Rifles New Friend

Taking a breather from a sometimes tedious sometimes uncertain week of training I am able to collect my thoughts and look back on the highlights of the week. The first is receiving my rifles new best friend the ACOG. An ACOG is an Advanced Combat Optical Gun-sight and it is the first time in my Marine Corps career I have ever had a weapon with optics. At first glance it is a good piece of gear and after firing a couple hundred rounds through my rifle while using it I have attained a level of confidence. It’s funny when I think that at first I was untrusting of this new technology. After all, Marines have been using iron sights in combat for centuries so why would we need something new? There is another peculiarity that makes sense but is difficult at first to get used to. While using this sight you shoot with both eyes open. To some this may not make any sense but to those in the “know” precision shooting requires the use of your dominant eye while you simply close the other one and line up you sights. For many this was a tough practice to get used to but it actually makes perfect sense. In combat you need peripheral vision in order to see your surroundings and be able to differentiate a target from a non-target (read: civilian without a gun). After spending sometime with this new contraption Marines where actually becoming comfortable and gaining confidence in their ability to use the ACOG.

The second highlight of the week was watching the Marines in my detachment work together cohesively and precisely. Many of the urban combat concepts we learned\re-learned this week were concepts or practices that are perishable. That’s to say if you don’t use it, you lose it. Some were new developments borne out of the combat reports and lessons learned from Iraq’s own urban combat zones. I was amazed to see my Marines go from crawling to running with these newly taught skills in a few short hours and I was honored to be a member of the “team”. Folks let me just tell you that you have a fine generation of volunteers and they take their jobs seriously. I am amazed at the tenacity and work ethic of my younger brethren and proud to be one of their leaders.

The one highlight that made all the hard work, frustration, and boredom worth it all this week was coming home. My wife and children are the emotional and psychological recharging apparatus to my life battery. Hearing my children scream “Daddy” over and over when I pulled into the driveway brought feelings of elation, happiness and pride that only a parent knows. I have said it before and I will say it again, I am a thrice blessed man.