FALLUJAH, Iraq (
Dec. 30, 2004) -- Marines with Battalion Landing Team, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit currently assigned to the 1st Marine Division, fired captured enemy weapons during a familiarization exercise on a range outside the city of Fallujah Dec. 30.
In what’s known as “fam fire,” the Marines were afforded the opportunity to fire foreign weapon systems under the supervision of Staff Sgt. William Hornsby, assistant operations chief, who was responsible for range safety.
“We already know what the business end of an AK-47 does, but we wanted to see what type of skills they (insurgents) must have in order to engage Marines,” Hornsby said.
Sixteen Hawaii-based leathernecks took turns firing the weapons at targets approximately 30 meters away from their firing positions.
“We wanted to get a feel for how the enemy handles their weapons,” said Sgt. Christopher Anderson, 29, and vehicle commander from Willows, Calif. “It wasn’t as impressive as we hoped…they’re very inaccurate weapons.”
The weapons were captured from insurgents in Fallujah during Operation Al Fajr and were saved from destruction for training purposes.
Between them, the Marines fired more than 500 rounds of ammunition from three different weapon systems that included AK-47s. The Marines also took advantage to zero their own service weapons.
“Our Marines have a stronger sense of satisfaction that they can accurately manipulate their weapons faster than the insurgent enemy,” Hornsby added.
The Marines witnessed first-hand the type of control needed to accurately put rounds down range with the enemy “bullet slingers.”
“Trying to hit anything more than 75 yards gets pretty tricky,” Hornsby said.
Regardless of the weapons’ performance, the Marines still had a good time.
“I’ve never fired an AK-47 before, so it was pretty sweet getting to pop some rounds off on full automatic,” said Lance Cpl. Jonathan J. Wheeler, 25, an anti-tank assaultman and Sunnyside, Wash. native.
As the sun dropped below the horizon, the Marines cleared all weapons of any ammunition before leaving the range. They left feeling more confident about their training and their overall ability to engage the enemy and defeat him.
Link to High-Res ImageMarines with Battalion Landing Team, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit of the 1st Marine Division fire captured AK-47s during a "fam fire" Dec. 30 on a range outside of Fallujah. The firing was part of a shooting exercise designed to give Marines a chance to fire weapons captured from insurgents during Operation Al Fajr.Link to High-Res ImageSgt. Christopher Anderson, a vehicle commander from Willows, Calif. with Battalion Landing Team, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit of the 1st Marine Division fires a captured AK-47 during a "fam fire" Dec. 30 on a range outside of Fallujah. The firing was part of a shooting exercise designed to give Marines a chance to fire weapons captured from insurgents during Operation Al Fajr.Link to High-Res ImageLance Cpl. Jonathan J. Wheeler, 25, a Sunnyside, Wash. native and anti-tank assaultman with Battalion Landing Team, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit of the 1st Marine Division fires a captured AK-47 during a "fam fire" Dec. 30 on a range outside of Fallujah. The firing was part of a shooting exercise designed to give Marines a chance to fire weapons captured from insurgents during Operation Al Fajr.