Common Sense

[from a post by Junior Birdman at www.rwva.org/forum/]

Goals are a fine thing. We all shoot for certain goals in our personal or professional lives. Setting and achieving goals is a healthy and normal part of life. Those without goals are usually the slacker types, satisfied with where they are or what they are accomplishing in life. Going nowhere, but it’s OK.

But you’re not the slacker type, right? Nope, or you likely wouldn’t be reading THIS post. No, you’re the type who sets goals. Some of them are quite lofty. You have a lot of things going on in your life, but you still manage to work on those goals and you meet and even exceed them at times. You don’t let things stop you or get in the way of attaining your goals, big or small. Sure, there are obstacles, but you work at it and find a way to make it happen.

And you know the feeling you get when you realize the vision? That feeling that picks you up and carries you through the next few days just a little higher. You walk a little faster, laugh a little easier.

Then you start to think about that next goal. The one that’s been percolating in the back of your mind. And not being the slacker type, you set about making the next goal happen.

Appleseed is much the same way. We started out with a goal to double in size every year.

Now, if you just take a minute to think about that, it’s really a huge goal: Twice the size we were this time last year……… Only half as big as we’ll be this time next year. Wow! It’s a bit daunting, even for me who’s been in this thing a while and seen some goals achieved, even smashed.

The biggest obstacle we have isn’t finding places to hold Appleseed shoots. It’s not even finding people who want to learn to shoot well and learn a bit about their heritage of marksmanship.

The biggest obstacle facing this project is getting enough instructors.

This bears repeating for emphasis:

THE APPLESEED PROJECT’S BIGGEST OBSTACLE IS GETTING ENOUGH INSTRUCTORS.

Look, we’re a bunch of goal oriented people at Project Appleseed, and as such, we intend to overcome all obstacles in our way. But I have to admit that this obstacle has me very frustrated.

How can we NOT have “would be” instructors beating our doors down? I mean, here is a project to help Americans wake up, change things, set and achieve goals, and become real Americans again. I would think that EVERY shooter who’s been to an Appleseed event would be signing on to hit the “Appleseed Trail”, that every shooter who earned that Rifleman’s patch would be begging for an opportunity to show others what he’d learned, wake them up, set them on a life course to be a better American.

But it’s just not so. In fact, believe it or not, some shooters think that the Rifleman’s patch IS the goal. Somehow they got the idea that if they could just score better than 210 on the AQT and get that little green patch, that they could “check off” that square and move on to their next goal of learning to fly that RC helicopter or shoot a golf score under par.

To them, Appleseed is just a way to achieve THEIR goal. They walk a little faster, laugh a little easier for about a week. And then we never hear or see them again. They just vanish. And Appleseed goes on without them. And we both lose.

They never even see the REAL goal right in front of them. The real goal isn’t about them.
In fact, it’s not even about Appleseed. It’s about the country. It’s about knowing what the men and women of 1775 did to secure OUR future, not theirs. It’s about a whole country chock full of people who have no idea about what it truly means to be an American. It’s about their own posterity and how they will live in the future.

Don’t believe me? Then read this. In fact, read it a few times. Slowly. Let it sink in.

“Posterity, you will never know how much it cost the present generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in Heaven that I ever took half the pains to preserve it”

This was written by John Adams, a man with a goal. He had the wherewithal to work hard at his goal, and to see it through. His goal was preserving YOUR freedom. And on the day he wrote this he had ridden out on a horse to see for himself the aftermath of the actions on 19 April, 1775 on the road from Boston to Concord.

He saw burned out houses. He saw refugees streaming from their homes with their belongings on their backs. He rode around dead bodies in the road. He saw the widows weeping over their just buried husbands. He saw the ragged, bloody bandages wrapping the torsos and severed limbs of the country folks who had stood against tyranny and oppression and paid the price for YOUR liberty.

And he knew that the “goal” that lay ahead was even more incredible because he and every other “traitor” was now a wanted man and that the only thing that would save their life was victory. The goal became victory!

Nothing short of victory. The victory of a land of farmers and merchants and mechanics and laborers over one of the mightiest countries in the world! You think your goals are lofty? These men and women endured nearly 9 years where there was never enough to eat, never enough to keep them warm, never enough of anything to go around, and the ever present certainty of a hangman’s noose should they fall into the hands of the King’s men.

