BigBen

Thanks guys. Any questions you ever had about what it's REALLY Like, instead of that Hollywood shit? Send, Over...

Anyway, next story:

As part of peacekeeper training, one must undergo “Crack-Thump” training. Before you perverts get carried away, here is an overview:
1. You dig a hole, and call it a trench.
2. You dig that hole as if your life depended on it, and not some half-assed effort like you do when they are making you dig trenches for the ‘fun of it’.
3. You put OHP (Over Head Protection) including sandbags and dirt over that hole.
4. The staff then shoots at you, with different sorts of weaponry, and you listen to the distinctive noises that each type of weapon makes.

I bet you thought that there were only a few types of noises, right? If you are an A-Team fan, you thought that an M-16 sounded just like a Mini-14. If you enjoy Vietnam movies, you might think that there was one rate of fire on machine guns. (Editors note: YES, machine guns are called that, and not ‘Machine Rifles’. I don’t know why) The truth is simple and logical. In order to get true sounds onto a movie or TV soundtrack, you would have to perform a “Crack-Thump” demonstration on the poor sonofabitch sound guy, and that would require a permit to shoot live rounds over the head of the poor sonofabitch.

In reality, there are HUNDREDS of unique sounds that can emanate from the business end of a killing machine. The sound the bullet makes as it travels (hopefully) over your head is called the CRACK, due to the bullet breaking the sound barrier. The THUMP is the sound of the weapon firing, and that sound takes time to reach your ears. There is also the sound of the action cycling, the rate of firing, the echo off of hills or buildings, and other small things that can tell information about where the bad things are coming from.

Well, if you listen closely, you can accurately determine:
who is shooting, where they are, if they are shooting at you or just around you, and how determined they are to kill you.
If they are shooting in celebration for a cease-fire being declared (YES, people actually do this in some cultures) and you as a soldier call up the artillery and turn them into a pink mist in retaliation, the cease-fire may not be as long as the Generals and heads of state were planning.

This brings me to my training. Getting fucking shot at, ON PURPOSE, with all manner of weapons.

50 cal., AK-47, C-7, 9mm, FN C-1, C-9 (M-249 SAW), all went over my head. They had it arranged that the firing would be in different directions, and at one point, they drove a guy across the range so we could hear what it was like if the firing was also moving.

I was not thinking, BOY, what valuable training! I was thinking, FUCK, I want out of here!

I also learned that a hole can be a very safe and comfortable place to live, given the external environment was hostile enough.

After they had scared the living shit out of us, they then lined us up and showed us what the weapons can do to different types of cover.
Cinderblock walls (1,2 and 3 deep)
Sandbag walls (1,2 and 3 deep)
Railroad ties (1,2 and 3 deep)
And the almighty House Wall, the fortress of Hollywood.

The only thing to stand up to any punishment was the sandbags. Everything else was decimated. I felt sick. The 50 cal didn’t even slow down through everything else. An old Sergeant spoke up, “and watch your fucking background (what is behind your target) ladies, (he meant that term as an insult, even though there were female soldiers present) because when you shoot some poor shit’s family through his house wall, he will definitely join the enemies side and rape you before he kills you.”

I was feeling the urge to get drunk. Very fucking drunk.

Oh, and the answer is yes, you do get used to it...

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Hey, if you are impressed with my memorizing pi to 10 digits, you should see the size of my penis.