At 25 meters, the target - the silhouette of the upper part of the human body - looked very small.

"It's scaled down to look as though you're looking at someone 300 meters away," Sgt. 1^st Class Angelo Bumagat explained.

I watched Bumagat run a safe gun line on Range 16 last week; there was no mistaking his serious intentions.

"These soldiers are aiming for a black, one-and-a-half-inch diameter circle; they face the same challenge as those who want to get into the Special Forces' sniper school," added the C Troop, 3^rd Squadron, 38^th Cavalry Regiment, senior noncommissioned officer.

Just to the right and in front of me, Spc. Kelly Hinderer, B Troop, aerated the black area in his target with 5.56 caliber rounds from his M4.

"This is fun; I like doing stuff like this," he said as the rain began to fall.  "It's a good chance to prove what we know."

In the 3-38, proving one's mettle is part and parcel of one of Joint Base Lewis-McChord's newest units.

One of only three squadrons in the Army, the 3-38 trains to conduct traditional reconnaissance and intelligence gathering missions as well as engage in long range surveillance missions in a number of different environments.

This flexibility may come in handy as I Corps and the Army rebalances toward the Asia-Pacific region and the challenges contained therein.

To foster squadron unity while honing combat skills, the unit holds quarterly competition events where platoons vie against each other in physically and mentally challenging events.  The platoon that scores the most points at the end of each quarter wins a trophy and a party.

"That means I buy the pizza and beer," Lt. Col. Mark Aitken, squadron commander, said.  "But as to the events, they are all nested with what I Corps expects of the squadron."

As the troopers finished up on the firing range - and the rain began to pour harder - they shouldered their rucksacks and began a 10-mile road march.  When they finished that, their equipment would be checked for any deficiencies.

"These guys are having fun while conducting realistic training, building a team and honing their skills," Command Sgt. Maj. Garry Cooper, the squadron's enlisted soldier, said.

"We are moving forward."