9/11/01 plus 23

The events of September 11, 2001 changed my life in varied and unexpected ways.  Like most Americans of the time, I remember exactly where I was, what I was doing, and how I felt when I learned of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.  There was a lot of pain, suffering, and shock that day, but also incredible heroism and a sense of national unity and patriotism that I have seldom experienced in my lifetime.

Now, 23 years later, we are in the midst of an intensely divisive election, and an entire generation has grown up that has no memory of 9/11/01 and scant awareness of or appreciation for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  I think it's important to remember, and so each year on 9/11 I do something to commemorate the day.

This year I decided to take my go-to home defense rifle and web gear out of the closet and out to the range for a brief practice session.  I planned to shoot at steel targets at 15 and 25 yards, and shoot a few practice drills.  It's always good to practice, but my primary purpose today was to clear away the current distractions from my mind and remember the events of 9/11 and its aftermath.

My rifle and web gear.  The boonie hat is USGI, from my first mobilization in 2006.  The targets are at 15 and 25 yards.

The rifle is a run-of-the-mill DPMS Panther 5.56mm AR-15 in civilian M4 configuration (semiauto only, 16" barrel).  I replaced the stock front handguard with one that accepts M-Lok accessories, and have it set up with a Trijicon MRO red dot sight, a Crimson Trace MVF-515 front grip that incorporates a flashlight and green laser, a Troy flip-up rear iron sight for backup, and a Condor 2-point sling.   I was shooting PMC 5.56mm with 55 gr. bullets - standard MILSPEC M193 ball.

My targets were an 8" steel disk at 15 yards and a 12"x16" steel silhouette at 25 yards. The silhouette target is a "hostage target".  It includes a 5" steel disk on a pivot behind the head - when you hit it, it flips around to the other side.  I have this painted red to distinguish it from the white-painted silhouette. The silhouette represents a hostage, and the red disk is the bad guy's head.  The idea is to hit the bad guy without injuring the hostage.  This target seemed appropriate given my reason for being there today.

I fired my first shot at 0846, the time the first plane hit the south tower of the World Trade Center on 9/11.

I started off shooting at the hostage target, single shots from a standing unsupported position using the red dot sight.  For the first ten shots I had the red dot at full power, and found that it almost obscured the red disk.  That string resulted in a respectable 8/10 solid hits on the "bad guy", with two misses.  Seeing a dark mark on the white silhouette, I initially thought I had hit the hostage with one shot, but closer examination revealed that this was just spatter from the hits on the disk.  Unfortunately I didn't take a photo of the target at this point.

After this I fired a few shots at the 8" disk, then switched to some transition drills, shooting two shots at one target followed by two at the other, all in close succession.  As I accelerated the pace of these drills to "controlled pair" speed, I began to miss the second shot more often than I'd like.  Examination showed most shots on the disk were low to start with, so I suspect I was pulling the second shot even lower by overcompensating as I pulled the rifle back on target for the second shot.

For the final drill, I went back to the hostage target and fired off my remaining rounds one at a time.  This time I turned down the MRO intensity setting from six to four. The lower-intensity red dot was much smaller and crisper, which helped. I wasn't shooting rapid fire per se, but I wasn't shooting like the standing slow fire stage in a service rifle match, either.  It was something approaching "Rifleman's Cadence", except that I wasn't in a stable position so I had to re-aquire the sight picture rather than rely on the sling and my breathing to bring me back on target after each shot. 

This time I did slightly better - 20/24 shots hit the "bad guy", with 4 misses.  I think I may have clipped the hostage's shoulder with one of the misses, but I'm not sure as this was after I had already been deliberately shooting at the silhouette. 

The hostage target with the "bad guy's head" disk to the right. It flips back and forth with each hit. The effects of bullet spatter can be seen on the white silhouette.

Same target with the disk to the left. I may have clipped the hostage's shoulder with one shot.  

The  8" disk at 15 yards.  The shots are clustered low, so I think my misses probably went even lower.

The net result is that I feel very confident firing shots at one target, but I need more practice on transitions between targets as well as on rapid follow-up shots.  

I packed up the car and left the range to head home, and pulled out the gate at 0937, the time the third plane hit the Pentagon on 9/11.   During the beautiful drive home out of the mountains and past Fernan Lake, I reflected on how fortunate I am to have come through that period of history with everything intact to live a wonderful life in retirement. Many were not so fortunate, having died in either the attacks or the rescue efforts, or while fighting to defend our nation and preserve our freedom.

Never Forget.

Mood: Pensive

Music: Darryl Worley, Have You Forgotten.