AAR, DFW Quail Creek, 7/14-15

[starfox]

Blessed with rather abnormally cool, tolerable temperatures for North Texas in July, we had 5 IITs and 5 Red Hats turn out for this IBC.

Alonso1 made the trek up from Houston with the always reliable Sir Not Appearing In This Film to head up the IBC for us here in the DFW area.  Spitstickler, Floydf, and myself rounding out the shoot boss laden instructor crew.  Bridget (BravoCharlie), David (stitz), Tim (timbeatty), Bill (aggie) joined Ron (greenbean), who made the exceeding long trek up from far south Texas in Laredo, to work at becoming great instructors on the Trail.

As this was only a two day event, we whittled down the instruction points to the vitals.  Saturday was spent getting all three Strikes down and Sunday was spent on the crucial and trickier points of instruction.  If we could have had a third day, we would have expanded on the POIs and also run a mock Appleseed.  However, the DFW crew is good at throwing our orange hats to the wolves and we stressed the safety aspects of a shoot during the weekend as well. 

All our IITs did exceptionally well and proved why we have some of the best instructors in Texas.  Given the relatively early levels for all IITs, everyone performed the Strikes and the POIs exceptionally well.  I think they all genuinely surprised the Shoot Boss instructors with their level of ability at such an early stage. 

Thanks to Mark (alonso1) for making the trek up and once again providing a great, positive learning atmosphere.  Having come up the ranks under his careful tutelage, I can say first hand, you will not meet a greater instructor to train under.  SNAIF is also a joy to be around and we were blessed with both their great experience at this IBC.

[Green Bean]

A heart felt thank you to all the instructors and IITs who were out there.  You guys made the 900mile round trip worth it and more.  With every new instructor I meet, I am more impressed with the program.   DFW Quail Creek has a beautiful range with lots of trees for shade.  The weather was perfect.

I was the rifleman rookie (hat less IIT) out there that weekend.  I took the long drive to Dallas to learn and I learned a lot.  By the end of the first day I was able to give the three strikes of the match.  Everyone including fellow IITs were very patient with my questions.  Sorry if I side tracked people, I know I asked a lot of questions.  I could not have asked for a better group of people to spend my weekend and learn with.  Thank you again.

What I got most out of the IBC was getting the different perspectives from each of the five instructors.  With each POI (program of instruction) the five highly experienced instructors, each in a slightly different way, would give suggestions on how to present the information and make it "click" in our heads.  For example, an instructor would tell the first strike (the same as at an appleseed) and explain how to present it.  Each of the five students would then tell the first strike, followed by suggestions from each of the five instructors.  This allowed us to hear each POI five times and repeat it once.  The suggestions and extra info (tools for my tool box) from all the instructors were outstanding and extremely valuable in getting us up to speed.  Making it "click".

A rifleman/IIT would have to attend at least six Appleseed weekends to get what we got in one weekend.  Not just attend six Appleseeds, you would need to attend six different locations to receive the different perspectives given on each POI from each instructor.

So was it worth the long drive?  YES!!! 
Would I do it again?  YES!!!
If you are considering attending one DO IT!!

p.s. if you are considering going to DFW Quail Creek and worrying about cost of hotel you can camp in your vehicle/camper/van for free on the edge of the Cabelas' parking lot.  There is a truckstop with showers across the street.  I stayed there all weekend with no problems.

[Stitz]

I'd like to echo Green Bean's sentiments! It was a very productive weekend, and a hearty thank you is in order to all the red hats (Alonso1, Sir Not Appearing In This Film, Spitstickler, Floyd and Starfox) for all the excellent instruction, guidance and suggestions!

--Stitz

[alonso1]

A great weekend indeed.  Thanks to Spitstickler for allowing SNAITF and I to stay at his house for the weekend.  Also Spitstickler and his family provided lunch for the Instructors, what a good guy.  Starfox and DoubleLL also hosted a BBQ dinner at their home for all of us as well, thank you very much.

Most of all, thank you to all the Instructors who attended the IBC and stepping up to the plate and becoming involved with this great cause.  Take care and God bless everyone of you.

Until next time, keep those actions clear and I'll see you on the beach.

[alonso1]

More pics

[Green Bean]

If anyone has a downloaded version of the visual aids we used at the IBC (6 steps, IMC, etc.) could you please email them to me. I left in a hurry on Sunday to get back to Laredo and forgot to ask.

Thanks

[aggie]

I would also like to echo the thanks to all the instructors who were giving us IITs the benefit of their experience, and training aids, to help us perform at the next AS we attend.

Thanks again and I hope to see all of you on the trail again.