Greencastle Indiana, Sept 29-30 2012 (Arleigh Burke Sea Cadets)

[yellowhousejake]

WOW! What a great weekend. Niecie talked all the way home about what a great time we had. The weather was beautiful, the range fantastic, and the Cadets were a joy to have on the line.

We had 25 students on the line this weekend (including three adults) and several had never held a rifle before, most had little if any experience shooting. That did not slow them down one bit. Once rifles, ammo, mats and protection were issued we hit the ground running.

Dividing everyone into three bays but running a single line, the first redcoats showed what we had to work with.
100 yds - 10
200 yds - 4
300 yds - 1
400 yds - 1
Rifleman square - 3

Not bad for new students, but we had our work cut out for us. We went through learning the steady hold factors, sling use, and six steps of firing a shot. All delivered clear and concise by Auntibellum with Spitfire modeling. We soon had groups we could work with on the five square target and we gave them to the experienced hands of Hawkhavn for IMC. Once sights were adjusted we started in learning the positions and transitions on the AQT we would shoot for score. A long day to be sure, but before we wore everyone out we did one final redcoat for the end of the day. You could hear the cheers as they ran to the target line.
100 yds - 19
200 yds - 10
300 yds - 6
400 yds -4
Rifleman Square - 6!

That is improvement, that is the result of attentive and focused students. Saturday was over and looked to be a complete success.

Sunday morning we were met with a line full of eager Cadets. Equipment issue went smoothly and first rounds were going downrange by 8:30 on a fresh set of five squares. We made a few sight adjustments, worked out some kinks in positions, and posted the first AQT by 9:30. The scores rolled in and great scores they were too. By the end of the day we had thirteen cadets qualified Marksman or above. Everyone was shooting well by the fourth AQT.

We finished up the afternoon with 100 yard KD and steel was well rung by all. The Cadets showed they listened, proved they got the lessons, and applied them well. We called and end to the event with everyone taking a turn with ARs and Garands.

The best part of the day was when the CO asked for a show of hands by those who had never shot a rifle before or did not hit paper Saturday morning, we had more than a few in the air. The CO then asked for a show of hands by those who were not hitting the target Sunday afternoon, and not a hand went up, not one.

It was an honor to share the history and heritage of our country and instruct the young men and women of the Arleigh Burke Division. They are the future of this great country and the leaders of tomorrow. That is a sentiment shared by all the instructors.

Yellowhousejake

PS. Pictures coming soon, Niecie has a ton of them to wade through.

[Bryant]

Sounds like a great weekend and alot of fun.

[JV]

every event working as an IIT has been a rewarding experience in and of itself. This event has been by far the most rewarding of the few events I have worked. I got to work with a few instructors I had not yet had the chance to meet, which is always a plus, but that happens at most shoots, so nothing out of the ordinary there. I have gotten to teach new shooters and young shooters at every event I have worked so far, so we can cross that off as well. This is the first event I have worked of this scope. The line was HUGE!!!! Mostly young people, in uniform, and very well behaved. This event reminded me of why I do this. I was reminded why I made the choice to commit to this program, to sacrifice complete weekends at at time, trade hours of saturday and sunday morning sleep for hours of driving. These young cadets showed me exactly what we are here for. They proved the marksmanship techniques work. They proved that the history is important, and most importantly, they proved that the next generation is NOT full of a bunch of shiftless layabouts any more so than the last. These are young kids who are well on their way to knowing very much what they are about. They were attentive, safe, and listened well. They gave it their best and did great. I am extremely proud to be a part of this program and I am proud to have been given the opportunity to be a part of this shoot. oh, and the weather was perfect, the range was awesome, and lunch was amazing.

[DaveD]

What can I say?  It was a pleasure to work with these young men and women.  The future - yes, in deed and it looks bright!!   

[kate]

A very fun shoot. It was great to work with everyone  I hope to see everyone on the line again soon! I have a few pictures I'll try to post soon 

[Niecie]

What an AWESOME weekend! I love working Appleseed events, but working with our future leaders is a real treat! My heartfelt thanks to everyone that worked hard to make this event possible,  everyone that worked hard at the event, and of course, the Sea Cadets.

Extra special thanks go to the Sea Cadets for the food! We really appreciate all you did  to make us part of the group  Extra - Extra special thanks go to the range owner - what an awesome facility. I am sure we will be visiting again, soon!

I took a ton of pics, but in the end we did have to chose "a few" to post.

It was great to see many of my favorite instructors on the line that I have not worked with in a while! I do admire all that you give to this program and have really become like family to us- okay enough of the blubbering . . . here are some of the pics.

See ya all soon!

Niecie


What a  gorgeous range!


The cast and crew


The Safety Briefing


The Shoot Boss explaining how to bring rifles to the line


Finally... Getting to shoot the Red Coat.


Pink goes so well with camo - thanks Kate!








"Who put three rounds in the 400 yard target?"


