Amused31 is a Facebook Page ran by a currently serving U.S. Army Sergeant First Class. Unlike many videos being posted these days, making fun of Army Drill Sergeants or Marine Corps Drill Instructors, SFC Muse is a former Drill Sergeant herself as seen from the oval Drill Sergeant Identification Badge on the left side of her uniform.

Her most recent video is a short skit made of impersonating herself and other Drill Sergeants while at a live fire qualification range. And it is absolutely hilarious in every regard! I think the best part about it is that it appeals to both people who have never put on a uniform, and those who have. As an example of her diving headfirst to the ground after a recruit screaming, “Muzzle Awareness!”.

I’ve downloaded the video from her Facebook page and uploaded it to Youtube so sharing it is simplified-

However, there are some tidbits in there that some might want some clarification on as to why it is a topic of concern on a live fire qualification range. Although silly in this skit, some of the issues are gravely important while serving.

I know it’s only 1030 but can we do the Chow Run now?

For a recruit or a Soldier/Marine simply conducting a qualification, the shooting portion of a qualification range will probably only last several hours or an afternoon. But for the Drill Instructor/ Drill Sergeant/Coach/RSO, they have to be there all day. Often arriving before the sun is up, ensuring safety briefs and equipment is in place, to sometimes when the sun goes down if it is an extremely busy day or a large number of troops need to be qualified.

Congratulations you shot a 27, what about the rest of them…

The Army’s qualification course is out of 40 available targets, and shooting 23 is the lowest a shooter can go without failing. The Marine Corps uses a point system out of 250 points on Table 1 (200-500 meters) with 190 points being the lowest amount without failing. SFC. Muse was making fun of the shooter for only shooting 27 targets while missing 13 others.

You see that? There’s 16 lanes out here and… 

Similar to high power long range competition shoots, Military ranges are often very wide, often being able to accommodate 50 shooters or more per relay. Controlling this firing line can be very difficult for the RSOs on the firing line as they have to walk between each firing point to ensure shooters are safe, qualifying, etc… The Marine Corps uses Block NCOs and Coaches to make this job easier, but at the end of the day, it is quite a long firing line to control.

Muzzle Awareness!!!!

This is often a problem with recruits who simply don’t know better than to practice safe gun handling rules. For many recruits, this is the first time they are around a weapon for the majority of the day.

Y’all need help in the tower? Please get me off this range!

The “Tower” is a moving platform on a Marine Corps rifle qualification range (I think the Army uses an actual tower), that is pushed between the yard lines. This is where the range’s command and control is located throughout the day, facilitating communication between the target “pits” and the firing line. Sometimes this location is air conditioned and under shade….

Your lane is right here! How are you knocking down your battle-buddies targets?

These large ranges can get confusing at times, with experienced shooters even shooting the targets next to their lane. Especially on ranges with targets literally feet away from each other, only differentiated by a single digit. Most ranges will have the number boards in alternating colors to help avoid this issue, but sometimes it is just pure error. The situation gets worse during rapid fire sections when all 10 rounds have to be expended during a single minute of fire, and somehow the wrong target gets 20 or even 30 rounds impacting on it from two or three shooters.

We have a Soldier down there on Lane One looking at their muzzle…

Back to the muzzle awareness piece. Although this would sound like a no-brainer, there are some ASVAB waivers out there that snuck their way into the service…

Am I the only one hoping for Lightning right now?

Evidence of lightning near a Military training exercise/base/range, can be cause for “L5” or Lightning within five miles. Most bases mandate that all outdoor training cease and troops retire to the nearest available overhead cover. At Parris Island this is a huge hanger located uprange of the actual firing points. This also obviously means the range is over for the duration of the L5 strike, something she is hoping for at the height of a hot day.

Stop Aiming at the Wildlife!

Although comical, there are all sorts of endangered animals on Military bases that seem to take higher priority than Privates and PFCs at times. They often cross live fire ranges at the worst times, shutting all sorts of training down. Some of the worst examples are in the training areas of Twenty Nine Palms in the Mojave Desert with the endangered tortoises. Because they move so slowly, and can’t be physically handled/moved because they are so endangered, they can hold an entire infantry battalion’s live fire attack up for days on end.

On a side-note, some of the tortoises at Twenty Nine Palms have GPS trackers on them, being monitored back on the main part of the base. And ever occasionally, people monitoring these tortoises will just see the tracker go flying across the screen at 70 miles per hour. This isn’t because the tortoise gained wings, but rather a bored Lance Corporal chucked the endangered specimen in the back of his AAV or truck for a laugh and took off through the desert.

If you want to take a look at the sort of range environment SFC Muse is impersonating, watch this video for an Army range-

And this one from TFB TV on the Marine Corps’ range-