SAN DIEGO -- The saying goes ‘practice makes perfect,’ and through repetition and reiteration, actions soon become second nature.
Recruits of Golf Company, 2nd Recruit Training Battalion, spent time learning the fundamentals of Marine Corps marksmanship during Grass Week at Edson Range, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., March 18.
Grass Week is the part of recruit training when recruits learn the basics of marksmanship and functions of the rifle, such as how to load, unload and fire the M16-A4 Service Rifle.
Each platoon within the company was assigned a primary marksmanship instructor and given instruction on proper usage and operation of the weapon before the recruits qualify at Edson Range the following week.
“Recruits come through recruit training all of the time thinking that they’re still back at home shooting a different weapon however they want,” said Staff Sgt. Christopher E. May, drill instructor, Golf Company. “They have incorrect fundamentals, try to muscle the weapon and some habits of their own. This is why Grass Week is put into recruit training, to strip the recruits of the bad habits and teach them the right ones.”
Throughout Grass Week, PMIs teach recruits trigger control, sight picture, breathing control, sight alignment and natural point of aim. These basic fundamentals pave the way for recruits to become proficient and leave the range as either marksmen, sharpshooters or experts.
Each platoon had an outdoor classroom and area to conduct practical application. There are four primary positions recruits shoot in while at recruit training: standing, kneeling, sitting and prone. The recruits are given time to snap in, or time to practice the different position and fundamentals they were taught. During this time, recruits spend hours aiming at barrels with targets painted on them that simulate what the targets look like from different yard lines.
“Marksmanship is the bread and butter of the Marine Corps and in my opinion it is one of the most important things recruits learn while they are here in recruit training,” said May, a native of Hardy, Ark. “The principles they learn from marksmanship, like looking down the scope and waiting for the perfect moment, tie into other aspects of being a Marine.”
Recruits are given weapons during the first week with their drill instructors, who teach them how to carry it, assemble and dissemble it for cleaning and maintenance purposes as well as instilling the four weapons safety rules.
Like any machine, there is a possibility that a weapon could malfunction while at the range. To correct those issues, PMIs also taught recruits remedial action, which is the method used to getting the rifle to fire properly.
With the basic marksmanship fundamentals in hand, recruits of Company G will move on to Firing Week when they will put what they learned to use and qualify with the Marine Corps’ service rifle.