Army Implements "weapons Immersion" Program

[ima45dv8]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060826/ap_on_...apons_immersion

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PETERSBURG, Va. - In the early months of the war in Iraq, Army Spc. Paul J. Sturino was getting ready for guard duty one day when another soldier accidentally fired a bullet into his neck.

"Somehow it went off," his mother Christine Wetzel said as she recounted the official reports documenting her 21-year-old son's death on Sept. 22, 2003.

"I just think we're sending young, young people into situations that they're not ready for," she said from her home in Rice Lake, Wis. "They're inexperienced with weapons. ... Things happen and we pay the price."

The Army has begun taking steps to reduce accidental discharges through a new weapons immersion program fully implemented this year throughout the Army's 16 training facilities.

Sturino, assigned to the 101st Airborne Division based at Fort Campbell, Ky., was one of 21 soldiers killed by accidental discharges in the combat zones of Iraq and Afghanistan since 2003, according to the Army's Combat Readiness Center. Eighty-nine others were injured.

"Losing one U.S. soldier because of a negligent discharge or not handling the weapon right is one too many," said Col. Paul Fortune, commander of the 23rd Quartermaster Brigade at Fort Lee, near Petersburg and 25 miles south of Richmond.

Under the new program, "We put the weapon in the hands of the soldier as soon as possible to give them an opportunity to be familiar with how the weapon operates," Fortune said.

Soldiers receive their M-16 rifles — and blank ammunition — on the third day of training and keep it with them for the next six to 12 weeks, depending on the length of training. The only time they do not have their weapons is when they enter chapels or clinics, or when the rifles are checked in for the weekend.

It's part of the "train as you fight" mentality that the Army hopes will keep soldiers safe.

Soldiers such as Pvt. Kenneth Dykeman, 21, of Portland, Ore., carry their gun to class, physical training and even have it nearby as they sleep. At night, Dykeman keeps his weapon under his mattress, with the rifle's magazine in his locker.

"Most likely we're going to Iraq, and when we get there, if you don't handle your weapon during training, you're going to forget," Dykeman said. "It helps you get closer to your weapon, know the characteristics, know what your rifle can do, so when you're out there in the field, you know how to keep yourself safe."

The program is significantly reducing negligent discharges, said Col. Kevin A. Shwedo, director of operations, plans and training for the Army Accessions Command. The average company used to experience about five negligent discharges every four hours. Now, he said, "if you hear a single discharge, that's a lot."

Even in the training environment, soldiers are required to keep a round of ammunition in their chambers and clear their guns before entering any building. Metal barrels filled with sand rest slanted on sandbags outside every building for soldiers to clear their weapons.

"It's a constant practice to teach them these rules and responsibilities," Fortune said before checking weapons at random in the cafeteria. "We want to teach them that there is no such thing as the front line."

In recent years, the only time soldiers at Fort Lee would see their weapons was when they practiced shooting. Commanders say the change reflects the need for soldiers to be ready to engage in the military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And Wetzel, who lost her son, agrees with that logic.

"I wholly endorse more contact with those weapons under safe circumstances ... to have more exposure to that weapon and more safety training," Wetzel said, adding that both of her sons had only one week of total weapon training when they entered the Army. "It should be second nature: safety first."

It took the Army until early 2005 to "come up with enough horsepower" to implement the program, Shwedo said. Officials ran into road blocks including finding enough weapons, ammunition and supplies, and Cold War-era regulations against putting weapons on training bases, he said.

"We have got to prepare every soldier for the possibility that they would go immediately in to fight," Shwedo said.

The program is part of the Army's new initiative to make training more relevant and apply lessons learned from troops coming back from deployment.

"We save lives every day that we train soldiers how to properly handle their weapons," he said.

Edited August 27, 2006 by ima45dv8

[Wakal]

If the military would actually teach safe gun handling instead of this "clearing barrel at every door" nonsense...

Load it, put it in the holster (or sling it) and don't touch the damn thing until you are ready to use it, no matter if you are in the chow hall or not. Most of the AD's I've been lectured about...ad nauseum...right after the incident...have been at the clearing barrel.

The other one was a idiot playing with his M9 while on a road trip and shooting a hole in the roof of the van

Just my opinion, of course.

Alex

[Vlad]

he average company used to experience about five negligent discharges every four hours.

Are you friking kidding me?

[John Dunn]

When I was in (88-94), there was no emphasis on gun safety at all. No concerns about muzzle control, I can't count the number of times I was swept on a daily basis. No one cared because the weapons were unloaded, we were rodded off every live fire range (that's where they shove a cleaning rod down the muzzle of your M-16 to ensure an empty chamber), then we'd form up and turn out our pockets to make certain nobody was swiping any live ammo. Once off a live fire range, it was SOP to handle the weapon with the same safety concerns as a squirt gun. No one cared about keeping fingers off the triggers.

I'm glad the Army recognizes the problem and is doing something.

[robomanusa]

When I was in (88-94), there was no emphasis on gun safety at all. No concerns about muzzle control, I can't count the number of times I was swept on a daily basis. No one cared because the weapons were unloaded, we were rodded off every live fire range (that's where they shove a cleaning rod down the muzzle of your M-16 to ensure an empty chamber), then we'd form up and turn out our pockets to make certain nobody was swiping any live ammo. Once off a live fire range, it was SOP to handle the weapon with the same safety concerns as a squirt gun. No one cared about keeping fingers off the triggers.

