thedrifter
01-30-07, 08:17 AM
Rifle realism
Table 2 score to count for more
By Christian Lowe - Staff writer
Posted : February 05, 2007
They brought it on in ’05 to put reality back into the rifle qualification. And from Day 1, it’s been a big hit with most Marines.
With shorter shooting distances, movement, different stances and a full combat load, the new Marine Corps Combat Marksmanship Program’s shooting tables are more representative of the kind of gunplay grunts, clerks, drivers and gate guards are likely to encounter in insurgent-infested Iraq.
And it’s going to get even more serious.
Starting Oct. 1, a leatherneck’s rifle qualification score will be determined using his known-distance range performance and the field firing stats from the more realistic Table 2 — which includes firing at multiple targets at short ranges wearing combat gear. Previously, a Marine’s score was based on the known-distance range; the more-realistic Table 2 results were pass/fail.
“Table” is the term marksmanship experts use to describe the steps needed to complete evaluation of certain shooting skills.
“Marines should be capable of producing a score to a certain skill level through basic combat shooting skills, and that should be part of their [qualification] score also,” said Chief Warrant Officer 5 Daniel Luke, the Corps’ top range officer.
“If we consider a Marine to be qualified now with his weapon system, he should not only be evaluated, but that evaluation should be part of the qualification process.”
In addition, marksmanship gurus are working to make a Marine’s performance on Table 3 shooting — unit-scheduled firing using night optics and tests of technical shooting skills, such as pivots and head shots, that every Marine must complete yearly — more significant by reporting the results up the Marine’s chain of command. If you don’t do well, your commanding officer will know about it, and it will mean spending time on remedial training.
“The skills in Table 3 will also be evaluated,” Luke said. “Right now, it’s set up so the score is reported locally to the commander who is conducting the training. That gives him exactly what he needs to know about how well his unit is capable of performing with the technology, and it also tells him where he’s strong and where he’s weak.”
Eventually, Luke plans to make Table 3 results part of each Marine’s basic training record, which would put the scores in front of even more commanders up the chain.
These latest details on changes to the annual rifle qualification come more than one year after the Corps implemented tougher standards and new tests meant to make rifle training more representative of combat. The Corps’ range officers and other marksmanship experts convened in late September in Quantico, Va., to discuss changes to the shooting qualification programs and to make sure the new plan was working out.
“When we developed the program this quickly, we decided we would need an early review of statistics and how well the training was delivering a product we were looking for,” Luke said.
It’s about the score
The range officers and gunners who met in September came up with a few minor tweaks to the qualification program, but the big enchilada is the inclusion of Table 2 shots in the qualification score.
Until now, Table 2 affected a Marine’s score only by reducing it automatically to 190 — the minimum passing rifle score — if the Marine failed the Table 2 shooting tests, where shooters must, for example, drop to a knee from a standing position during firing while shooting controlled pairs and head shots at 25 yards.
If you failed this portion of the rifle qual week, it sure looked bad and it dropped your known-distance Table 1 score, but that was it. Now, though, when marksmanship officials get their way, every shot will count — and not just for bragging rights.
Range officers are in the midst of developing a scoring system and implementation plan for the new qualification standards. In the current setup, the scores for Table 2 shooting are compiled as a percentage of hits on a target to determine if a Marine passed or failed. But marksmanship officials want a more precise scoring system that’ll give points.
“We have to write the changes into our lesson plans, our training package and our course of fire,” Luke said. “Then, we have to develop an implementation plan for these changes.”
Marksmanship experts are finishing the qualification changes, which could mean the new scheme will be put in place sooner rather than later.
The range officers also decided to change a few of the skills taught and tested during Tables 1 and 2. First, marksmanship officials have moved the magazine exchange instruction taught during the known-distance firing days to the field-firing portion. Since you’re going to get tested on the magazine exchange — tactical and speed reloads — during Table 2, experts figured it made more sense to teach those skills then.
