What will my granddaughter shoot in Navy boot camp?

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Yoda

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What are they asking new recruits to shoot these days in navy boot camp? My grandaughter will be reporting for duty later this year, and I can give her some hands-on training before she goes. What will she shoot?

I can give her some range time with an M-16A1, an M-16A2, and an M-4, and with a Beretta M-9 or a 1911 with military sights. Which would you recommend?

Any other advice for a very level-headed young lady who is about to enter the Navy would be appreciated. Just about everyone else in the family has gone Air Force, except for one in-law who went into the Army and been almost constantly deployed ever since!

This is not really related to THR, but it seems that military service is almost becoming a family tradition. Veterans in my family are my father and his only brother, my older brother, my son, and two of three of my sons-in-law. In my wife's family, veterans include her father and all his brothers except one who was medically disqualified, and both of her brothers. It seems odd to us to meet families who have never had anyone serve and can't imagine serving themselves.

- - - Yoda
 
http://www.bootcamp.navy.mil/tech_training.asp

Your weapons training will consist of marksmanship fundamentals, M9 service pistol and M870 shotgun characteristics, clearing barrel procedures, and weapons safety practices for successful completion of the Navy Handgun Qualification Course and M870 shotgun familiarization. In addition, you will receive basic Anti-Terrorism / Force Protection training. You will be going into harm's way. We will give you the skills you need to protect your ship, your shipmate, and yourself.
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She will spend a heck of a lot more time in training learning how to fold clothes than she will how to shoot, unfortunately.

"We will give you the skills you need to protect your ship, your shipmate, and yourself." <--- that translates to "how not to shoot yourself or someone else by accident." That's about 90% of the Navy boot camp firearms training.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong LCDR, but not a lot of Naval combat includes small arms fire, and she would be trained appropriately.

Depending on her MOS (or whatever its called in the Navy) she may be trained to fire the... bigger... guns.
 
The LCDR has it dead right.
Navy small arms "training" is minimal at best for most sailors; unless they're in certain rates, MA, SeaBee ratings, those going specwar or FMF for instance will do small arms with actual live fire in training after boot camp. Even Gunners Mate A school, last time I heard had NO live fire components at the A portion of training.
Talk to your average sailor today and most have had no actual live fire training.
 
My son has only been out for a few years & they used the Beretta M9, & the Mossberg M500............
 
tyeo098 said:
Correct me if I'm wrong LCDR, but not a lot of Naval combat includes small arms fire, and she would be trained appropriately.

Depending on her MOS (or whatever its called in the Navy) she may be trained to fire the... bigger... guns.
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It is NEC in the Navy - Navy Enlisted Classification. Yes, Navy firearms training after boot camp is situation and rate specific.

Seabees can be called on to deploy to boots on the ground combat at any time, so they are an example of a rating that maintains current small arms proficiency. The same is true of Master at Arms who provide security on shore and on ships at sea.

Aviation rates all have the possibility of being deployed in ground combat, but our deployments in those circumstances would have a lot of lead time, so we do not maintain proficiency - we would qualify before we deploy.

Also, small arms proficiency may be required for specific personnel if they are part of the access watches while in port.

And, yes, she might get to handle something like this:
mk45-5-inch_shooting_naval_gun.jpg


Or this:

ORD_Phalanx_CIWS_Firing_lg.jpg
 
Boot camp? Next to nothing.
I lost a bunch of weight in boot camp so I went to second issue to get new uniforms while the rest of the company went to the gun range for an hour or three. Word was it was AR type guns chambered in .22. They got to shoot one magazine. It was for familiarization only. Not for medals.

The sights were completely screwed up and nothing shot straight. (Sure part of that was due to operator error, but several of the guys were hunters and said that they shot consistently, just not where you aimed. For example, one guy aimed six inches up and three inches over to get it to hit the bull's-eye.)

That said, it was in 1990 and things may have changed in the last 23 years. :)

Jim
 
My brother finished up boot camp a few years ago, and he shot the M9 and the 870 or Mossberg 500. I can't remember which.

He shoots missiles now. :D
 
Teach her to shoot and maintain as many different guns as possible, especially those she may encounter both friend and foe. A knife and the right mindset could have saved the lives of some service members in recent years.
 
