Annual Historic Weapon Shoot

The Department of History conducted its annual Historic Weapon Shoot. The Department invited almost one hundred history majors and other cadets to attend and oversee the event. Upon arrival, the cadets received their safety brief before enjoying a demonstration of firepower put on by re-enactors representing soldiers from the Colonial Era to Vietnam. Following this, the cadets cycled between several stations. They engaged with the re-enactors and learned about the day-to-day life of soldiers in their respective eras. Reenactors from the 124th New York graciously offered the cadets the use of their rifled muskets, allowing them to fire Civil War era volleys downrange. The cadets also learned about artillery drill from the 6th New York Artillery, who brought their functioning Napoleon cannon and allowed cadets to practice artillery drills. Finally, the cadets fired live ammunition from ten different twentieth-century weapons systems, including the AK-47, M1 Garand, and a M1919 .30 caliber machine gun, just to name a few.