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RE: BLAST FROM THE PAST.... KAPOOKA 1RTB!
Ha ha . Nice photo mate. What year.did you do your recruit training? I went thru in 1994
Ha ha . Nice photo mate. What year.did you do your recruit training? I went thru in 1994
You're a young fella!
Did you guys even have the SLR's as a part of your training?
SFMG course... with M60's on tripods... and then the "Bloop ers" (think it was M79), any of that?
I still wake up yelling VINSON..... the buggers made me attend a signalmans course in and around about 1991 or 92.... hated it.... fkn VINSON..... ishhhh..., that was the closest I came to the equipment that your generation was accustomed to.
I got out in 1995, so I was never actually issued the Steyer, luckily I guess, never had a liking for the 5.56 "BB guns" (air rifles).
I'm an old codger now.... just packing up some stuff here, boxing it all up and came across a memory stick, low and behold this was one of the photos on there.
Just put it up because I couldn't recognize myself in the photo, too fkn long ago for anyone to remember, let alone a senile bugger like myself.
Went to Pucka a couple of times, they had the old shooting range with the video screen, where we'd modify our SLR to a .22 calibre... what a joke that was... jam, jam, jam... but it was kind of neat to experience that...
I guess that is something that most of the younger guys never got to experience.
Bugger it... times have changed.
Will never forget watching a demo of the AusSteyer being washed out under a hose... I mean.. WTF was that all about.
In redgarrds to the new Gat. I admit, generally people like mostly what they know. So you telling me the benefits of an SLR & me telling you the practicality of the AusSteyer, would probably be pointless.
But for me I found the weapon easy to disassemble & reassemble, light & easy to carry, plus with more plastic parts, less chance of metal parts rusting or wood decaying. If you can wash the rifle out with a hose to clear a stoppage, then keep firing. Pretty efficient, I say:)
Like I said, times have changed, but a lot of the old school knowledge helped me out in my future employment abroad, saved my ass more than once.
It is kind of funny how life leads us all down different roads, if things hadn't changed in South Africa, I would have been a coppa down there. A guy I knew, good bloke, was an ex coppa and he was willing to set me up with a good paying job. 10 grand US a month and everything taken care of. That was where he made his money before going back home, but in some way I'm glad it didn't work out.
Wouldn't be able to sleep for the wrong reasons I guess, at least this way I know I was on the right side.
I was 19 when I joined. Did my cooks course in Pucka. Did wild dumb shit as an IET in Seymour. Plenty of nights out in Melbourne. I di 9 years & 4 different postings. And a handful of Timor trips:)
I really loved my time & would do it all exactly the same again. I feel I got out also at the right time for me.
I hear ya bro.