Im a subscriber to Nutnfancy. Have been for years. I really like him, his system philosophies, and his personality. He just uploaded this video, where he met some random ARMY soldiers at the range, a couple young guys. Three of the four are military, and of the three, one is actually a veteran who has already done his service. During the few minutes of this video, I have to say... Its terrifying that these soldiers (one even a veteran) dont have the slightest clue when it comes to shooting fundamentals or the operation of a rifle.
The first shooter, a veteran, doesnt know how to properly shoulder a rifle, insert a magazine into a standard issue rifle, or that you even need to chamber a round after putting a magazine in. Then when he fires a round, it looks like he jumps a mile. Another guy in the background gets surprised by the shot he was expecting to go off and yells out "wow!" The second shooter is clearly VERY uncomfortable with a gun. He gets down on the rifle, and just holds his left hand in the air near his chin, instead of steadying his rifle. He doesnt understand how to even hold a rifle. Also, absolutely zero understanding of trigger control and how it turns into shots on target. It looks like he could try to hit the trigger with a baseball bat and have a smoother trigger press.
I am severely disappointed. I am not a solider, but I have at minimum a solid understanding of most firearm types and the fundamentals of shooting. If these guys were even in a relatively low-stress training session, they wouldnt know where to begin. If any of them had a malfunction, forget about it. They wouldnt not have the slightest clue as to what happened or how to fix it. Im not expecting everybody who goes into the military to come out like some sort of high-speed clandestine operator, but Id expect that even BEFORE going in, they would know and be able to execute the fundamentals and have a basic working understanding of how to load, shoulder, and shoot a rifle. It seems like you have to start these guys at "This is a bullet. It is what the gun shoots. This is a barrel, it is the part the bullet goes through. This is a trigger, it is what you need to press to fire a bullet.". And especially the one guy who has served and is a veteran not even knowing the most basic operation...
As an American, I can can say that it does not make me sleep easy at night seeing stuff like this. I went to high school and college with some people who joined different branches of the military, and even after a couple years in, we would be discussing and handling pistols and rifles, or even shooting, and they were exactly the same as these guys. I had to remind them how to chamber a round or release the bolt on my AR15, and how to properly grip a pistol (one even did the pistol grip where he holds his firing hand properly, but then put his off-hand thumb across the thumb joint of his firing hand, so his thumb ended up directly where the slide would travel). I figured a few of these people werent the brightest in high school, or after, so nothing really surprised me there. But to see it again, with randomly chosen ARMY soldiers? Is this normal? Im honestly blown away after seeing this.
The first shooter, a veteran, doesnt know how to properly shoulder a rifle, insert a magazine into a standard issue rifle, or that you even need to chamber a round after putting a magazine in. Then when he fires a round, it looks like he jumps a mile. Another guy in the background gets surprised by the shot he was expecting to go off and yells out "wow!" The second shooter is clearly VERY uncomfortable with a gun. He gets down on the rifle, and just holds his left hand in the air near his chin, instead of steadying his rifle. He doesnt understand how to even hold a rifle. Also, absolutely zero understanding of trigger control and how it turns into shots on target. It looks like he could try to hit the trigger with a baseball bat and have a smoother trigger press.
I am severely disappointed. I am not a solider, but I have at minimum a solid understanding of most firearm types and the fundamentals of shooting. If these guys were even in a relatively low-stress training session, they wouldnt know where to begin. If any of them had a malfunction, forget about it. They wouldnt not have the slightest clue as to what happened or how to fix it. Im not expecting everybody who goes into the military to come out like some sort of high-speed clandestine operator, but Id expect that even BEFORE going in, they would know and be able to execute the fundamentals and have a basic working understanding of how to load, shoulder, and shoot a rifle. It seems like you have to start these guys at "This is a bullet. It is what the gun shoots. This is a barrel, it is the part the bullet goes through. This is a trigger, it is what you need to press to fire a bullet.". And especially the one guy who has served and is a veteran not even knowing the most basic operation...
As an American, I can can say that it does not make me sleep easy at night seeing stuff like this. I went to high school and college with some people who joined different branches of the military, and even after a couple years in, we would be discussing and handling pistols and rifles, or even shooting, and they were exactly the same as these guys. I had to remind them how to chamber a round or release the bolt on my AR15, and how to properly grip a pistol (one even did the pistol grip where he holds his firing hand properly, but then put his off-hand thumb across the thumb joint of his firing hand, so his thumb ended up directly where the slide would travel). I figured a few of these people werent the brightest in high school, or after, so nothing really surprised me there. But to see it again, with randomly chosen ARMY soldiers? Is this normal? Im honestly blown away after seeing this.