USS GUNSTON HALL, Gulf of Oman -- U.S. Marines with Combat Logistics Battalion 24, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit recently conducted a live-fire range shooting M-9 Beretta pistols on the flight deck of the USS Gunston Hall.
This type of training is typical for Marines deployed at sea and is meant to sustain their marksmanship skills with various weapons systems. Even with the added challenge of engaging their targets with the movement of the ship under their feet, the Marines stayed true to form adapting to, and overcoming, the mild nuances of firing on ship.
They engaged targets from 20, 15, and 10-yards away while donning a full combat load, while performing a myriad of drills such as speed reloads drills and failure to stop drills.
“Once you start shooting you forget you’re on ship,” said Sgt. Miguel Sosa, a Brooklyn, N.Y. native and supply warehouseman with CLB 24. “It was the same thing as firing on the ground.”