Tough day.
BRM [basic rifle marksmanship]. Last day for sergeants.
It must have been a tough day. That was pretty terse.
I was always on the bubble with rifle marksmanship. Just above the line but close enough to worry if I'd drop below it when tested.
Strangely enough, all throughout basic my marksmanship stayed right around the level I had the first time I fired an M-16 in my Guard unit before getting any training at all.
It wasn't until I was on my last drill before getting out in 1993, which by chance included rifle range work, that I hit enough targets to go up a level to Sharpshooter from Marksman. I recall that I was tremendously calm because I knew it just didn't matter how I did. I fired very quickly. A sergeant next to me that day shooting wondered if I'd passed because I finished so fast. He was an excellent shot.
And the sergeants we'd come to know and respect were leaving. The great unknown of who would replace them perhaps cast a shadow over my mood.
