Shot in the "Dark"

Some days I just come up with a title and no idea what to put behind it. I came up with this one yesterday. I had gone out to shoot during aerial gunnery and the weather creeped in on us. Before the weather got too bad and we had to land and shutdown, I got to fire some rockets. I couldn’t see the targets with the naked eye, they were 3500 meters away with clouds drifting in front of them. And although the clouds weren’t dark, it was that thought of shooting the rockets into something I couldn’t see through that gave me the idea for the title.

The real shot in the dark came today when I was, once again, out on the range. This time I had completed my turn at the targets and was sitting at the base of the range tower watching my fellow pilots and soldiers taking their turns. I thought of who I could share that moment with, and I thought of one of my friends, Marc. Marc was never in the military, but he’s always enjoyed military aviation and we met on a online game. The shot in the dark was that what I was going to offer would be appreciated.

I dialed the cell phone number that I had for him and got a Verizon Wireless message that he no longer had that phone number. I dialed his home number and his answering machine picked up. What I had for my friend wasn’t a whole lot, just the sound of rockets screaming down the range. It didn’t quite turn out the way I wanted, the pilots took a bit longer than I thought they would between the shots and my phone didn’t quite capture the sound exactly. But the effect was perfect because a friend appreciated the opportunity to be included in my life because I do something that is unique. A shot in the dark….that hit the mark!