Safetyhit
07-22-07, 10:44
I am a member of what is known as Range 14, a shooting range at Fort Dix here in New Jersey. I was in the area with my little boy, and I decided to go through and let him see and hear for the first time what real firearms sound like. He is only 3, so I kept him back a bit from the tables so as not to hurt his ears. I had no weapons with me to shoot, just passing through. Ten minutes, and we were back on our way.
To exit you must take a dirt road about a mile to a paved road, that then leads out of the base. At any time you pass convoys of Hummers on training manuevers, a common sight on any base I assume. As we were heading out via the dirt road, a convoy of six Hummers approached from the other direction. Instead of just passing as always, this time the lead vehicle stopped and the second one pulled in front of me, blocking the entire road. The lead vehicle had what I assume was a SAW mounted on top, the secong a BMG. Suddenly the lead truck pulls across the road a bit closer to my SUV and the top gunner starts spraying us with blanks. After about 30-40 rounds, he stopped, they reformed, and they drove on like nothing happened. :confused:
While I was not expecting that at all, not for a split second was I (or my son, amazingly) concerned while it all happened so fast. I knew, despite those six idiots recently, there was no way...
Still, it was an amazing experience that I will always remember and cherish. My son really had no idea as to what happened, and since I never showed fear he was extremely calm. In fact all he wanted to do after that was see more soldiers. :cool:
I knew they were training with us almost immediatly, but just to be safe I called the base range and asked if we were no longer supposed to be on that particular access road. They said if your hazard lights are not on, you are fair game. Awesome.
Hope it happens again, soon! Might play along next time and....., well maybe not.
To exit you must take a dirt road about a mile to a paved road, that then leads out of the base. At any time you pass convoys of Hummers on training manuevers, a common sight on any base I assume. As we were heading out via the dirt road, a convoy of six Hummers approached from the other direction. Instead of just passing as always, this time the lead vehicle stopped and the second one pulled in front of me, blocking the entire road. The lead vehicle had what I assume was a SAW mounted on top, the secong a BMG. Suddenly the lead truck pulls across the road a bit closer to my SUV and the top gunner starts spraying us with blanks. After about 30-40 rounds, he stopped, they reformed, and they drove on like nothing happened. :confused:
While I was not expecting that at all, not for a split second was I (or my son, amazingly) concerned while it all happened so fast. I knew, despite those six idiots recently, there was no way...
Still, it was an amazing experience that I will always remember and cherish. My son really had no idea as to what happened, and since I never showed fear he was extremely calm. In fact all he wanted to do after that was see more soldiers. :cool:
I knew they were training with us almost immediatly, but just to be safe I called the base range and asked if we were no longer supposed to be on that particular access road. They said if your hazard lights are not on, you are fair game. Awesome.
Hope it happens again, soon! Might play along next time and....., well maybe not.