The Day as a Marine

I was invited to participate in Jane Wayne Day at Matt's unit, a day where spouses are invited to come and participate in some of the highlights of our husbands' jobs. I say highlights because we only did the fun parts without all of the pesky paperwork and cleaning that accompanies all of the activities. I am so grateful to all of the marines who drove us around, and transported and cleaned the weapons we used. So many people worked to make this an awesome day!

The first step of Jane Wayne day was to be issued our own kevlar (helmet), flak jacket, and ear and eye pro. Matt had to help me put on and take off the bulky flak jacket- even when I had to go to the bathroom! He also provided me with a pouch that snapped to the front so that I could carry my own snacks. No low blood sugar today!

We then boarded an AAV - amphibious assault vehicle- to drive us to the first range. We were crammed in the back while the driver sits in a turret in the front. We put in our ear plugs since the engine is so loud inside the metal vehicle!

At our first range we were given a breach demonstration by the combat engineers (Matt's job!). Marines close by laid suppressing fire with machine guns, and in the distance we saw marines setting a charge and exploding an obstacle with a huge fireball! Then we got to witness an LAV (light armored vehicle) shooting a 25mm cannon. It was so loud! Now it was our turn.

Each of the spouses got a turn to shoot 25 rounds with the M240B. This was my first time shooting anything and it was a machine gun! We had a coach that loaded the weapon and told me when to shoot so all I had to do was pull the trigger. I never could get the right angle to look through the scope with my bulky gear, but my coach aimed for me and I hit the target on my first try. The loud noise scared me so I only got off two rounds at first, but you are supposed to shoot for a few seconds each burst and I finally got there.

Spouses in all of our gear!

The next activity was the shooting range. We were given a five minute safety class before being allowed to shoot rifles and pistols. I felt very unprepared, but my coach made sure I couldn't hurt anybody. He loaded and unloaded the weapons, kept his hand on my weapon if someone was downrange, and even turned on and off the safety for me. All I had to do was aim, and unfortunately I was not very good at that part. 

The rifle was really heavy, and while I could at least see through the scope I could not aim very well. I only hit my target's hand with the rifle. I joked that I was just disarming him. The pistol was lighter, but the kickback really surprised me and I kept tensing up. I got one shot in the ribs. When all of the other spouses had multiple chest shots I complained that my guy was probably still alive after I shot him. 

Shot in the wrist, elbow, and shoulder. He had so many chances to walk away before that one body shot. 

On the beach Matt gave a class on how to eat MREs and we got to explore the contents of the pouches as the AAVs were being readied. Our last adventure was riding into the water in an AAV. It was very dark inside, but once we were in the ocean they opened up the hatches so we could see that we were eye level with the waves. Our driver did donuts in the ocean and we were all splashed. Even though Matt's day to day is not nearly as fun, I am so glad I got to experience just a little bit of the cool stuff today.