BSA1 is spot on. If she is not already familiar with firearms let the recruit division commanders teach her. This is not implying that your training would not be sufficient, only that what the Navy considers a bad habit may not matter to you or any of us but they have their own rules that when broken, result in immediate action. I will say that they only fire 9mm and 12gauge. Also, statistically, the first time shooters tend to score higher by following the techniques they learn there than those who learned beforehand. And as far as the "young navy men" at least 1% of us aren't ALL that bad.
 
In '66 we were issued and carried a demilled 1903 Springfield everywhere we went. Rain or shine we stacked arms on the grinder outside the chow hall or classrooms and a speck of rust on that thing would earn you extra PT at 'happy hour'. They bussed us over to Pendelton to fire one clip through a Garand.

A coupla times, on Yankee Station, the Skipper would have the Marine detatchment bring M14's to the flight deck and let all who wanted burn a mag full.

+1 on what BSA1 said. Unless she's already an experienced shooter, she'll likely do just as well 'as is'.
 
When my brother went in before Gulf War 1 he got to stack and rack a Garand in Basic. Shooting never happened in basic UNLESS you made 'extra time for it.

If she's going to OCS she'll get some time with a Beretta.
 
I don't see how learning and applying the basic rules of safe gun handling and marksmanship could ever harm anyone. If she were my granddaughter I would encourage her to get into the best possible physical condition, especially upper body strength, in the time she has available.

I'm sure you are immensely proud of her. Please thank her for her service from the rest of us.
 
As female, and an Army veteran, I would advise against teaching a novice before they go to boot camp. Let the trainers start with a clean slate.

Boot camp is probably very basic anyway - safety and marksmanship. In the Army, I learned all the good stuff later on after basic training.
 
As others have said, she will shoot much if at all in boot camp. If she wants to get ahead get a Blue Jackets manual and memorize the general orders, the chain of command from the president down, Ranks and Rates. On the other hand, if you want to create some more memories by taking her shooting more power to her. It will not distract from her future training in my opinion. Especially if we are talking some marksmanship basics and not trying to run her through combat courses. Have fun and enjoy the time before she goes.

LCDR, USN Retired after 23 years of enlisted and commissioned service. During my time I did get to fire the M9, M16, Mossberg, SAW, 50 Cal, Maverick Missile, Harpoon Missile, and several torpedoes.
 
Seriously. Don't teach her anything. While you may have the best of intentions it is easier for her D.I. to teach a blank slate then someone with bad habits.
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I agree here. Though no one tried to "teach" me, I began shooting handguns shortly before entering law enforcement, and had some issues with "unlearning" certain things that held me back at first upon entering firearms training.

But, I also agree with X-Rap (post 11) that, if you are going to at least "show her around" firearms, she might benefit one day from having handled an AK-47 as well. One never knows when one might have to arm himself/herself with an enemy's weapon.
 
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In '66 we were issued and carried a demilled 1903 Springfield everywhere we went. Rain or shine we stacked arms on the grinder outside the chow hall or classrooms and a speck of rust on that thing would earn you extra PT at 'happy hour'. They bussed us over to Pendelton to fire one clip through a Garand.
Click to expand...

That's pretty much the was it was for me in '67. I later qualified Expert with the M1911 just because I wanted to. After that, in my 8-year Navy career I never touched a military-issued rifle or pistol again. The way the military is these days, your granddaughter will probably get her small arms "training" on a simulator.
 
My oldest Son completed Navy basic six years ago so I was anxious to find out after his graduation ceremony what type of live fire exercises they had for new sailors. As I recall he was trained to disassemble the Beretta M9 and had a few rounds of live fire. The only other weapon was a compressed air shotgun. The compressed air was used to simulate recoil during a "repel boarders" type of exercise. I was disappointed in the lack of firearms training and live fire. My son responded that Navy basic is geared towards life aboard a ship so actual firearms training just isn't a big part of the training.
 
"What will my granddaughter shoot it the navy?"

Hopefully, a perfect score because of her grandfather! :D

The navy tends to have a more "random sampling" of firearms, especially onboard the ships from what information I have gathered from veterans.

She'll probably get a crash course on the M-9 in basic training courses. Any further training will probably taught "as needed" depending on her assignment.
 
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