Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuver Training Center, IN 18-19 October, 2014

[SPQR]

It was about 0930 when they cancelled the air drops. At 1000 it was just freezing. The wind blew hard across the landscape wrapping us in a penetrating chill

Then the rains came. There was the worst of it, then there was more worst of it. Traffic picked up. Range 4 called for a cold time. Then range 32. Then another and another. Soon the cacophony of automatic fire began to dwindle until the only sounds were that of the rain, the intermittent chatter of the LMGs on the covered line of 25Juliet, and the cadenced thunder of APPLESEED

When I went to turn in our Strength and Usage reports at Rang Control the Corporal running the desk looked at my coat and pant legs and said,
"I expected you guys to pack it in a long time ago but Sergeant Major said you Appleseed guys never give up on it."  I furrowed my brow and turned my usual grin into a intense focus and replied, in my best John Wayne,
"Not ever."

Fifteen stout hearted Americans (yep, I'm including Nigel) braved the surprise misery to stand together and share their gifts, to take responsibility for themselves for each other, and to lay another course upon the Foundation of Freedom.  What determination, what perseverance in the face of suffering do my countrymen show!  HUZZAH HUZZAH HUZZAH!!!

HUZZAH TO THE RIFLEMEN, DIRK AND PAUL
HUZZAH TO THE SHOOTERS, ONE AND ALL
HUZZAH!!!          HUZZAH!!!!!      HUZZAH!!!!

Pics to come.

[boadicea]

This weekend I went and shot in an Appleseed KD shoot (Known Distance, where you shoot at 100, 200, 300, and 400 yards; we also shot a bit at 500) at Camp Atterbury, which is a National Guard training facility in Indiana. I took the van I've been putting in the shop so much, and camped in it two nights on the base in a field they called the "Bivouac Area" (i.e. camping area). While I didn't shoot a "Rifleman" score, I got within 6 points. This is a vast improvement over how I did in Tennessee this February. The equipment upgrade helped a lot. However, I kept screwing myself up by forgetting to adjust my sights for each distance, and one time I adjusted them the wrong way. But I got my "DOPE" numbers right, so at least I know how much I am supposed to be adjusting the sights at each distance. "DOPE" means Data Of Previous Engagements. I think.

The first day it rained in the afternoon, and we stayed in the field and kept shooting, while 5 Army groups who were shooting bagged it for the day on the radio. The last one to bag it before us was the light machine gun group at the range next to ours.   We stayed out in the rain and outlasted all the Army groups. I don't know if that means we're really gung ho, or just all wet. We went out to eat after that. Overnight there was such a wind that it dried up all the rain. I was nice and snug in the van, but my clothes from that day were soaked where the poncho didn't cover them, so I had a bit of a clothesline going on in the back.

The second day was cloudy and then sunny. No rain. We did a few AQT's. In the middle of one, we stopped and did a fun drill called the Balloon Assault. This was a 100 yard dash from the 400 yard line to the 300 yard line, where we flopped down at our rifles, slung up, and shot at 3 12" balloons on each of our target backers. Running makes controlled breathing a bit difficult, and two of my balloons were yellow so I couldn't see them against the white backer, but I did kill the green one on the second string of fire. I run too slow, it's frustrating to be out of shape.

We had a nice sight: Paratroopers practicing parachuting. Also saw a plane, a C-130 fly overhead at low altitude several times. I assume the paratroopers came out of the C-130 but not sure. They were over in the field across the road, uprange from us by at least 1000 yards, but we still had to stop shooting while they were doing this. 

We had two Rifleman scores this weekend. One was Paul, who is 14. This was his first time ever shooting at these distances. I love it when young people learn to shoot.  Imagine, just a few decades ago when shooting rifles was something high schoolers did in gym class or after school as a sport, as a matter of course.  We also had someone take an orange hat. HUZZAH!

Every 15 minutes or so Range Control had to do radio checks with us. At some point our walkie-talkie ran out of juice and then we had to use a different one. I was told that if we failed to respond they'd call the shoot boss on his cell and then they'd come out to the range if he still failed to respond.

