ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, April 22, 1997 TAG: 9704220057
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: BOWLING GREEN
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Shooters slump, then rebound with unforgiving record-keeper.
What skill and reflexes couldn't accomplish for soldiers on the rifle and machine-gun ranges at Fort A.P. Hill, buddies who filled out the scorecards sometimes could.
But the advent of computers on the automated marksmanship ranges means the benefit of the doubt is out.
Computers provide a coldly objective and accurate score for soldiers who are expected to spot figures that pop up along the range, discern friend from foe, then gun down the foes, all within seconds.
``The computer doesn't do two things,'' said Sgt. 1st Class Terry Harvey, the military chief of the ranges. ``It doesn't shoot for you. It doesn't lie for you.''
For decades, range operators in control towers flipped switches to raise and lower targets, and scorers standing behind the shooters tallied the hits. But to err is human, and scorers sometimes counted misses as hits.
``It was up to your buddy,'' said 1st Lt. Don Redd, officer in charge of a platoon from the Army's Old Guard. Now, it's up to electronic sensors, silicon chips and a spreadsheet-like grid on a computer screen that keeps score.
Soldiers must meet Army standards with the M-16 rifle twice a year by hitting at least 23 of 40 targets. The first time Redd's platoon trained on the computerized rifle range, its scores dropped, but they have since rebounded.
``We get better feedback,'' Redd said. ``We're better able to pinpoint where a firer is having trouble.''
LENGTH: Short : 41 linesby CNB