When you consider your goals, please consider your obligation to your country, your family, and your posterity. And consider joining us here at the Appleseed Project as an Instructor. Set your goals a little higher. Become a “Red Hat” with the RWVA and help us meet the goals we’ve set. (And just like that Rifleman’s patch, we don’t give Red Hats away. You have to EARN it!) In doing so, you’ll uncover a new American inside that you didn’t even know was there. And that American (and other Americans) will thank you.

We have in place 3 ways to help you achieve your new goal to become a Red Hat Instructor:

The “Appleseed Trail” method allows you to take a pace that works for you. You simply attend an Appleseed and express your desire to become one of the greatest rifle instructors on the planet. Then you just work at subsequent Appleseed events under the watchful eye of Red Hat Instructors who will train you and get you on your way.

The Rifleman’s Boot Camp, (RBC), method is a 6 day course that takes you through all the finer points of being a Rifleman and trains you to teach others what you’ve learned. You’ll even get a chance to teach Americans how to shoot and about their heritage at the Appleseed weekend that follows the Boot Camp.

The Instructors Boot Camp, (IBC), method is an intense 3 day course, (And sometimes an even more intense 2 days), that will take someone who is already a Rifleman, or darn close to it, and get them up to speed to engage shooters on the line at an Appleseed, troubleshooting and teaching other Americans about their heritage and marksmanship skills.

So there’s no excuse to put it off any longer. You can choose how you want to become an instructor, whichever way suits you best.

The main thing is to set the goal. You can’t improve, you can’t help other Americans, you can’t achieve your goal until you set it.

And in doing so, you’ll become a part of an organization that has as it’s goal the most noble and worthy object we can achieve here on this earth: The preservation of LIBERTY. Not just for ourselves, but for POSTERITY.

Still not sure about setting that goal? Just ask anyone who’s been there what it means to them. JB

(from the archives at www.appleseedinfo.org/smf)

Just 3 short weeks to get yourself signed up for the August RBC at Ramseur!

Not much time, so lets dispel a couple of the lame excuses for not coming to a Boot Camp:

1. Gas is SO expensive.

Yeah, well, so is poor marksmanship! The way I see it, at present rates, Gas costs about 1 Garand clip full of ammo per gallon. Yet you have no problem with throwing 8 rounds of .30-06 downrange and not hitting your target? And you’ll spend real money on gimmicks to improve your gas mileage by a few percent, yet won’t spend a few bucks to improve your “Ammo mileage” considerably? Come on!

So, the solution is to get a few of your friends and carpool to the Boot Camp! (Then you can figure out how to “ammo pool” )

2. Ammo is SO expensive.

Yeah, well, so is poor marksmanship! Remember those eight .30-06 rounds you just wasted because you couldn’t hit what you wanted to? (Same as a gallon of gas!) Save yourself the trouble next time you buy ammo and just take it over to a Rifleman’s house. He’ll know what to do with it. Of course, you can watch. It IS your ammo, after all.
Think of it this way: If you could hit the target every time you could shoot a lot less and still remain a solid Rifleman, right? As I’ve said before, unless you’ve been to a Boot Camp, you won’t know the value of time and ammo well spent.

3. I can’t get permission from the “War Department”.

OK, it’s time to get crafty now. Work all the angles. Start with the “You need a vacation” angle, then smoothly slide into the “Women shoot free at RBCs in 2008″ angle. Women can’t pass up a bargain, and what is a better bargain than a FREE VACATION? Your War Department is male? No problem, work the “Men hanging out in the woods and talking about manly stuff” angle. Lots of grunting and pointing and smoke and noise. What man can pass that up? And besides…..YOU get to do it for free!

4. It’s too (cold, hot, wet, dry, far, etc. You fill in the blank) ________

Do you REALLY want to go there? Cold? How ‘out the boys of ‘75 who stood to their posts at Valley Forge with rags tied around their feet because they had no shoes? Hot? How ’bout the boys of ‘75 who endured South Carolina in summer while wearing wool uniforms? Wet? Dry? Far? Expensive? Ask the Boys of ‘75 about those too. Most of them paid a heavy price for their liberty. A lot of them paid the supreme price. And for 8 YEARS, not 8 days. Paying for the same liberty that allows you to make excuses why you can’t come to this RBC and get involved and start bailing!