The "Pit" behind the berm was interesting to see after the shoot. There were volunteers putting plasters on our targets so we could see our hits, and the targets were on these counterweighted tracks that went up and down. From the shooter's standpoint it looked cool, but that's a lot of work sticking stickers all over lots of people's targets and running them up and down.  There were people back there all day both days, behind the scenes.

Nature moments: I saw a field mouse scurrying around a few feet from my range bag, got chafed bad by my rubber rain boots and then used plantain to soothe the burn, ate some clover to supplement lunch, and later somehow a wooly caterpillar got into my food/water bag but managed not to get squished, so I let him go. I also saw a violet in bloom. I think it was confused. The range was full of yarrow, too, as well as clover in bloom.

When I was almost home I noticed twinkling lights over the Big Mac Bridge, just hanging in the air. Turned out they were (I think) about 50 balloons with blinky LED lights in them. I think the balloons figured out who assaulted them... Be afraid, be very afraid....

[Hop]

Pew, pop.
Pew...
Pew, pop.
Pew, pop.

[SPQR]

Pew pop Hop

[greyfox]

Absolutely, superlatively, profoundly, diggly-dog AWESOME!

I salute you all. Go APPLESEED...huzzah!

Loren

[SPQR]

It was pretty Merica


Pics will have to wait till this evening. Workworkwork

[brianheeter]

Well, we got rained on.  Then the wind blew.  And then we got rained on some more.  And then the wind blew.  And then we got rained on WHILE the wind blew on us.  Somewhere in there I think the wind blew some and we got rained on.  And it was great!

I'm am proud to have been part of the shoot this past weekend.  Special congratulations go out to Paul and Dirk for turning in Rifleman scores.  Dirk accepted a hat and is now a member of the Indiana cadre and the larger Appleseed family.  Huzzah!

Another shout out goes to Levi, Tater's cousin, who came out with Tater to work the pits all day Sunday.  He isn't a Blue Hat (yet), he is just a guy that knows what community is about.  A volunteer fireman who took a day to be part of something bigger than himself and lend a hand.  He gets it.  Levi, your help is greatly appreciated.

To all the other shooters and Instructors that were there it was great to share the weekend with you.  I enjoyed putting faces to names/email addresses even if I didn't always get them right (sorry, John Robert!)   

Keep heading to the range and practicing the lesson and drills that you learned at this and previous events.  And when you aren't at the range you need to be taking advantage of the liberties that were won for us by the Founding Generation.  Contact your representatives in the government.  They work for you, remember?  Remind them.  Let them know when they do something you don't like.  Let them know when they do something right.  Research the candidates and then vote in the election.  WE can save this country!

Huzzah!

C ya,

brian

[Hop]

I want to thank the Appleseed crew once again for all the energy put in to make this happen.  I look up to all of you.  This is a fantastic group of people, helpers, instructors, 'Mericans!  I'll keep working on buddies, co-workers & familly to get their butts to an Appleseed.  Once I finally get them there they're hooked.  This crew is the biggest reason why they get hooked.

I'll expand a little on my previous post...

I decided to make things more difficult on myself.  Hearing instructors say any Rifleman should be able to pick up any rifle and make hits I wanted to put this to the test.
Saturday - I got plenty of good zero and come up info using a SAI M1A from 25 yards out to 500 yards.  So what's a Rifleman do on Sunday???  You got it!  Leave that gun in the car and grab another one.     Huff -> 

I grabbed a 10.3" DD MK18 AR-15 short barel rifle for Sunday.  I had a 100 yard zero'd EOTech.  I got off 8 shots with some very nice groups at 300 yards then ZILCH!  EOTech died!  Time for the Magpul backup sights.  Oh boy... I hadn't used those for a long time & they had been zero'd at 50 yards using 62 grain M855.  I was now shooting 77 grain MK 262 Mod1.

