POTD: M4 Drills on the Flight Deck - USS Fort Lauderdale
Not every range has a roof or a traditional backstop. Aboard San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD 28), a sailor assigned to the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group runs live-fire drills with an M4 carbine on the ship's flight deck while underway in the Caribbean Sea, February, 2026. The open-air range is as operational as it gets.
Fort Lauderdale has been forward deployed since August 2025 as part of the Iwo Jima ARG alongside flagship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) and USS San Antonio (LPD 17), with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) embarked.
The group's mission under U.S. Southern Command has centered on counter-narcotics operations and maritime security across the Caribbean under Operation Southern Spear, described as the most significant U.S. military presence in the region in decades.
Over the course of the deployment, the force conducted embassy reinforcement operations in Haiti and Venezuela, maritime interception operations against illicit trafficking networks, and delivered humanitarian aid to Jamaica following Hurricane Melissa.
Maintaining small arms proficiency underway is a routine part of keeping a force of over 4,500 sailors and Marines ready for whatever the mission demands next.
Photo: Seaman Jaimie Bethea, U.S. Navy.
Ex-Arctic Ranger. Competitive practical shooter and hunter with a European focus. Always ready to increase my collection of modern semi-automatics, optics, thermals and suppressors. TCCC Certified. Occasionaly seen in a 6x6 Bug Out Vehicle, always with a big smile.
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Not the bridged VCOG ðŸ˜
OMG Please tell me it’s a joke the Marines played on the sailors by mounting the scopes halfway up on the non free float sloppy fit handguards. I think some were actually completely on the handgaurd. Didn’t they learn the last time they mounted the vcog on backwards to not take pictures of fleet sailors shooting optics
Well... atleast the scope isnt mounted on backwards this time...
It is good to see that they have learned how to place the telescope in the correct direction.
Too bad they have the optics mounted bridging the handguard.
3rd picture in the article. Do you think that sailor practicing anti-air or anti-drone fire?