You know you want to come to Ramseur for the RBC. You know you NEED to come. Just make up your mind and make it happen. You know it needs to be done. You know it won’t be done unless you do it. Just step up to your heritage, your duty, your future and that of your kids and their kids. You won’t ever regret it.

(And another oldy but goody)

Why should you come to the August Boot Camp in Ramseur, NC? Lot’s of reasons, but I’ll try to spell it out for you as best I can:

Skills with a Rifle. Yeah, sure, you’ll definitely get a load of improved skills and a ton of knowledge about yourself, your rifle, and how to use it to its fullest potential. You’ll get days of training in the various positions, at various targets at various distances. And you’ll learn a lot of things to make you a better shot. You’ll learn how to take care of your rifle so it can take care of you. If you don’t see your shooting improve greatly then you’re not trying.

But even more importantly, you’ll awaken the sleeping American within. That American owns a rifle but doesn’t know how to use it to its fullest potential, or even why he needs to know. But that American is still an American, and Americans have it in them to get up off that couch and get out and DO things and CHANGE things and make this country what it once was.

How many counties have had their citizenry take up arms and free themselves of tyranny? Americans DID.

How many countries then continued to arm themselves and oppose tyranny every time it threatened? America DID.

Name a country that nearly tore itself apart, killing 600,000 of its own people to free those in bondage and make all men truly equal. America DID.

Which country embraced industrial revolution and produced enough food to feed itself and the world? America DID.

In about 200 years America fought for and won its independence, fought to maintain it, became a beacon of hope for the rest of the world, became a melting pot, (Not the current definition where all ethnicities remain separate and expect American culture to bend to their ways, nope, back then immigrants were not only legal, but assimilated into AMERICAN society, creating the great country that we became!), made the steel that built the greatest structures throughout the world, made the electricity and lights that lit the world, made the dictators of the world tremble, made countries and continents free, cared for neighbors, took care of those in need, fought TWO world wars to secure not only our own freedom but that of the rest of the world, (should they have seen the need for it), Invented the airplane, flew it faster, higher, further, and flew it around the world unrefueled, and put cheese in an aerosol can!

Anybody want to guess how many men have walked on the moon? That’s right…12. Anybody want to tell me where they’re from? That’s right…AMERICA! No other human feet have disturbed that dusty lunar surface, ONLY Americans. Americans have the brains, the guts, the desire to improve our lot and that of others. To go where nobody’s been before and do what hasn’t been done.

In 200 years this country made advances in the political, cultural, economic, and industrial arena that simply dwarf what occurred in the previous 3000 years, while in some countries today they still urinate in their drinking water.

Americans are generous to a fault. They give BILLIONS of dollars a year to organizations who help those in need. They help out people they don’t even know. They do and buy and provide things for their families that other countries only dream of.

In this world there are givers and there are takers. Those who work hard, take care of business and family and with what’s left over, others. They are the givers.
Then you can contrast them with the poor Katrina “victims” who still milk that hurricane for all it’s worth, even years later, hands out, begging for more, blaming others. Takers.

Recent MAJOR flooding in the Midwest brought about much more damage to our country and yet you hear nary a peep from those Midwesterners. Wonder why……Could be that they are “old school” and just keep on working harder to do what needs to be done. They aren’t demanding FEMA trailers and then suing the “Gubment” for “forcing” them to live in one for 3 years with toxic carpet or what ever other maladies they may dream up. They just see a need, get to work, and get it done.

This country is a ship on a treacherous course through dangerous waters right now. Icebergs to the left and right. We’ve even struck one or two and are taking on water.

You have choices to make. You can do things that make you FEEL better, make you FEEL like you’re doing something.

You could stand at the bow and point and shout out “Hey, there’s an iceberg over there!” and then “Look! Another iceberg over there!”
I bet it’s pretty crowded up there at the bow. Lots of folks pointing out the obvious.

Heck, you can send in your $35 a year to the NPA, (National Passengers Association) and go back to sleep in your comfortable berth knowing they’ll bail that water out and save the ship, right? Sure they will.