Needless to say, starting at 400 yards for an AQT with a no more sighters & a not perfectly sighted in MBUS equiped SBR that has never shot past 100 yards was a true challenge.  400 = no hits.  300 = 10 hits on the backer.  200 = no hits.  100 = scored a 10/10.  At least I had a starting point and tried to make some corrections.  2nd AQT moving back got me more hits.  Checked the grid marks on our handouts vs our witness targets, measured my MOA error, made my best educated guess on a front sight post elevation & rear windage on a 10" barrel then made hits in the black @ 400.  I made a lot of hits @ 300. 

Time for balloons!  No hits on the 1st try.  Up one click on the front sight post.  Cleared all 3 in 4 shots on the 2nd try.  W00t!!!     Happy, happy, happy!  Best AQT with the little iron sighted door kicker gun was a 28 I think.   

[TJ Kackowski]

A view from the pits ...

I had the good fortune to work the pits the entire event.  Yes, it was good fortune because during the Saturday rain/wind/rain/more wind/more rain cycle, the pit crew was sheltered from the nastiness.  We did have to resort to stapling the pasters to the targets since they wouldn't stick to the wet paper, but such is the life of a sheltered pitman.

Sunday found us with warmer weather and lots and lots of sunshine, and more work since we now had to score each target, not just plug in a sighter disc.  When two extra workers arrived in the afternoon, it was none too soon.

I strongly recommend working the pits to anybody who really wants to know what it takes to conduct a KD Appleseed.  It's hard work to be sure, but there are rewards. 

For example:

On Sunday, we didn't know where the shooters lined up during the AQT's, so scoring was fair and impartial ... well, until we found out which backer was Paul's and that he missed a Rifleman's score by one point.  One point that had been subtracted due to an extra hole from one of his .30 cal neighbors (Paul was shooting 5.56).  Talk about a heartbreaker.

So, we kept an eye on his next AQT.  Great score at 400 yds., great score at 300 yds., great score at 200 yds., but wait, another .30 cal hole ... what to do, what to do ... he certainly didn't put that hole there ... *sigh*  a Rifleman plays by the rules ... minus 1 ... after all, he still had the 100 yd. target to go and was within 7 points.  As you all know by reading the previous posts, Paul nailed his KD Rifleman status.  HUZZAH!

It really didn't matter who was able to overcome that kind of adversity.  A rifleman preservers.  But knowing that this level of marksmanship was being conducted by a 14 year old young man made the moment really special.

Other than that, I cannot comment ... what happens in the pits, stays in the pits.

[brianheeter]

... what happens in the pits, stays in the pits.

And it's a good thing, too, otherwise I'd never be able to become a Senator.  Or, maybe I'm just fully qualified....

[jmdavis]

If you can't have made the shot, the shot shouldn't count against you. The problem is when everyone is shooting the same caliber and you can't tell who shot what. Anytime there are excessive that can be ruled out on the basis of caliber they should be. When there are insufficient, one must look carefully for doubles before judging them insufficient.

[SPQR]

You are right, Mike, IF you can prove the excessive were of a separate caliber.  What TJ should have said was that we THOUGHT it might have been a different caliber but we WEREN'T certain.  The shooter to the left and the shooter second to the left were both shooting .30 cal BUT they both had ten shots in their targets.  The shooter to the left was using a full enbloc and scissoring two while the shooter second to the left was using two full enblocs and releasing the clip after counting to two.  It was possible that this shooter had miscounted and sent the extra shot but it was impossible to be certain.  The holes were not uniform or being "cut" in circles.  The paper had been drenched the day before and dried out, the bullets were actually tearing holes instead of cutting them.  The backer itself was well shot up and the true size of the hole was difficult to determine by touch.  That we THOUGHT it MIGHT have been .30 cal was not the same as being certain.  I know because I inspected the target and backer from the top of the berm.