Auntiebellum will make sure that number is a lot higher at the end of the day


YHJ showing how to look through the sites using his amazing site sticks!


Hawkhavn shouts, "Stop lolly-gaggin'! Let's get back to the line!" 


More instruction then more adjustments then more instruction...






Even instructors need to hydrate!


Hawkhavn gives First Strike


Back to the line...More instruction then more adjustments then more instruction...






The best leaders lead by doing.... Thank you for getting down in the dirt, too!


Yellowhouse Jake will post the second half of the photos in the next post.

[yellowhousejake]

Pictures!

Williamson practicing his great steady hold factors.


More SHFs.


Fine tuning the sling


Time for standing...








Saturday afternoon RedCoat, who had more hits than this morning? EVERYONE!


Third Strike


We sometimes point out our own instructors with awards...


of tactical bacon. Rifleman bacon, it's a Hoosier thing.


Our model prepares for her photo op early Sunday morning.


Group picture done, let;s get to work!


Sunday brings smiles and ready students.






PREPPING mags for the Sunday morning five squares.


Brown runs through the AQT again...


and Spitfire51 shows how it's done.


Four more AQTs, some KD, and some centerfire with AR and the United States Rifle Model 1 and we center up for the final words from the Shoot Boss.


Finally Brownie gets her official hat ceremony, we put her right to work Saturday morning...


A great group, outstanding young men and women, we look forward to doing it again.

Yellowhousejake

[Brown]

There are just not enough great things to say about this group. SO attentive, respectful, and ready to work . just absolutely amazing group of young men and women.  When I think about the Ideal group to have for a Appleseed weekend this group will be the new standard.

From students that did not get single shots onto paper to ringing steel at distance they made HUGE improvements. brownnie and I talked all the way home about being on the line and hearing the squeals and shouts of excitement when they went to check their targets. Wow does that make it worth the time spent. I really wish I had more time with more parts of the line so I had more names to remember than Croshier (all 3 of them), brown,Samson, CO and of course Chief.

Absolutely amazing facilities and leaders of this Sea Cadet group. I REALLY hope we see more events with all Sea Cadets in the future.

Thank you so much for letting us be a part of your weekend .

[AuntieBellum]

What an honor to work with such an outstanding group of young men and women.  I was impressed by all of the hard work the cadets put into the weekend, and their targets showed that hard work (remember, out targets don't lie, right?).  It was so much fun to see their faces light up when their groups shrunk and when they got to see IMC work.  It was even more fun when in some downtime on Sunday, I got the question, "Hey, can you tell us more history?"  They got the message, and they know the history is important.  Our Nation is in good hands with these up and coming leaders.  Can't wait to do it again!

[JV]

thanks cadets for a great weekend. could not imagine a better group of young men and women to have on the line. you are a shining beacon of hope contradicting anyone who says the next generation is not worth a darn. Looking forward to the next time you guys have us out.

[ATM]

I echo the sentiments of the other instructors, this was just an outstanding group of young men and women! 

Sorry I couldn't be with you all on Sunday, but Saturday was simply awesome and it looks like it just kept getting better as the event continued.

I owe the cadets, leaders, supporting volunteers and our host property owner a debt of gratitude for each of your roles in making this all come together with excellence.
The traditions of our American heritage and marksmanship are forever linked. I trust that this generation will be well equipped to secure the blessings of Liberty and pass this same spirit, knowledge and obligation on to our posterity.

Also of note and evidenced in the pictures above: once given permission to smile, I actually saw quite a few of them. 

You all did great!

Now... go make something safe and don't forget to HYDRATE! 

[spitfire51]

A big thank you to our hosts for the weekend, it was a wonderful range and I hope to have many more events there.  A special thanks to the midshipmen, XO and CO for allowing us to work with this fine group of young men and women.  As for the cadets themselves, I can't say enough good things about this group.  They were safe, they were attentive, they were dedicated to improving themselves, and it showed in everything they did.  The improvement they showed over just a couple days was phenomenal.  I loved seeing the huge smiles on their faces after shooting the ARs and Garands.  We were truly blessed to have had the opportunity to work with you all.

As for Appleseed and the Sea Cadets, to quote an old movie, "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

[Ratchett]

What a fantastic weekend you guys had--- congratulations to all!

[Brownnie]

I had such a great time that weekend. I'm really happy this was my first Appleseed to be an orange hat at. I really was awesome to see all the Sea Cadets get excited over how they did. Also I wish i could have said thank you to each one of them for the perfect weekend that I had. SO happy to be apart of Appleseed, finally. And thanks to All of the Instructors for helping me learn what to do and for being patient with me.

[JV]

welcome aboard brownie, you did a great job this event.  a lot of what you will learn in your first few shoots as an orange hat is things you already know, but you will soon learn you, in fact, do actually know them. it took me a bit to get over the fact that I know what I am doing, still am. what a great event to start out at.