Re: Experience and Training

From: "Glenn M Wilson" <triphibious@juno.com>

> Active time:	7 years 3 months, 12 days (they counted for me) in USAF
as
> medic and (last three in Orthopedic Clinic sh redout) fired M-16 ONCE
> during basic in 1971 (four clips) - and they wouldn't even teach/let
us
> clean the things afterwards!!!

Bloody Hell. I got more training than that in the school cadet corps in
the
early 70s.

4 mags (120 rounds) with a Bren on moving targets, and 100 rounds with a
.303
Lee-Enfield date-stamped 1918 on static ones per year. I did rather
better
with
the Bren, "every shot a coconut" with usually a 3-round group in a
dinnerplate-sized
area of a mansized target exposed for 2 secs at 200 metres. There was
also
training
in 9mm Berettas at 25m, and 9mm Patchett (silenced SMG) at the same
distance, but
I didn't fire either. We also had demos of the L2A1 (Bipod Auto Rifle
version of the
SLR) and a .50 cal MG. Which was a BRUTE to carry, even with 4 men.

Heck, I can still remember "check-chop-check-chop-check" gas Stoppage
and
Immediate Action drill on the Bren, and used it on the range too, in a
30
second gap between target exposures. Far too accurate and slow-firing
for a squad automatic weapon, really too heavy for issue as a standard
rifle, but for reliability, sniping and stopping power even against
light armoured vehicles with AP ammo, it was brilliant.

Also cammo-and-concealment, map-reading, night-movement exercises,
platoon
and company attacks, contact-and-ambush drill, but mainly lots of
fieldcraft,
"battle handsignals", formations etc. 3-day patrols without re-supply,
where
we had to locate an enemy company-sized force, prepare and execute an
ambush
while evading detection (and with a 5km x 10 km area to cover with only
a
squad,
a compass, and a map). I learnt quickly that you cannot possibly carry
too
much water when operating in an Australian Summer. And that "light
infantry"
is likely to carry 60+ pounds of equipment, even on a short patrol like
this.

Fortunately Australian involvement in Vietnam ended 3 years before I
came of
an
age to take part. I would have been silly enough to volunteer. As it
was, I
transferred after my compulsory 2 years in the school army cadets to the
strictly-voluntary air force cadets, where I learnt about CBW,
escape-and-
evasion, and how to fly a glider. So of course, since then I've spent
much
of my working life on board submarines and destroyers :-)