Yesterday, I wrote about the close combat training that recruits get during weeks 5 through 9 of their training. Today I am going to share some information about the rifle training that takes place during the same time period.
Marines have included rifle training in their training program for a very long time. Some of the men who underwent that training back in 1942 talked about it in their yearbook. The following paragraphs offer a few of their recollections:
“Preliminary hours of instruction on posture, range, elevation, windage, trigger squeeze and score cards give way to actual hours of back straining practice on position, on proper adjustment of the rifle sling and on steady sighting and squeezing. Then the play is over and real bullets are fired…
“Many are the black eyes, bashed lips and puffed cheeks during those first few days when unwary candidates let the [rifle] slip out of their shoulder hollows and allow her to quick back.”
Every class learns about the newest types of weapons. Here is another entry in the same yearbook: “Ours was the first O.C. class to study and shoot the .45 caliber automatic pistol. We found that the .45 caliber pistol is a most difficult weapon with which to hit the black spot at fifty yards.”
After the recruits have learned how to use the rifle, then they begin the next four weeks of training. My next posts will deal with those weeks, and with their culmination.