I'm glad the Army recognizes the problem and is doing something.

It's still the same way, though the shake downs after live fire arent as rough as they used to be.

Back in March of this year a private in the 82nd chemical at ft leonardwood was able to get 3 rounds back into the barracks. Once back he went to the latrine put his weapon on burst and fired 3 rounds thru his head.

[sturmruger]

It sounds like this is a step in the right direction. Good for the Army.

[latewatch]

I was in from 80-91 and a Ranger Instructor at Benning from 86-90. We used to beat weapons safety and trigger finger into the Ranger Students heads. We would usually get 1 negligent discharge with blanks per class while on patrol. We would then tell that knuckle head that he had just shot the man to his front or rear (which ever was the biggest). The Ranger that had the ND and his Ranger Buddy would then have to carry the "wounded man" and all his gear to the next rally point. Considering that the Rangers were already carrying about 80-100 lbs. of their own gear, when you add a 160-200 pound body and his 80-100 lbs of gear and some of the roughest terrain we could find, this was a very hard lesson to learn. You also got the peer pressure from your buddy because he had to suffer for your mistake too. Not to mention that this would sometimes also cause the leaders being graded to fail their graded patrol, this was a very big deal. After one incident the word would spread and that usually solved the problem. This is a fine example of the old adage, "the more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in combat".

Unfortunately, weapons training in the military has always been very limited outside of SpecOps units. Hopefully, the military is coming around some.

[hitman]

I feel sorry for his parents but this is what the anti-gun people have done to our military.

In basic there were 2 of us (out of 40) who knew gun and how to shoot, thats it.

I shot a perfect score 1st time through, the other guy missed 1.

The instructors didnt think we were capable of that and made both of us shoot for score a 2nd time. Both of us ran a perfect score.

We set for 8 hours while people shot and shot and shot trying to qualify.

I even had to teach a dril instructor how to disasimble the trigger group on the M16

When I got through the Q and assigned to a SF team the first thing I noticed was that these guys knew how to handle weapons safely and shoot effectively.

From what I saw of regular Army and forgein militay units I felt very thankful to be with my team.

[Wakal]

You should try the Air Farce sometime...oh, man...

I worked for a MSgt (about four years ago) who was required to go qualify with the M16. He asked me to coach him a bit before the AF's extensive (four hour, eighty round) qualification course because he hadn't even touched a M16 in twelve years.

Of course, while at that assignment I had the fun of teaching the entire band of low-brow pencil neck civilian idiots who "ran" Base Supply the difference between M16, M16A1, and M16A2. In their defense, the so-called Combat Arms troops didn't know the different between M16 and M16A1 either. Although the Supply podunks were required to order the M16 to M16A2 upgrade parts years before I took over the account...but didn't, and then lied about it. I started digging into it and was told that I didn't know what I was talking about. That didn't last long

At the time, thanks to them I had 48 M16 and 8 M16A2 on my weapons account, all ready to go to war (sigh), despite directives that clearly stated that M16 were not to be sent to the sandbox. Ever. Which made 48 of my rifles useless for their intended purpose.

Meanwhile, I ran monthly "this is the end the bullet comes out of" classes for all my folks in deployable billets, and offered all my (deploying) troops as much range time with my personal M16A2 and M4A1 shapes as they wanted. The so-called Combat Arms types had their shorts in a wad, but despite my Group's frequent begging and pleading were "too busy" to do the same. Go figure.

Of course, in a face-to-face conversation with the then-CMSgt of the AF, I got him red faced and spitting mad by asking when the Air Force would concentrate on...individual fighting skills. He told me that the "...Air Force is not a fighting force" and that "...we will train you if you need it."

And three years later, AF's sad excuse for Basic is extended to add some much-needed weapons training. And we have a new CMSgt of the AF; go figure.

Not that I'm bitter, but here in my current assignment I deal with nice folks with a badge consisting of a rifle and a wreath, and funny shoulder tags saying "Jellystone Park Ranger" (or something like that), or weird little green hats. Interesting times. I'm not looking forward to going back to the "real" Air Farce.

Alex

[Carl]

You should try the Air Farce sometime...oh, man...

Alex

I agree. I went through Air Force Basic in 1972, you'd think that they would have a little more training at that time . We shot 60 rounds, and I THINK we had 1 hour or so of classroom time (it was a few years ago) . I understand we were some of the last ones to actually shoot .223 rounds, aparently a little after us, they went to a .22 LR conversion.

Thank GOD someone is starting to think of actually training our guys. As has been said before, the anti-gun sentiment, has kept our young people from knowing anything about firearms.

Carl

[M118LR]

I have been the NCOIC of the Small Arms Readiness Training Section in the TX National Guard for 10 years now. That is one thing we cover when ever we give a class on any weapon and that is safe gun handling. In the last two years we have been running soliders though Close Quarter Marksmanship training and CQB training. Let me tell you when you do this type of training you have to keep tell soilder to be awareof where the MUZZLE is at all times. We ran over 1400 troops though the CQM and Live Fire shoot house. We only had one ND on the range. At least that soilder knew where the muzzle was and know one was hit.

It is about time that the Army is going to this type of training. In the TX National Guard we have be providing this training for sometime.