OR…(And it’s just a thought)……You could round up a bunch of folks, head down to where the problem is, grab a bucket, and bail for all you’re worth! You might even see a couple of those NPA fellows down there too. Probably be arguing about whether or not a certain size bucket should be allowed or if you should have to register your bucket or not, but they’d be down there, I’m certain of it.
Anyway, you’d actually be DOING SOMETHING to make a difference and not just feeling better about it.

This country has always had doers. Those who saw the need and DID something. Americans have been numbed and dumbed in the last few decades. Almost to the point that if you were you to hand them a bucket, they’d not know how to use it. We’ve been taught that it’s best to let others do it. Leave the bailing up to the “professional bailers”. Not to get involved. Not to think about such unpleasant things. Boy, this couch sure is comfortable.

Back in ’75 the men and women who won our independence didn’t sit around and wait for the National Musket Association to do what needed to be done. They saw what was on the horizon and they did something unique: They PREPARED for it. Planned. Coordinated. Sacrificed. Did what ever it took.

Today, (Just like back then), when we face challenges we see folks divided into 2 categories: Those who sit back and watch and wait for others to do something, and those who see what’s on the horizon and DO something.

On 11 September, 2001, four airliners were taken over by thugs bearing box cutters.

Three of those planes were filled with Americans steeped in the tradition of allowing the “professionals” to take action. They watched, made phone calls, cried, prayed, and then, not knowing what was on the horizon, they died instantly in the fireballs we all saw when their planes collided with the towers of the World Trade Center and Pentagon. They allowed their own deaths through INACTION!

But on the fourth plane were a few Americans who didn’t see it that way. They gathered intelligence both on the plane and from outside sources and when they saw what was on the horizon, knowing that their own hijackers intended to fly them into a building they took action. We all recall Todd Beemer who uttered those famous words “Let’s roll!” as he and the other Americans began their attack on the hijackers in that cockpit.

Todd and the others didn’t sit back and allow the NPA to do it. They didn’t form a committee to study the problem. They didn’t do any of the things that would make them FEEL better, they DID something that had a chance of keeping them ALIVE! They didn’t keep phoning friends and relatives to point out the obvious, (the icebergs). They stepped up in the face of adversity and they attacked the immediate problem.

Those people were true HEROES and although they may never have even handled a rifle, I’d be first to suggest they all be posthumously award the Rifleman’s Patch because in spite of the lack of scoring a 210 or better on the AQT, they had the rest of the Rifleman’s qualities in spades!

They were alert and awake.

They knew something had to be done.

They did something.

Riflemen.

AMERICANS.

We remember our heroes to honor their sacrifices and commitment. Even though those boys back in ’75 are far removed from our modern times we honor them, even more so than those heroes on United Flight 93.

Calling Americans: Come to Ramseur in August.

Honor those who’ve done what needed to be done by being there, being awake, aware, prepared.

Let’s roll.

Come to Ramseur in August.

(From the archives on the forum at www.appleseedinfo.org/smf)

Ramseur EIGHT OH SIX! (August, 2006) The very first Boot Camp! Yep, I was there. Among fellows that I’d never laid eyes on before. Fellows who, like me, came to shoot better. Guys who, like me, left with SO MUCH MORE than improved shooting skills.

The first RBC was a real eye opener in so many ways. I know that for every thing I learned about shooting I learned 2 things about MYSELF. For every thing I learned about riflery I learned 3 things about my heritage as a RIFLEMAN.

So you pay for a Boot Camp and some instruction in marksmanship. We’ll throw in the rest for free. You’ll come as an individual and leave as brother or sister, a friend who has real friends.

You show up as John Q. Rifleowner. You leave as someone who knows what they are about. Someone who masters their rifle, sure, but more importantly, one who has mastered himself. One who is alert, aware, capable, different, changed. The way Americans used to be. The way Americans SHOULD be. The way America WILL BE if we get America off the couch and chisel off the caked on apathy and dried out ignorance to reveal the true American underneath.

But you have to start with YOU. You can’t get your neighbor off his couch when you have a sofa permanently adhering to YOUR posterior. You have read all Fred’s articles in Shotgun News for a long time. Yeah, me too. You get out to the range and shoot twice a year whether you need to or not. Yeah, so did I. You even voted for GWB. Here’s a cookie.

