Fun Opportunity

I was recently afforded an outstanding opportunity. I was invited to go to the shooting range with a German Army team that is stationed near us.

I've had the opportunity to shoot a couple of the weapons that the Germans use in the past; however this was the first time I was able to shoot from such a variety. I shot the G-36 rifle, P-8 pistol, MG 3 and MG 4 machine guns, a machine pistol, a grenade launcher and a M-82 .50 caliber sniper rifle.

The machine guns were a treat to shoot. They are very smooth, with almost no recoil. The MG-3 has not been changed in 60 years. It is that well built and efficient. The MG-4 almost looks like a rifle. It can fire over 500 rounds per minute and it a dream to use.

There were 5 Americans there, including myself. We set up a little shooting competition with the Germans. We used their rifles and they used our M-4 rifles. While I shot pretty well, we ultimately lost with an overall score of 129-111. It was fun. While the G-36 is heavier than our M-4 rifles, it is very easy to shoot and the optical sights make aiming very easy.

Lastly, I was able to shoot a couple of rounds through the M-82 sniper rifle. This was a dream come true for me. I've always been interested in getting an opportunity to shoot this rifle. It is amazing to think about a man fired weapon using a .50 cal bullet and being able to accurately hit a target 1 mile away. It has a muzzle velocity of 3900 ft/sec. At that speed, a target would get hit over 1.5 seconds after the bullet was fired 1 mile distant. A target would be hit before the sound reached it. Of course that would not much matter because if anyone was hit with a bullet that large they would be torn in half. A .50 caliber bullet is 1/2 inch in diameter.

As you could probably tell, it snowed some recently. Mostly in the mountains. What we got did not stay around long. It made a pretty site though. I'm sure that the beauty will be lost on me as it gets colder and my thoughts focus on just staying warm! Soon though, I'll be with my family for some Leave time. I can't wait for that! I haven't seen my wife and daughter since July 22nd. It's a long time....

While we were there, the Afghan Army decided to show up. We still don't really know what they were doing. They just landed a helicopter right there next to us. Not sure why because the area we were in was very, very large. They had miles of space in which to land, but they chose the spot next to us. Once they landed, a platoon (about 20 soldiers) got out and formed a perimeter around the helicopter. The Helicopter then took off; leaving the men there.

We decided to ignore them and we continued to shoot. Being mindful, of course, of weapons safety. We could only hope that they were being safety minded as well. After about 10 minutes the Helicopter returned and the soldiers boarded the aircraft. The helicopter left and we did not see them again. Probably just some maneuvers of some kind.

I mentioned in a previous submission that I went to the embassy in Kabul to process my renewal of my passport. Well it's ready and I'm in Kabul now to pick it up. I'll write more later about how this trip went.

Take care......