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Posted: 3/18/2009 7:59:12 AM EDT
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My son is going into the Navy soon. I would like to know what they shoot in basic, which guns and course of fire.
Thanks. |
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Back in '93 my brother shot 10 rounds from a .22 pistol in Navy basic.
Having worked with a considerable number of Navy types, depending on their job depends on the training. MA's get quite a bit more since they're basically cops. Others get pistol and shotgun, some get rifle training. The Navy guys I was working with were augmented to my Air Force unit guarding their aircraft (on an Air Force base) so they had M16s and had gotten "remedial training" in basic infantry tactics and how to shoot. But they never learned that in basic training......... |
| We fired M9s when I went to basic. One of the guys I work with now just left Great Lakes and the boots actually do get to fire the full Navy Handgun Qualification course. Most sailors will never lay hands on anything larger than the M9. What career field is he going into? Unless he ends up in Navy Expeditionary Combat Command, SpecWar or a Master at Arms or Gunner's Mate he probably won't shoot anything bigger his entire enlistment. |
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How's 406mm (19 inch) guns grab ya? http://www.bonnervisuals.com/BB-Broadside-Forward-2in-NE.jpg I think you mean 16" unless he was joining the Japanese Navy. |
When I went to Great Lakes, they were just finishing the live fire range. For weapons training they gave me an M-16 with a laser tag-like thing on it. 
I have no idea what they shoot now, or what the range is like since I never actually went into it during construction. I would assume it's probably the M-16 and/or the M9. |
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We fired M9s when I went to basic. One of the guys I work with now just left Great Lakes and the boots actually do get to fire the full Navy Handgun Qualification course. Most sailors will never lay hands on anything larger than the M9. What career field is he going into? Unless he ends up in Navy Expeditionary Combat Command, SpecWar or a Master at Arms or Gunner's Mate he probably won't shoot anything bigger his entire enlistment. He is signed up for advanced electronics computer field(AECF). If he can get a few waivers, they are going to put him in nuclear field. We will see. |
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on the DDG's a large portion of the crew have to qualify on the M2
the roving security guys usually carry M9s or remington 870s... i have seen ONE M14 on a DDG that one of the sailors was carrying during swim call off the coast of mexico... i was told it was for "sharks"... |
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They let them shoot? The Corpsmen that shoot with us cannot hit the broad side of a barn, they make it sound like they barely shoot in basic. The corpsman that was attached to my platoon represented our company in the pistol matches. While on ship we let the squids sailors shoot our M16's and crew weapons, I think most had never shot before. Most of the navy doesn't really need small arms. But I will say that as much shit as we gave them those guys knew their jobs at sea and did them like clockwork. |
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When I went to basic in 96, we had a quick class on weapons familiarization/operation, then shot maybe 20 or 30 rounds out of a M-16 converted to .22. I heard they switched to a beam hit type system shortly thereafter. Course, could have just been skuttlebutt  Wasn't just scuttlebutt. See my post above 
I didn't actually shoot anything on the AR-15/M-16 platform til I was out. Course, I wasn't in for very long, but it was rather disappointing. I'm glad to read that they at least let recruits shoot handguns. |
| I went through basic right after the live fire range closed as well, but the new program was in place with M16 rifles fitted with lasers and had an indoor range set up that you had to go through sequences of fire with. You are scored just like a standard live fire session however they are unable to award ribbons to those that score high enough b/c its not life fire. That was just one days training at the range and then when you go through Battle Stations which is a final 24 hour test where you do everything, we went through the range dawning gas masks with strobes, smoke, alarms, etc. for a drill. That's it for boot camp. After of course we shot every gun in our ships arsenal off the fantail, and drilled frequently with firearms being part of the weapons division. |
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The Seebees get combat training the last I heard. When dad was in ('60s) they qualified on M1 Garands in regular USN training. Also the .38 revolver (plus nightstick  ) when he did SP duty & when he became a SeaBee (MCB121) he shot the M16 & did the basic combat training at a USMC base IIRC. He loved the Garand, didn't care for the M16 at all...mostly because of the "white glove" inspection tardation and he couldn't shoot it nearly as well as the M1. Not sure if his frag grenade training was regular USN training or part of the SeaBee combat training, either way he said it was a bit nerve wracking..... 
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When I went through (1993) we shot Colt Ace 1911s chambered in .22LR. Before I deployed to Haiti I fired M16A2, Beretta M9 and Mossberg 500.