As admirable as all that is, you can’t REALLY say you’re an American unless you get up and DO SOMETHING. Americans are DOERS. When the world sank into despotic dispair it was AMERICA who stood up and threw off the yoke of tyranny and sparked a revolution of liberty not just here in the US of A, but around the world!

America led the world in industrialization. Americans invented powered flight. Who else has walked on the moon? Nobody but Americans! We didn’t wait for a moon to come closer to where we lived! America fed the impoverished nations of the world. America produced the cures, vaccines, hybrids, inventions, and IDEAS that changed the world. Not by being satisfied with what we have. Not by sitting around waiting on someone else to do it. (Surely they would, right?)

No, Those Americans…..Sam Adams, Paul Revere, Jefferson, Madison, Washingron, and on and on KNEW what they had to do and they DID it. They didn’t wait for someone else, they didn’t think about it another year. They didn’t wait until a Revolution came closer to where they live.

Then there was Smith, Williams, Perrin, Kopf, White, Jones, and THOUSANDS of other names you’ve never heard of who went out and did something. They died. They suffered. They lost their homes, wives, children, fotunes, families, everything for an IDEA. The idea of LIBERTY and self determination. The one you enjoy today, what’s left of it.

And now, when the greatest idea ever invented by man is being strangled in every land you have a choice to make. You have the OPPORTUNITY to rise to the occasion. You can be a part of the cure for “rectalsophatitus” and pitch in to save the country!

What’ll it take? Well, just like those brave men on 19 April, 1775, we don’t know what lies ahead, do we? But I can tell you that you will have to live with your own conscience some day. And if you only left the couch for another hot pocket while there was a commercial break on American Idol and the country is lost, how can you look yourself in the mirror? Turn off your TV.

Join us as we check out some re-runs. Come out the RBC 7-08 at Ramseur and we’ll see what MY American Idols did back in ‘75! Sure, an oldy, but a genuine GOODY! Those guys were OLD SCHOOL! But they still stand towering head and shoulders above anything Hollywood has produced in the last 233 years.

Grab your musket. Pick up your kit. Head for the sound of the muster drum. You can hear it if you mute the TV. The sound is coming from Ramseur, NC. See you there. JB

(And another)

I’ve been flying in and out of Boston all week. I even had enough time one day to drive up to Lexington and Concord. I walked in the snow across the North Bridge, saw the green at Lexington and a few taverns and houses I’d only read about in the history books.

I stood where those brave men did when the balls were flying. I imagined how it must have been. I marveled at what it took to grab a musket and cartridge box, leave your family and home, and walk into an uncertain future that awaited over those hills.

Today, I took off to the northwest and on the climbout I could clearly see the old North Church, Breeds and Bunkers hills, the road to Lexington, and even the Lexington Green. I was struck by how much things had changed.

They have filled in so much of the Back Bay in Boston that the place on the shore of Boston Common where the Brits boarded the flatboats to take them across was now maybe a quarter mile from the water.

The Boston Neck, once a very narrow strip of land connecting an otherwise island of Boston to the mainland is now about a mile across and covered with skyscrapers, warehouses and 6 lane highways.

Breeds hill, sight of the battle in the summer following the fights at Lexington and Concord is no longer pasture but is downtown Charlestown with it’s huge buildings and traffic.

But more than that has changed. What was once the hotbed of rebellion for freedom and independence is now a cesspool of socialism and oppression.

Where men once fought because their taxes had become such a burden at 3 or 4 percent of what they made yearly, men now clamor to elect a president who promises to raise taxes even more that the confiscatory amounts paid now in order to pay for more socialism, more government intrusion, more control.

On the local news in Boston tonight there was a viewer survey asking if the government should get involved in teaching children good sportsmanship, you know, at little league baseball fields and such. Over half of those responding thought it was a great idea, and some 13% more thought it such a good idea that it should be expanded to include the parents of children playing in those leagues.

In the hotbed of radicals for freedom and independence it is now radical and “extremist” to be for freedom and independence.

The arms they used to ensure our freedom are now required to be registered and government approved, the potential owners of those firearms are examined by government clerks who decide if they should have a firearm or not.

My heart sank when I thought of what the men of Lexington Green and the North Bridge would think if they knew about these things. Had they known what would be happening just two short centuries after they fought would they even get out of bed when the alarm bells sounded? Would it be worth it all?

