FORT KNOX Ky.- How does the military make soldiers who are prepared for anything? The answer is simple, though the methods are not. Greatness is not acquired overnight. It requires preparation, training, and dedication.
Here, at Fort Knox Kentucky, Cadre are dedicated to strengthening, guiding, and training every Cadet to be the best representation of a soldier.
Today, the 2nd Regiment Advanced Camp trained on weapon qualifications at the George Blair range.
Cadet Joseph Beatrice speaks on Practice Qualifications for the 2nd Regiment Advanced Camp 2018. Photo By: Madison Thompson
What is weapon qualifications? Cadet Joseph Beatrice of the University of Cincinnati gave us some insight, “today we are qualifying on 300-meter range with the M481 weapon system. It’s a pop-range, so you go through three different iterations from three different firing positions– prone supported, prone unsupported, and kneeling. You fire at targets when they pop-up and watch them fall once you hit them.”
This training sounds quite similar to the training they were given at the Alt-C range so why train at the pop-up range as well?
Beatrice was happy to provide that answer as well. He continued, “The difference between the Alt-C and the pop-up range is the Alt-C is for qualification where the paper target is 25meters from you. The silhouettes of the targets are the same you would see on the 300meter range, except that they are scaled so they look the same way on the 300-meter range.”
“The difference in terms of execution is that on the Alt-C range, you’re only 25 meters away from your target so you can aim center mass of your target on every single target. On a 300-meter range, you have to take into account the rise and fall of the round. So, you have to aim low in the middle and center mass on either end. Again, you have to take into account physics when firing at your targets.”
The 2nd Regiment Advanced Camp practiced Weapons Qualifications at George Blair shooting range 2018. Photo by: Inayah Bolton
When asked why this training is particularly important for a solider to pass qualifications, Beatrice responded with, “This is important for our training because it’s an annual requirement for every soldier has to qualify, regardless of your MOS or job.
He added, “though practically, it’s because we are the army and we exist to fight our nation’s wars. If foreign policy were to ever fail, that’s when we come in and sometimes you’re going to have to know how to shoot the enemy, to put it bluntly.”
There you have it! These Cadets are preparing for greatness. Every detail of their summer training is part of the process that makes them great.
