Volunteers see to it that sailors know how to shoot straight
By Cathy Logg
Herald Writer
MACHIAS — Robert Crosby sat cross-legged on a piece of carpet Thursday, spending 20 minutes getting his position just right before he locked his aim on a black-and-white paper target attached to a wooden stand 100 yards away.
Crosby, a 10th-grade teacher at Henry M. Jackson High School, learned how to shoot a .22-caliber pistol when he went through U.S. Navy boot camp in 1986.
"That’s not weapons training," he said. "They’re not expecting sailors to be shooters."
He’s now a petty officer in the Navy Reserve’s Inshore Boat Unit 11, patrolling the harbors from Naval Station Everett.
"It’s always been my impression as an enlisted (person), that we don’t need to do this," the Marysville resident said. "I disagree. The office clerks will be protecting the camp when I’m out on a ship. They’d better know how to shoot."
Over and over, people have talked about how American life changed forever following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11.
Many military personnel contend that one of the ways it changed is that all military personnel need to be prepared to defend their country with firearms.
Many civilians and retired military personnel agree. That’s why they’ve stepped forward to volunteer as coaches and trainers to teach soldiers, sailors and other military personnel the basics — as well as the finer points — of marksmanship.
In a commentary in the prestigious Naval Institute Press publication Proceedings, chief fire controlman Russell Evenson contends the Navy must rethink its weapons training policy, adopt the Marine Corps philosophy of making "every Marine a rifleman," upgrade firearms training and give Naval personnel the proper equipment.
Reserve Cmdr. James Slyfield agrees. After the Sept. 11 attacks, several participants and coaches from the Pacific Northwest Interservice Small Arms Firing School in Machias contacted Slyfield, the SAFS officer-in-charge currently serving at Naval Station Everett, and offered to help. He put together a training program at the Seattle Pistol and Rifle Range for military personnel, with free individual coaching by a group of area experts. Crosby was one of those who stepped forward to undergo the private instruction.
J.D. Hicks, a Black Diamond "computer nerd" and a high master-rated competitive shooter, served as one of the volunteer coaches.
"If they’d had Navy personnel on the deck of the USS Cole armed and ready, and they knew the terrorists were coming, they wouldn’t have been able to hit them," Hicks said, because they had not received the necessary training.
"The Navy used to have a hell of a fine shooting program," he said. "In the ’70s, the Navy kicked everybody’s butt (in shooting competitions). The Navy taught me how to shoot."
He was one of several volunteer coaches working with Crosby. He patiently instructed Crosby on how to achieve his point of aim, keep his body still and make minor adjustments simply by moving a toe. And how to fire from a sitting position with the weight of his arms anchored on his leg bones, but never on his knees. And how to increase his back support by wearing a wide belt and cinching it tight.
"That really makes a difference," Crosby said.
The Puget Sound region routinely produces some of the best marksmen in the country, and the Seattle shooting club is a big part of that, said Dick Abbey, a Korean War veteran from Shoreline. The volunteer coaches brought their own equipment to help teach, including high-powered .22-caliber rifles, scopes, even a biathlon competition rifle.
Many military personnel receive some firearms training, but not intensive instruction, he said.
"I have grandchildren who are right at the age that they’ll be going into the military if this (war) continues," said Jack Rookaird, a retired Everett millwright and one of the coaches. "I want them to have a fighting chance of coming back."
Anyone who needs help can attend open shooting days at the rifle range, and they’re sure to get help from experienced shooters, he said.
"If we’re going to put these folks in harm’s way, we need to give them the proper tools and training," he said.
Some say the Navy’s chain of command has demonstrated a lack of trust in the ability of sailors to know when to use weapons appropriately.
Skyfield said the leaders in many naval commands make no effort to provide personnel with access to weapons training.
"There’s a reason people need to get trained," Hicks said. "Maybe we’ll save another ship."
You can call Herald Writer Cathy Logg at 425-339-3437
or send e-mail to logg@heraldnet.com.
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