Throwing the G and Curry Powder

A short walk from the staging area. A thick concrete wall. A bullet proof Screen. A trench.

Welcome to the day you will only ever throw a live grenade.

We had lessons under the sheds. We looked at drawings. We were briefed on wad to do if there’s a mishap. We were shown the real thing, with out any explosive or fuse. We were taugh how to take it out from its container. We were taught how to hold it. We were taught how to throw it. We were taught wad to do if the dam thing fell into the trench where we were standing in!

All this is the comfort of the holiday camp we were in.

And, the time came. the day we were to do it, for real.

So we trucked off, along one of PalauT`s many highways. Bounced for a few minutes down some dirt road.

All got off and into the training shed. Our home for the next few hours.

This is the staging area. Rest area for all when not doing the grenade throwing.

Quite simple really. Your Section gets called. You get your shit on. Form up. And walk down a small path. Come to a small clearing in the woods. This is where you wait for the detail before you to head on out. ok, they pass you. You head deeper into the woods.

Your section reaches the area. All head behind the large concrete wall with the bullet proof window.

No 1 man gets called. Walks up to the table, signs for his grenade in the case.

No 1 man walks out into the sun. To the throwing point. O-ci-fer awaits you.

A last briefing on wad you are to do, where to throw bla bla bla.

You take the grenade out from the case.

Put the case down.

Oci-fer tells you wad to do, where to stand, where to look. What to look for, a flag, maybe some old tires.

“That’s where you throw it understand??????”

No 1 man, ok. got it sir.

No 1 man does his drills. Holds it. Pulls the pin. Arm back. And throws.

The item flies away. All good.

Both will see where it lands. Than both people will get into cover.

Grenade goes off. Good. Not a dud. no waiting in the sun for some other expert to blow it up.

No 1 man gets up. takes the case and the safety pin, walks back to the other oci-fer , signs back the case and pin, and joins his section back behind the bullet proof window.

Simple. No 2 man, your turn. Once all is done, its time to walk back to the staging area. Sleep follows.

Next thing we did is the M203.

some tube thinge attached to the M-16 plastic toy. you get to shoot out 40mm grenades!! makes a small little “tud” sound when leaves the barrel.

as before, we do lessons. shoot from the prone position. shoot from a window. shoot from the side of a building. learned all the specs of the launcher. the specs of the round. fuk, all the specs.

after passing the exam, we than get to shoot the round )).

we do not use the real round.. sigh… we use rounds called “ curry powder” rounds.

this round, is the same as the real thing. cartridge, gunpower to blow out the round, only 50% I think, percussion cap. same.

the only diff is the part that flies out the barrel.

the real one is HE, steel casing. explodes when in contact with something hard, like the ground you stand on.

the rounds we used on that island were plastic shielded, with orange powder inside. when it hits the ground, it goes “ pufffff”. boring. lol. plastic breaks up, leaving orange crap on the ground. lol, sometimes it don’t break at all. hahahaha.

that’s it. as a recruit, that’s all you gonna get. no real explosive for you sorry. only the grenade.

later on in my short assed army career, I did shoot many many live rounds.

the m203, with the m`16 is shit heavy. lol. but hey, there you go. added firepower on just one person.

kk. wads next?