Basic Training at Ft. Polk,LA in August with the M-14
In 1968, as a result of the draft, I found myself in Basic Training @ Ft. Jackson, S.C. It is there that I first encountered the M-14. It's been a long time since but here's what I remember of that training & experience.
The rifle was heavy, especially since we had to force march with it with full backpacks and steel helmets (this was in the S.C. summer). There was no rubber butt plate...just a steel one that let your shoulder know it, after a day at the range. We fired it from various positions: including the prone, seated, standing and the squat. I remember that at the prone position the man-sized targets were far away...I think 300 yards. You could barely see it but you did eventually hit it. No scopes.
The most difficult position by far was the squatting one. I don't remember the distance but I do remember it was difficult to maintain a steady hold.
I've had a dozen or so rifles since then but can say if I were limited to 1 rifle I would choose the M14, perhaps because of my familiarity with it and what I learned it can do.
Of all the things I encountered during Basic, grenade throwing & shooting the M-14 were the most fun.
Backlighting, I can relate! Basic training, Fort Polk, LA, August and September, 1969. Carrying the M-14 in Central Louisiana 7 miles each way, full pack and kit, and steel helmet. Our DIs loved to double time 100, quick time 100 both ways.
The 9 pound weight helped absorb recoil, but I do remember the pounding we would take from that metal butt plate. The aperture front sight was surprisingly effective out to 300 meters. If I remember correctly, it was a course of fire from 50 to 300 meters, from standing, kneeling, and prone, slow-fire and rapid-fire.
I qualified expert on the M-14 at Ft. Polk in late August or early Sept. and also qualified expert o. The M-16 at Fort Rucker, AL in the Spring of 1969 during advanced helicopter training. The M-14 was the best, most reliable, and most fun weapon I trained with untiltraining at Fort Polk on UH1C gunships. The mini-gun and 2.75 inch rockets were awesome, but nothing beat the 40 mm automatic grenade launcher. It had a hand held, articulated aiming system used by the pilot in the left seat. The 40 mm grenades were visible in flight, and the control srstem made it easy to "walk" the rounds on target by the 3rd or 4th rounds , even while the aircraft commander was flying the aircraft down the range at 120 knots. On the range, we were able to put rounds through the windshield or side window during full speed runs, usually by the 5th or six rounds. The nose turret mounted grenade launcher "chunked" rounds at 150 rounds per minute.
And then I made the brilliant decision to fly unarmed medivac for my combat tour in Vietnam.
