September 16, 2019: Based on combat experience gained since 2001 the U.S. Army is making some major changes in the way it teaches, and tests, the how all troops handle their weapons. This is the first major overhaul for this subject since 2006. While it is all described in the new, 800 page TC 3-20.40 manual, lots of the items included have been added separately to weapons training during the last fifteen years. Now the annual weapons qualifications test is reflecting all of that What it comes down to is that troops must demonstrate not just shooting accuracy each year, but a larger array of related skills. These include firing night and day as well as well as while wearing a gas mask. Troops must not only seek to hit the target on the firing range but to do so while moving and changing firing positions. These include standing, kneeling and prone. The firing exercise is also continuous and troops carry extra ammo in on them as they would in combat and are tested on how well they get new magazines from where it is carried and into the weapon. There is no longer just one target but multiple targets and you are rated on how well you quickly select and fire on the one that is the greatest threat. There are no longer time-outs for jammed weapons or other problems. You are rated on how well you deal with these realistic disruptions. These problems could be fatal in combat if you didn’t know how to handle it under fire. All this is done while moving downrange among other troops firing and facing the same problems.
The new weapons qualification test will not be as much as a shock to the average soldier because a lot of the new items tested because of TC 3-20.40 are already part of basic and advanced infantry training. This came about because the army quickly realized after 2001 that better weapons training was required for the infantry as well as everyone else. Especially everyone else. So you could say that you could say TC 3-20.40 has been a work in progress for over fifteen years.
By 2005 combat experience in Iraq had already changed the way the army trained its troops to use their rifles, machine-guns and pistols. Since two thirds of the casualties are caused by roadside bombs and gunfire from ambushes, troops have had to learn to use their weapons reflexively. This is a special kind of shooting, and the army usually had its hands full just teaching the troops the basics. This was especially the case for combat support troops, who are not expected to use their weapons often, if at all. In Iraq any combat support troops outside a base quickly learned that combat was a very real possibility at any time. Thus, by late 2003, more elaborate and intensive weapons training became a necessity.
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Originally Posted by blues
