Training the Best

So after cancelling the rifle range on Friday due to the combination of the cold, the wind, and the rian, we went back out today to try again. Well there was no rain, but the cold and wind were back with a vengance.
Sometimes the hardass macho persona we put forward can really be stupid. Instead of using some common sense and deciding that it is unreasonable to attempt to shoot with precision when the temperatures are barely in the 20s with a 20-30MPH wind into your face, we press on because "you don't get to choose the weather you fight in do you?" (Said with as much macho chest thumping as possible.) It's quite difficult to have trigger control when you can't feel your trigger finger. I'm not kidding, I could not feel my trigger finger. It was like wood.
We, 2nd Platoon, shot the rifle range first thing this morning, we were out on the range before sunrise, suffering in the cold and wind for an hour before we even began to shoot. When we did make it to the firing line, the wind was more intense; the trees funnel the wind in, creating our own personal wind tunnel. Loading magazines (aluminum) saps heat from your fingers instantly. Wrapping the sling around your arm restricts blood flow and your hand quickly goes from cold to painful to numb. Your face, now touching your plastic buttstock, aches from the cold, sending the pain directly to your brain. Your eyes tear from the wind blowing directly into your face. Your patience begins to shorten because every time you move you cause yourself more pain. Bumping your numb hand on the ground or your leg sends pain shooting through your arm. Despite your best efforts to blow on it, use gloves, hand warmers, and your body heat, your trigger hand is useless. Now aim in and shoot a 40 inch wide target from 500 yards away. Sounds reasonable right?
I will preface my bitching by saying that it is my fault that I failed today. There are several lieutenants who persevered and qualified expert. One, who had never fired before, shot a 232. I made one mistake after the other, became impatient, and wound up with a 217, a sharpshooter. I have never qualified sharpshooter before, I have four expert qualifications under my belt. I was supposed to be competing for best in the company and now I was a goddamn sharpshooter. You can't imagine how pathetic I feel right now. I couldn't believe it when I saw the number, I just slumped down from my kneeling position onto the ground. The girl who was partnered with me on my target, who failed to qualify, was comforting me. I felt a little foolish about that, but I was so absorbed in my own failure I couldn't snap out of it.
I also almost didn't qualify expert on the pistol. On our 25 yard slow fire, my hands became so numb that I couldn't feel my trigger finger, either of my thumbs, or the majority of my remaining fingers. I had to straighten out my trigger finger and use the second joint of it because I couldn't feel anything beyond that. After I was done shooting I couldn't bend my trigger finger for several minutes. All this after only ten minutes of exposure to the elements. The cold steel of that pistol will suck the heat out of your hands in a heartbeat. I did qualify expert, with a better score than I have had in the past, but not as good as I have shot in the past week.
It makes me so angry that the commanding officer doesn't care about the fact that we will be stuck with these terrible scores and wear these shooting badges for the next year. Many of my fellow lieutenants will report to their first commands wearing these badges. Maybe it sounds like a small thing, but in the Marines the motto is "Every marine a rifleman" and your score on the rifle range is a big deal. It's there on your chest whenever you wear a dress uniform, shining larger than any of the ribbons you've earned. I'll be compared to marines who shot the rifle on a sunny day in June with a temperature of 80 degrees. I know that if I had been able to feel my fucking hands I would be a fifth award expert.
Well I've got to move on, we are hauling our asses back out to the rifle range tomorrow. We're not shooting for score anymore, just for an introduction to firing in combat gear, at night, with gas masks on, at moving targets, and limited exposure targets. The high is predicted to be 26 degrees tomorrow with winds of 13mph, causing it to feel like 4 degrees. I hate Northern Virginia.