 For rifle fire to be effective, it must be accurate. A rifleman who merely sprays shots in the vicinity of the enemy produces little effect. The fundamentals of marksmanship, aiming, breath control and trigger control, when applied correctly, form the basis for delivering accurate fire on the enemy targets. These skills must be developed so that they are applied instinctively. During combat, the fundamentals of marksmanship must be applied in a timeframe consistent with the size and distance of the target. At longer ranges, the target is smaller and a more precise shot is required to accurately engage the target. The fundamentals are more critical to accurate engagement as the range to the target increases. To be accurate at longer ranges, the Marine must take time to slow down and accurately apply the fundamentals. At shorter ranges, the enemy must be engaged quickly before it engages the Marine. As the size of the target increases and the distance to the target decreases, the fundamentals, while still necessary, become less critical to accuracy. A Marine must apply proper aiming, breath control and trigger control. These fundamentals must be continually studied and practiced in order to place well-aimed shots on target. To hit the target when the round is fired, sighting and aiming must be correct. For this to happen, the tip of the front sight post and the rear sight aperture must be in proper alignment. The ability to maintain the correct relationship between the tip of the front sight post and the rear sight aperture is essential for accurate shooting. Because of the short distance between the front sight post and the rear sight aperture, a small error in their alignment causes a considerable error at the target. Sight alignment is the relationship between the front sight post, the rear sight aperture and the aiming eye. This relationship is the most critical to aiming and must remain consistent from shot to shot. As the distance to the target increases, so does the margin of error. Correct sight alignment is achieved when you center the tip of the front sight post vertically and horizontally in the rear sight aperture. You can best understand the concept of sight alignment by imagining a horizontal line drawn through the center of the rear sight aperture. The top of the front sight post will appear to touch this line. Then imagine a vertical line drawn through the center of the rear sight aperture. This line will appear to bisect the front sight post. This has been found to be the most natural method of sight alignment. The eye will instinctively accomplish this task with little training. This method also causes the least amount of inconsistency from shot to shot. To be an effective marksman, you must also master the proper technique of aiming. Aiming is applying correct sight alignment to a target. You must also understand the importance of sight picture. Sight picture is the placement of the tip of the front sight post in relation to the target while maintaining sight alignment. Correct sight alignment but improper sight placement on the target will cause the bullet to impact the target incorrectly. The round will strike the target where the sights were aimed at the moment when the bullet left the muzzle. To place the round properly on the target, the tip of the front sight post is placed at center mass on the target while maintaining sight alignment. Remember, center mass is the correct aiming point so that point of aim and point of impact is achieved. The sighting system for your M16A2 service rifle is designed to work using the center mass sight picture. Because in combat, targets are often indistinct and oddly shaped, the center mass hold is used because it provides a consistent aiming point. Stock weld is the point of firm contact between your cheek and the stock of the rifle. Your head should be as erect as possible to enable the aiming eye to look straight through the rear sight aperture. If the position of the marine's head causes him to look across the bridge of the nose or out from under the eyebrow, the eye will be strained. The eye functions best in its natural forward position. Changing the placement of your cheek up or down on the stock from shot to shot may affect the zero on the rifle due to your perception of the rear sight aperture. A consistent and proper stock weld is critical to the aiming process because it provides consistency in eye relief which affects the ability to align the sights. Eye relief is the distance between the rear sight aperture and the aiming eye. Normal eye relief is 2 to 6 inches from the rear sight aperture. It is different for every marine. The distance between the aiming eye and the rear sight aperture depends on the size of the marine and the firing position. While eye relief varies from one position to another, it is important to have the same eye relief for all shots fired from a particular position. If your eye is too close to the rear sight aperture, it will be difficult to line up the front sight post in the rear sight aperture. Moving your eye back from the rear sight aperture will make the aperture appear smaller and allow the tip of the front sight post to be easily lined up inside the rear sight aperture. However, if your eye is too far from the rear sight aperture, it will be difficult to acquire the target and to maintain a precise aiming point. Wearing glasses can alter the perception of sight alignment and sight picture. If wearing glasses, it is critical to look through the optic center of the lens. The human eye can only focus clearly on one object at a time. When the shot is fired, focus must be on the tip of the front sight post. Secondary focus will include the rear sight and the target. The rear sight and target will appear blurry. Proper stock weld and placement of the butt of the rifle in the shoulder aids in establishing sight alignment quickly. The rifle butt's placement in the shoulder serves as the pivot point for presenting the rifle upward to a fixed point on the cheek. A marine will look at the target as the rifle is presented. As the rifle sights become level with the aiming eye, a marine visually locates the target through the rear sight aperture. As the rifle settles, a marine's focus shifts back to the front sight post to place the tip of the post on the target and obtain sight alignment and sight picture. To maintain sight alignment and sight picture, the marine's focus should shift repeatedly from the front sight post to the target until correct sight alignment and sight picture are obtained. Proper breath control is critical to the aiming process. Breathing causes the body to move. The movement transfers to the rifle, making it impossible to maintain proper sight picture. Breath