The range officers also opted to keep so-called “hammer pairs” out of Table 2 and push them to the more advanced, unit-directed Table 3 evaluations. Instead, Table 2 will cover “controlled pair” shooting in which a Marine will sight in on his target, fire once, sight in again and fire one more round instead of firing a “hammer pair” of two rounds per sight picture.
More realistic
Although range officers are still working on their scoring plan for Table 2 and how the two tables’ scores will combine for an overall rifle qual, they have some idea of how the system will work.
During the field-firing portion, Marines will have to wear their minimum combat gear, including helmet, body armor, Corps-issued “magazine retention devices” or mag pouches and three-point slings. Leathernecks will fire the weapon they would be issued in combat, including the M4, M16A2 and M16A4, or their M16 with M203 grenade launcher attached. No specialized rifles, such as the match-barreled Designated Marksman Rifle, will be allowed.
Unlike the Table 1 firing on the known distance range, where Marines are required to fire from 200, 300 and 500 yards in slow progression, Table 2 tests Marines’ shooting ability at ranges between 25 and 100 yards.
The Table 2 qualification will be scored out of 100 points, with anywhere from a 50 to 62 as a minimum passing score, depending on what the range officers and gunners agree to. The targets will have a 10-inch diameter circle indicating the “center mass” of a potential enemy, marked in brighter colors to make it more obvious than previous targets.
“We want them to see where we want them to hit,” Luke explained.
Shots inside the ring will be scored two points each; shots outside the circle but on the target will count as one point. Scores from Tables 1 and 2 will be combined to determine a Marine’s yearly rifle qualification.
Whereas the field-firing days may once have been a fun way to cap off a week of qualification — an event only about 2 percent of Marines tested fail — now it’s for real.
The best thing you can do to prepare is to take your pre-qualification training seriously, arrange your gear properly so it doesn’t inhibit your accuracy and practice.
“The training program was a windfall. It wasn’t just embraced, the Marines loved it,” Luke said of the new combat marksmanship program. “They not only loved the training, but they appreciate what they get out of the training.”
Ellie
Table 2 score to count for more
By Christian Lowe - Staff writer
Posted : February 05, 2007
They brought it on in ’05 to put reality back into the rifle qualification. And from Day 1, it’s been a big hit with most Marines.
With shorter shooting distances, movement, different stances and a full combat load, the new Marine Corps Combat Marksmanship Program’s shooting tables are more representative of the kind of gunplay grunts, clerks, drivers and gate guards are likely to encounter in insurgent-infested Iraq.
And it’s going to get even more serious.
Starting Oct. 1, a leatherneck’s rifle qualification score will be determined using his known-distance range performance and the field firing stats from the more realistic Table 2 — which includes firing at multiple targets at short ranges wearing combat gear. Previously, a Marine’s score was based on the known-distance range; the more-realistic Table 2 results were pass/fail.
“Table” is the term marksmanship experts use to describe the steps needed to complete evaluation of certain shooting skills.
“Marines should be capable of producing a score to a certain skill level through basic combat shooting skills, and that should be part of their [qualification] score also,” said Chief Warrant Officer 5 Daniel Luke, the Corps’ top range officer.
“If we consider a Marine to be qualified now with his weapon system, he should not only be evaluated, but that evaluation should be part of the qualification process.”
In addition, marksmanship gurus are working to make a Marine’s performance on Table 3 shooting — unit-scheduled firing using night optics and tests of technical shooting skills, such as pivots and head shots, that every Marine must complete yearly — more significant by reporting the results up the Marine’s chain of command. If you don’t do well, your commanding officer will know about it, and it will mean spending time on remedial training.
“The skills in Table 3 will also be evaluated,” Luke said. “Right now, it’s set up so the score is reported locally to the commander who is conducting the training. That gives him exactly what he needs to know about how well his unit is capable of performing with the technology, and it also tells him where he’s strong and where he’s weak.”
Eventually, Luke plans to make Table 3 results part of each Marine’s basic training record, which would put the scores in front of even more commanders up the chain.
