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Authors: Spencer Adams
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else,” Mr. Lee
replied.
Tom left the conference room.
* * *
Outside the late afternoon sun became gentle
as it approached the horizon. Tom was at the firing range with his
M4. He fired at a target in the distance with shots closely spaced
together. A group of five US Army soldiers watched along with the
sergeant who oversaw the firing range. Tom imagined they wondered
who was this man in jeans and a button-down who shot so well. What
was he doing here? They seemed afraid to ask him.
Tom pulled out his pistol and began firing
it as well. While in the SEAL teams, he had achieved both the Navy
Expert Rifleman medal and the Navy Expert Pistol Shot medal. The
standards for the pistol required one to shoot several shots with
the strong hand, then reload, switch to the weak hand and shoot
several more shots within a certain timeframe. All shots had to be
within the body frame painted on the target. It looked a bit like
acrobatics as Tom was performing it, but he was pleased to see that
he still met the standards.
“ That was impressive,” the
sergeant said as he was walking over.
“ You should see me do it in
a tuxedo,” Tom quipped.
“ It’s been a while since I
saw someone as good.”
“ I don’t believe
you.”
The sergeant stood next to Tom and looked
downrange.
“ You said you were a
SEAL?”
“ Yeah”
“ Sniper?”
“ No. I was an officer. Hey
sergeant, I need to test out this new weapon they gave me. It’s not
lethal. Just makes you feel like you’re on fire. Leaves no
temporary or permanent damage. Can I practice with it on one or two
volunteers?”
“ Is it – actually
safe?”
“ They told me the
department of defense tested it on thousands of people. All were
fine. There are videos of them testing it on a general on
YouTube.”
The sergeant called over the five men who
were watching. When they came over, he started talking to them in a
more measured tone than he had been using with Tom.
“ Listen up guys. My friend
Tom here needs to test out a new weapon.” The men’s faces slowly
turned from smiles and relaxed eyes to that look college fraternity
pledges make as they are being told the next task.
The sergeant continued, “This weapon is not
lethal and leaves no temporary or permanent damage. It just makes
you feel hot for a second. Tom needs to test it on someone to see
the effect. So we need a volunteer. Which one of you guys is man
enough to do it?”
The five soldiers looked at each other and
started pointing fingers, laughing, and slapping each other in the
back. It was the military version of the playground dare. Finally
one of them came forward.
“ You can move out of the
way as soon as you feel it,” Tom said to the brave kid, “I just
want to make sure I have the sights positioned well.”
“ OK, sir,” The soldier
said. He walked downrange about 50 meters and turned around facing
Tom and the group.
Tom took out the ADS. He unfolded it and
powered it up the way Eric showed him back at Langley. He aimed it
towards the soldier, who stood like a statue in the distance. It
must have looked silly because Tom appeared to be aiming a small
dish or bowl at the end of a stick. Tom took aim and pulled the
trigger. Immediately, the soldier jumped to his left to get out of
the way. The ADS made no noise – not even to confirm it was turned
on. The group ran towards the soldier.
“ What did it feel like?”
his friends were peppering him with questions even though they did
not want to try it out themselves.
The volunteer looked at them with his
eyebrows raised in the middle.
“ It felt like…all of a
sudden…I don’t know. Like I was dipped into a volcano’s lava. It
felt like the hottest possible feeling all over my
body.”
They all looked at Tom, who asked, “if you
were moving towards an enemy position and you felt that, is there
any way you could continue moving forward?”
“ No, sir. Uh uh. No way. It
was almost instinctual to run away. I felt like
replied.
Tom left the conference room.
* * *
Outside the late afternoon sun became gentle
as it approached the horizon. Tom was at the firing range with his
M4. He fired at a target in the distance with shots closely spaced
together. A group of five US Army soldiers watched along with the
sergeant who oversaw the firing range. Tom imagined they wondered
who was this man in jeans and a button-down who shot so well. What
was he doing here? They seemed afraid to ask him.
Tom pulled out his pistol and began firing
it as well. While in the SEAL teams, he had achieved both the Navy
Expert Rifleman medal and the Navy Expert Pistol Shot medal. The
standards for the pistol required one to shoot several shots with
the strong hand, then reload, switch to the weak hand and shoot
several more shots within a certain timeframe. All shots had to be
within the body frame painted on the target. It looked a bit like
acrobatics as Tom was performing it, but he was pleased to see that
he still met the standards.
“ That was impressive,” the
sergeant said as he was walking over.
“ You should see me do it in
a tuxedo,” Tom quipped.
“ It’s been a while since I
saw someone as good.”
“ I don’t believe
you.”
The sergeant stood next to Tom and looked
downrange.
“ You said you were a
SEAL?”
“ Yeah”
“ Sniper?”
“ No. I was an officer. Hey
sergeant, I need to test out this new weapon they gave me. It’s not
lethal. Just makes you feel like you’re on fire. Leaves no
temporary or permanent damage. Can I practice with it on one or two
volunteers?”
“ Is it – actually
safe?”
“ They told me the
department of defense tested it on thousands of people. All were
fine. There are videos of them testing it on a general on
YouTube.”
The sergeant called over the five men who
were watching. When they came over, he started talking to them in a
more measured tone than he had been using with Tom.
“ Listen up guys. My friend
Tom here needs to test out a new weapon.” The men’s faces slowly
turned from smiles and relaxed eyes to that look college fraternity
pledges make as they are being told the next task.
The sergeant continued, “This weapon is not
lethal and leaves no temporary or permanent damage. It just makes
you feel hot for a second. Tom needs to test it on someone to see
the effect. So we need a volunteer. Which one of you guys is man
enough to do it?”
The five soldiers looked at each other and
started pointing fingers, laughing, and slapping each other in the
back. It was the military version of the playground dare. Finally
one of them came forward.
“ You can move out of the
way as soon as you feel it,” Tom said to the brave kid, “I just
want to make sure I have the sights positioned well.”
“ OK, sir,” The soldier
said. He walked downrange about 50 meters and turned around facing
Tom and the group.
Tom took out the ADS. He unfolded it and
powered it up the way Eric showed him back at Langley. He aimed it
towards the soldier, who stood like a statue in the distance. It
must have looked silly because Tom appeared to be aiming a small
dish or bowl at the end of a stick. Tom took aim and pulled the
trigger. Immediately, the soldier jumped to his left to get out of
the way. The ADS made no noise – not even to confirm it was turned
on. The group ran towards the soldier.
“ What did it feel like?”
his friends were peppering him with questions even though they did
not want to try it out themselves.
The volunteer looked at them with his
eyebrows raised in the middle.
“ It felt like…all of a
sudden…I don’t know. Like I was dipped into a volcano’s lava. It
felt like the hottest possible feeling all over my
body.”
They all looked at Tom, who asked, “if you
were moving towards an enemy position and you felt that, is there
any way you could continue moving forward?”
“ No, sir. Uh uh. No way. It
was almost instinctual to run away. I felt like
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