control allows the marine to fire the rifle at the moment of least movement. It is critical that marines interrupt their breathing at a point of natural respiratory pause before firing a long range shot or a precision shot from any distance. A respiratory cycle, inhaling and exhaling lasts about 4 to 5 seconds. Between respiratory cycles, there is a natural pause of 2 to 3 seconds. During this natural respiratory pause, your breathing muscles are relaxed and your rifle sights settle at their natural point of aim. The shots would be fired at this point. Some marines can extend this natural pause up to 15 seconds to fire a shot. The pause should only last as long as you feel comfortable with it. The duration of the pause really depends on your physical condition and lung capacity. Holding your breath longer than is comfortable will result in a lack of oxygen. This may cause your vision to deteriorate and may also affect your ability to focus on the sights. These are the techniques of applying breath control for a precision shot. Breathe naturally until your sight picture begins to settle. Then take a slightly deeper breath. Exhale and stop breathing at the natural respiratory pause. You then fire the shot during the natural respiratory pause. During rapid fire, you should breathe after each shot is fired. This establishes a rhythm for shooting. Stop breathing at your natural respiratory pause and assess your natural point of aim. Then take a slightly deeper breath. Exhale and stop breathing at the natural respiratory pause while applying pressure to the trigger. You will fire the shot as the rifle settles on the natural point of aim during the natural respiratory pause. You then simply repeat this process for every shot fired during rapid fire. A marine in a combat environment may not have the time to fire a shot during the natural respiratory pause. The breathing and heart rate increase due to physical exertion or the stress of battle. Therefore, he must interrupt his breathing cycle to create a pause that is long enough to fire a shot. However, a marine should not make a conscious effort to perform breath control. The basic technique is as follows. Take a deep breath, filling the lungs with oxygen. Hold the breath and apply pressure to the trigger. Fire the shot. Not hitting where you aim is usually caused by your aim being disturbed just before or as the bullet leaves the barrel. During the natural respiratory pause, a desired aiming point must be achieved. The trigger must be manipulated without disturbing the aiming process. Trigger control must be employed to shoot accurately. Trigger control is a skillful manipulation of the trigger that causes the rifle to fire without disturbing sight alignment and sight picture. While pulling the trigger is a physical process, controlling the trigger is a mental process. A firm grip is essential for good trigger control. The grip should be established before starting the application of trigger control and maintained throughout the duration of the shot. To establish a firm grip on the rifle, you must place the V form between the thumb and index finger on the grip directly behind the trigger. You will place your fingers and thumb around the pistol grip in a location that allows your trigger finger to be placed naturally on the trigger and the thumb in a position to operate the safety. Your grip should be firm enough to allow manipulation of the trigger straight to the rear without disturbing the sights. The correct placement of the trigger finger must be understood before trigger control can be successfully mastered. Your trigger finger should contact the trigger naturally. No special effort should be made to place a certain portion of your finger on the trigger. Placement of the finger on the trigger depends on the size of your hand and how you grip the pistol grip. You will know that your placement is correct when you can manipulate the trigger straight to the rear without disturbing sight alignment. There are two techniques of trigger control. The preferred method of trigger control is uninterrupted trigger control. After obtaining sight picture, you apply smooth, continuous pressure rearward on the trigger until the shot is fired. Remember, the tip of the front sight post should appear sharply focused and distinct as the shot is fired. If firing in extremely windy conditions, you will need to employ another technique known as interrupted trigger control. Interrupted trigger control is used in extremely windy conditions when the weapon will not settle, forcing the marine to pause until the sights return to his aiming point. To perform interrupted trigger control, pull the trigger to the rear until an error is detected in the aiming process. When this occurs, stop the rearward motion on the trigger but maintain the pressure on the trigger until sight picture is achieved. When the sight picture settles, continue the rearward pressure on the trigger until the shot is fired. Do not try and force your rifle into the aiming point. Let the rifle move naturally toward and away from the aiming point on your target. If the rifle is moving toward the target, continuously apply pressure. However, if the rifle is moving away from the target or aiming point, hold your trigger pressure until the rifle starts drifting back toward your aiming point. Then, apply pressure to the trigger. If the shot breaks as the sights are moving toward your aiming point, the shot will normally be inside your call. Follow-through is the continued application of the fundamentals until the round has exited the barrel. Follow-through is important to avoid altering the impact of the round by keeping the rifle as still as possible until the round exits the barrel. It is important to get the rifle sights back on the target for another shot. This is known as recovery. Shot recovery starts immediately after the round leaves the barrel. To recover quickly, a Marine must physically bring the sights back on the target as quickly as possible. Resetting the trigger. During recovery, release the pressure on the trigger slightly to reset the trigger after the first shot is delivered. Do not remove the finger from the trigger. This places the trigger in position to fire the next shot without having to re-establish trigger finger placement. The correct use of your service rifle is critical to mission accomplishment and your survivability. If you hope to bring accurate fire to bear on the target, you must master the fundamentals. With practice, these skills, aiming, breath control, and trigger control become second nature to every Marine. With them, you can bring accurate fire to bear in any combat situation, and accurate fire on the target translates to victory on the battlefield.