What then shall we do? Can the tide be turned back?

I remember that the tide was even worse back in 1775, and men of courage and vision stood together to change the world by making their world free. They did whatever it took, and the cost was high, but they considered it worth it for those that would come after them.

We who came after them owe them more than a couple of holidays a year. More than just remembering and honoring what they did. We owe them perpetual vigilance and defense of all they fought and died for.

Stand with us. See a future as the patriots of 1775 saw it. Do something for yourself, your country and for the children. Step up and join us on the Appleseed trail, changing America, one shooter at a time.

There is no better way to do that than teaching at Appleseed events. Connecting modern shooters with the truths and visions of the past so they will ensure that vision for the future.

Stand with us on Sunday morning in Ramseur and begin a journey that will make a difference in your life and the lives of so many others. Like the men on the morning of 19 April, 1775, just do what it takes to get there, not worrying about the details, just get there and do what’s required. You will never regret having been to an Appleseed “Boot Camp” and this one will be the best yet, I can promise you that.

Come, stand with us. Be there Sunday morning and stand with us. JB

Ever wonder how and why the Rifleman’s Boot Camps came about? Read on!

The Appleseed project was in full swing by the spring of 2006, and growing on schedule. But there was the desire to turn out still more Riflemen out there on “The Trail”.

The theory was that we should be able to create a “machine” that would, given enough time, allow us to throw raw shooters into the hopper, crank the handle, and in a given number of days Riflemen would emerge from the machine, ready to go forth and spread the seed! That machine was named the Rifleman’s Boot Camp.

The theory evolved into experiment in the summer of 2006 when we held the very first RWVA Rifleman’s Boot Camp at the home range in Ramseur, NC. A couple of dozen intrepid shooters from all over the country arrived on the site in late August for 8 days of intensive training in the art and science of riflery, yours truly among them.

A week later, we were steeped in the knowledge and skills of a Rifleman and had a “tool bag” of things to take away to show others. Some of us even left with the Red Hat of an RWVA Instructor. (Those were the days!) I don’t recall the numbers, but we turned out a lot of Riflemen. Not as many as we thought we would though, which dampened our hopes for the “experiment”, but didn’t dampen the validation that we could teach a bunch of shooters a LOT of stuff over that week of training. And we discovered that if a shooter learned that stuff very well and was so inclined, he could get out there on the line and show others how to do it too. Instantly we knew we’d hit on a winnner.

Presently, you can sign up for one of the 8 day RBCs and learn a lot more than you thought possible about your rifle, American history, and what you have down there deep inside yourself. Stuff you never dreamed was there. Stuff that will change your life.

But, that wasn’t enough! If we were going to fulfill the Appleseed Dream, we needed instructors, and lots of ‘em! Most folks couldn’t take a week out of their lives to attend the RBC. And another theory was postulated:

What if we took all the really critical things that a Rifleman needed to know to show others what he knew, and condensed that week long program down into 3 days? Maybe those same folks could make it to one of these!

And so was born the “Instructors Boot Camp! The IBC is for those who already shoot at, (Or very near to), Rifleman’s standards and would like to become an Instructor to spread the seed. These are usually held on the 3 days prior to a weekend Appleseed, and are long, hard days crammed full of learning, then putting all that learning into practice by actually teaching at the Appleseed event to follow. Having done a few of these now, the theory is well proven, and the IBC is a fact and in my opinion, the way of the future for us.

Want to become an Instructor but can’t quit your day job to attend the RBC? Then maybe the IBC is for you. We have several scheduled now, and are always looking for others, so if you and your friends want to attend, just build your own!

You see, while the RBC has to have a nice big rifle range to complete the long distance component, the IBC can be done most anywhere.

So, you want to learn to shoot a rifle to it’s fullest potential, possibly become an instructor, and have the time? Check out the schedule for an RBC near you.

Already shooting Rifleman scores but want to become an instructor and show other Americans what they need to know and you’re a little short on vacation time? Check out the IBC method, and don’t forget, we can bring the show to you. Just line up a few interested buddies and let’s get it scheduled! Find an existing Appleseed and we’ll do an IBC before it. No Appleseed near you? No problem, get one going, (Just ask how), and we’ll put an IBC in front of it!

Next: Why YOU need to attend an Rifleman’s Boot Camp!