Artillery School

So the artillery school that I conducted November 1-4 went off very well. It was a very long four days, especially for the instructors, but everyone had a good time and the class ran very smoothly for the most part. Sunday afternoon training on the swivel guns and 32-pounder was quick and easy. We knew Monday would be the slow day, due to the fact that it was the day we were doing most of the classroom work. It was made even slower by the fact that when we did get outside it was chilly and misty. Tuesday and Wednesday could not have been nicer though. On Tuesday we drilled all morning and fired blank rounds all afternoon. We also had a visit from our Department head and Division director, which was well-received and appreciated by all the participants. Late Tuesday was test time, which was stresful for some. Wednesday we pulled the cannons to Camp Lejeune for our live-fire exercise, which is always the highlight of this class. We had the Commanding Officer and some staff from the 10th Marines (the artillery unit at Lejeune) attend and they were very interested. I think I've finally recovered and am moving on to other things, but when you spend months planning something like this it can be very hard to move forward. Without further adieu, here are some photos.Photo of me on the artillery range Blank firing the 3-inch ordnance rifle Officers from the 10th Marines watching us shoot Rev War 3-pounder live firing Fort Fisher's 12-pounder live firing (best photo from the whole class)