These latest details on changes to the annual rifle qualification come more than one year after the Corps implemented tougher standards and new tests meant to make rifle training more representative of combat. The Corps’ range officers and other marksmanship experts convened in late September in Quantico, Va., to discuss changes to the shooting qualification programs and to make sure the new plan was working out.
“When we developed the program this quickly, we decided we would need an early review of statistics and how well the training was delivering a product we were looking for,” Luke said.
It’s about the score
The range officers and gunners who met in September came up with a few minor tweaks to the qualification program, but the big enchilada is the inclusion of Table 2 shots in the qualification score.
Until now, Table 2 affected a Marine’s score only by reducing it automatically to 190 — the minimum passing rifle score — if the Marine failed the Table 2 shooting tests, where shooters must, for example, drop to a knee from a standing position during firing while shooting controlled pairs and head shots at 25 yards.
If you failed this portion of the rifle qual week, it sure looked bad and it dropped your known-distance Table 1 score, but that was it. Now, though, when marksmanship officials get their way, every shot will count — and not just for bragging rights.
Range officers are in the midst of developing a scoring system and implementation plan for the new qualification standards. In the current setup, the scores for Table 2 shooting are compiled as a percentage of hits on a target to determine if a Marine passed or failed. But marksmanship officials want a more precise scoring system that’ll give points.
“We have to write the changes into our lesson plans, our training package and our course of fire,” Luke said. “Then, we have to develop an implementation plan for these changes.”
Marksmanship experts are finishing the qualification changes, which could mean the new scheme will be put in place sooner rather than later.
The range officers also decided to change a few of the skills taught and tested during Tables 1 and 2. First, marksmanship officials have moved the magazine exchange instruction taught during the known-distance firing days to the field-firing portion. Since you’re going to get tested on the magazine exchange — tactical and speed reloads — during Table 2, experts figured it made more sense to teach those skills then.
The range officers also opted to keep so-called “hammer pairs” out of Table 2 and push them to the more advanced, unit-directed Table 3 evaluations. Instead, Table 2 will cover “controlled pair” shooting in which a Marine will sight in on his target, fire once, sight in again and fire one more round instead of firing a “hammer pair” of two rounds per sight picture.
More realistic
Although range officers are still working on their scoring plan for Table 2 and how the two tables’ scores will combine for an overall rifle qual, they have some idea of how the system will work.
During the field-firing portion, Marines will have to wear their minimum combat gear, including helmet, body armor, Corps-issued “magazine retention devices” or mag pouches and three-point slings. Leathernecks will fire the weapon they would be issued in combat, including the M4, M16A2 and M16A4, or their M16 with M203 grenade launcher attached. No specialized rifles, such as the match-barreled Designated Marksman Rifle, will be allowed.
Unlike the Table 1 firing on the known distance range, where Marines are required to fire from 200, 300 and 500 yards in slow progression, Table 2 tests Marines’ shooting ability at ranges between 25 and 100 yards.
The Table 2 qualification will be scored out of 100 points, with anywhere from a 50 to 62 as a minimum passing score, depending on what the range officers and gunners agree to. The targets will have a 10-inch diameter circle indicating the “center mass” of a potential enemy, marked in brighter colors to make it more obvious than previous targets.
“We want them to see where we want them to hit,” Luke explained.
Shots inside the ring will be scored two points each; shots outside the circle but on the target will count as one point. Scores from Tables 1 and 2 will be combined to determine a Marine’s yearly rifle qualification.
Whereas the field-firing days may once have been a fun way to cap off a week of qualification — an event only about 2 percent of Marines tested fail — now it’s for real.
The best thing you can do to prepare is to take your pre-qualification training seriously, arrange your gear properly so it doesn’t inhibit your accuracy and practice.
“The training program was a windfall. It wasn’t just embraced, the Marines loved it,” Luke said of the new combat marksmanship program. “They not only loved the training, but they appreciate what they get out of the training.”
Ellie