped flinching.

When we moved on to the M-14, used the same procedure. He would sight it and I would fire it. After two sessions, he took over the trigger. At the next qualification day, he shot Expert. He only made it by three or four rounds but he made it.

The rifle range was a lot of fun. A sergeant in my unit held a Distinguished Marksmanship Badge and was a regular Sunday shooter. He was also a great  coach and worked with me and the Captain. Most of what the Captain and I did was based on his suggestions. One thing he taught me was to hang a small plumb bob off the trigger guard to insure I had the correct vertical plane position. That eliminated many of my flyers.

Our range time was a carefully guarded privilege. No alcohol, no horseplay, not unsafe practices or you were out. No different spanks for different ranks. There was an O-6 member who backed the range master 100%.

Access to the H-13 was a problem. He had to have a solo mission and I needed to get off duty. Over a year, got about 10-12 hours dual. Big problem; could not master hovering in ground effect. Give the Captain credit, he tried. Even arranged for me to go with another pilot a couple of times. Probably for the best. 1966 might not be the best time to become an Army aviator. 

Helicopter Flying Story

A friend requested another flying story. This goes back to my few hours of bootleg dual helicopter lessons.

First, a bit of background. The Engineer Group I was part of had an Aviation Section. One of the pilots, a Captain, had serious career aspirations. He was embarrassed by his rifle qualification, Marksman, and was eager to qualify as Expert. He offered to give me unauthorized helicopter lessons for shooting instruction.

In every unit I served in, I was always one of the top three shooters. In one of the units, there was a Camp Perry champion. I couldn’t best him, but could hold my own. In high school, was in the NRA Junior program, and a state champion. My weakness was the near total inability the detect camouflage. Hell on paper.

We had Sunday access to a range and access to inexpensive, often free, ammo. Started the Captain on a .22 and started on his problems. His mechanics were all wrong, he had a serious flinch, and no grasp of “squeezing” the trigger. Took four sessions before he was ready for center fire. He used my personal rifle, a Model 39A Mannlicher Schoenauer .308, with a very thick butt pad. Four more sessions and he was ready for a M-14.
Two sessions with that and he was ready for qualification where he shot Expert. Not by much, but he made it.

My lessons were in an H-13. Ignorance is bliss. His first lesson was one power off autorotation after another. I didn‘t know their purpose was to scare me. In total, he was able to give me five lessons. I flat couldn’t master hovering; couldn’t even come close, and never got any better. I’m glad I had the opportunity. Later, I was encouraged to apply for the Warrant Officer program but was then a “short timer” and they couldn’t guarantee me fixed wing training.

Hope this wasn’t too boring. A word about the M-14. Whatever that weapon is today, the first ones the Army received were crappy. The balance was wrong. The stocks would break at the pistol grip. When they got hot in sustained fire, they jammed. Never fired a full auto M-14A. We weren’t issued the neat stuff, being Engineers.