Thursday, 23 May 2024 – As part of the cadets’ extensive training, the Officer Cadet School (OCS) launched Range Week training starting from 6 to 23 May 2024. The three-week training involved multiple firing ranges and covered various military weaponry, ranging from the standard rifle M16A2 training to support weapons such as the GPMG (General Purpose Machine Gun).
The first two weeks focused heavily on Live Firing Training (LFT). The M16A2 marksmanship training kicked off with simulations and progressed to live ammunition training on groupings, confirmations at varying distances and stances, zeroing, advancing and firing, and lastly night firing. To conclude their training, the Officer Cadets (OCdts) then underwent the Annual Personal Weapon Test (APWT), an annual shooting exam with the M16A2 rifle which is mandatory for all Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF) personnel.
Support weapons training began in the third week, with practical exposure on M203, grenades, GPMG and Heavy Barrel Automatic Rifle (HBAR) where the OCdts were given the opportunity to handle grenades and execute live shooting at Penanjong Garrison. These exercises provide the OCdts an important experience in their training. Considering the nature of weaponry and its potential for injury, safety briefs were conveyed before every training exercise by the Range Officers, along with weapon handling tests. It is to ensure the safe usage of such weapons for the Cadets as well as the instructors.
The Range Week provided in-depth weapon training and handling using live ammunition to raise the OCdts’ confidence, familiarity and proficiency in the range. The main objective here is to hone their shooting skills which are most vital for a military officer during their career, on top of providing military weaponry knowledge.
‘SETIA, TAKWA, BERANI’
