Successful Rifle Qualification Day!

First off, the video that disappeared for a couple of days is back up. Hopefully for good this time.

But the real news is that Lisa bounced back strong and scored really well on the Rifle Range. She is fully qualified now and would have a great chance at scoring the top level of Expert if not for failing the first time around. As painful as that was I know that she is stronger for having to go through that. Tomorrow is the second table where they shoot on the move and at moving targets. This score will get added on to her score from today. In case you missed it you can read about the whole process of rifle qualification in the Marines in my previous blog post.

I asked her what she found the easiest and most difficult. She said the easiest was by far the 200 meter stationary targets. The most difficult position is standing. In Lisa's words when "standing, you have no support and have to muscle the rifle." The other difficult exercise is rapid-fire shooting where the Marine is required to stand up, THEN jump back down, acquire the target and fire in a short amount of time. It is important though as it represents a typical combat situation where you have to quickly hit the deck and acquire your target. I think the heat at Twentynine Palms affects her later in the day. It is very exposed and they have to wear their sleeves down in temperatures that have been running over 100 degrees lately.

Far From Home

Saving Jane is an musical group that Lisa likes. I thought the lyrics from their song "Far From Home" would make a great video. I like to learn new things and this seemed like an opportunity to learn a new computer program.

Cheryl said I need to issue a Kleenex alert with this video so watch at your own risk. Actually I'm pretty happy with the way this came out. In addition to pictures from here in Oregon there are pictures from the Parris Island Recruit Depot, Camp Johnson (mechanics school) and Twentynine Palms Marine Corp Air Ground Combat Center (permanent duty station.)

Enjoy and feel free to share.