On the sub watch standers qualify with M9, M500, and M16 twic a year. Some qualify with SAW. I have been to regional and fleet matches in the Navy and have performed quite well, thank you. (Docs can't shoot. What a load. Have you watched Wing Marines shoot?) My buddy just scored a 47 out of 50 on the table 3 course with the M4 last week. (A fellow Chief Hospital Corpsman) I do know though that medical types do have a well earned reputation for not being able to shoot. I have been embarassed at the range when deploying medical teams try to qualify. To answer the original question. The last thing I remember the Navy having in place at Basic was the computer simulated M16 course. I did hear they were building an outdoor range and would expect the M16A2 to be the weapon of choice. Last year this time there were more sailors with boots on ground in Iraq and Afghanistan than there were onboard ships. So, Marksmanship is becomming a relavent isue in the Navy as we fill a lot of Army billets overseas. It has been recognized now that more emphasis on marksmanship may save sailors lives. 
At the Matches I get to use the 1911 still. |
I never fired a gun in my whole years in the navy.
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When I went to basic in 96, we had a quick class on weapons familiarization/operation, then shot maybe 20 or 30 rounds out of a M-16 converted to .22. I heard they switched to a beam hit type system shortly thereafter. Course, could have just been skuttlebutt This is what we did as well. |
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The Seebees get combat training the last I heard. That training comes after Boot Camp for Seabees.....anyone going to a NMCB will get qualified on the M16A2E3 (and the M9 for E-7 and up) in SERT training. Once they get to the NMCB they can get trained various weapons depending on what their job is. We have the M9, M500, M16A2E3, M4, M14, M240, M2, Mk19, AT4 and Claymore Mines in our TOA. Not sure what they shoot in Boot Camp now, they keep changing it (we shot .22 cal 1911s when I went to Boot)...it was M9 qualification (live fire) and M16's in a FATS trainer a few years ago, his recruiter should be able to tell him what they currently do. ETA: forgot the M203 
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| As noted above, in boot they get M9 live fire and M-16 FATS simulator. The typical sailor will never shoot a MK-18, that is issued only to VBSS/MIO teams. Topside watchstanders qualify with the M-9, the Mossberg 500 12 gauge, and the M-16A2. M-14's have been deleted from shipboard issue and are being removed from vessel armorys. If you end up on a SCAT team you get to qualify on the M-2, M-60, M-134 mini gun, and chain gun, depending on hull and weapons load prior to deployment. |
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The only real ammunition they shoot in boot camp is 25 rounds from an M9, twice.
They don't change targets, accuracy doesn't matter. Nobody learns weapons safety and nobody learns weapon manipulation, trigger control, any of that. Well, there were a few short classes, but the instruction was horrible and nothing was learned. It's a joke. |
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The only real ammunition they shoot in boot camp is 25 rounds from an M9, twice. They don't change targets, accuracy doesn't matter. Nobody learns weapons safety and nobody learns weapon manipulation, trigger control, any of that. Well, there were a few short classes, but the instruction was horrible and nothing was learned. It's a joke. Wow. that's kind of sad.  When did you go though?
It's my understanding that the Air Force picked up their firearms training after 9-11, I thought perhaps the Navy had as well, I guess not. |
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The only real ammunition they shoot in boot camp is 25 rounds from an M9, twice. They don't change targets, accuracy doesn't matter. Nobody learns weapons safety and nobody learns weapon manipulation, trigger control, any of that. Well, there were a few short classes, but the instruction was horrible and nothing was learned. It's a joke. Wow. that's kind of sad. When did you go though?
It's my understanding that the Air Force picked up their firearms training after 9-11, I thought perhaps the Navy had as well, I guess not. He went through recently. Post 9/11 for sure. |
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The only real ammunition they shoot in boot camp is 25 rounds from an M9, twice. They don't change targets, accuracy doesn't matter. Nobody learns weapons safety and nobody learns weapon manipulation, trigger control, any of that. Well, there were a few short classes, but the instruction was horrible and nothing was learned. It's a joke. Wow. that's kind of sad. When did you go though?
It's my understanding that the Air Force picked up their firearms training after 9-11, I thought perhaps the Navy had as well, I guess not. 2004 |
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The only real ammunition they shoot in boot camp is 25 rounds from an M9, twice. They don't change targets, accuracy doesn't matter. Nobody learns weapons safety and nobody learns weapon manipulation, trigger control, any of that. Well, there were a few short classes, but the instruction was horrible and nothing was learned. It's a joke. I went through Air Force Basic in 1990 and we went through class and shot the M-16 and then every year at our duty station. Not a lot though but much erlier than 9-11. |
| I went through Boot Camp in San Diego in 1980. We shot 20 rounds of .22LR in converted 1911s. Our company commander was a Gunners Mate and after Boot Camp anyone staying in San Diego was welcome to head down to the range on his duty nights and shoot as much .45 as we wanted to. I must have shot a couple thousand rounds that fall while going to BE+E school. The Range 1911's were in pretty good shape considering their age and they were a mixed bag of manufacturers. I often wonder what happened to all of them when the Navy changed over to M9's. They probably got crated up and shipped to Weapons Station, Crane and mothballed like all the M14's. Pity. |
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