While I agree with your conceptual assessment, one must understand we didn't job the shooter for the sake of jobbing them.  Due diligence was done and the call was made on the side of caution.  This wasn't, as they say, our first rodeo.  (Actually it was TJ's first rodeo but we at least put a diaper on him before we let him out of the house.) 

[jmdavis]

SPQR,

I based my post on what was said. It's not a conceptual thing for me. I score targets weekly most of the year.

On Sunday, we didn't know where the shooters lined up during the AQT's, so scoring was fair and impartial ... well, until we found out which backer was Paul's and that he missed a Rifleman's score by one point.  One point that had been subtracted due to an extra hole from one of his .30 cal neighbors (Paul was shooting 5.56).  Talk about a heartbreaker.

So, we kept an eye on his next AQT.  Great score at 400 yds., great score at 300 yds., great score at 200 yds., but wait, another .30 cal hole ... what to do, what to do ... he certainly didn't put that hole there ... *sigh*  a Rifleman plays by the rules ... minus 1 ... after all, he still had the 100 yd. target to go and was within 7 points.  As you all know by reading the previous posts, Paul nailed his KD Rifleman status.  HUZZAH!

[jmdavis]

For some reason editing is not working, but I wanted to add. I am glad that there was due diligence for the shooter.

[SPQR]

I understand and get where you are coming from. No harm done. I just wanted to elaborate for clarity. Things were moving pretty fast. We had some cross firing (the target indicating chevrons on Range 5 are probably in rougher shape than the last time you saw them)  and I went down to the line to get witness targets for feedback. I met TJ at target 46 and he said we had one lose points to cross firing. He didn't know who the shooters were but I did since I was on the line. When he said it was 46 (which was a 14 year old man who had been my charge at his previous event) it was obvious we needed to be as careful as possible.  My sincere guess is that target 44 lost count and shot extras or swapped en blocs and come up on the wrong target in a rush. Since the condition of the paper was not allowing smears to gauge caliber visually and the high shots were indistinguishable to the touch I made the cautious call. As it was, I was able to use his target as an object lesson that limited further cross shooting and the feller shot Rifleman once or twice more. If he hadn't, he was probably going to get regs and his ammo comped at his next couple shoots.

The three SBs in attendance account for over 200 Appleseeds. They had scored a target or two themselves.

[squish]

Rain?.....Rain?.......The hardest rain that fell on Atterbury this weekend was the rain of precision projectiles that fell on Paul's targets!!!!  All hail the young RIFLEMAN. The future is bright.

[Flanders]

I would like to express gratitude to the instructors and pit workers for spending their time educating me on marksmanship and history as well as the responsibility that comes with both.  I have taken many lessons and much valuable experience home with me, and hope to use it to improve my own marksmanship as well as pass knowledge on to my daughters. 

Many Thanks!
Charlie   

[SPQR]

I'm having trouble getting the pics to embed at the moment.  Here is the flickr link while I work on it.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/57847011@N07/with/15585584341

[Big John]

You get married this weekend, too, Huff? 

[TJ Kackowski]

You get married this weekend, too, Huff? 

It were a busy, busy weekend!  But when you have such an AWESOME SB, things like that just kinda happen.

[TJ Kackowski]

SPQR,

I based my post on what was said. It's not a conceptual thing for me. I score targets weekly most of the year.

Dang it ... I was just trying to tell a good story, and it turns out you wanted 10 decimal precision.  Looks like I missed the mark again ... back to the salt mine for me.

[jmdavis]

Precision is always a goal, but unless we are computing rhf energy for computational chemistry, 10 decimal places is not needed.

[Hop]

So I crunched some numbers for my Magpul BUS on my 10" SBR and wow...  2.5 MOA per click on the front (normally 1.875 MOA for a 14.5" barrel) and 1 MOA per click on the rear (normally .75 MOA).  That kinda of explains the wildly over corrected adjustments during the first couple AQT.

Yeah, yeah, yeah... shoulda coulda, woulda done this in advance.  Maybe the next guy sees this and remembers to take into account a much shorter barrel.

[SPQR]

Dude, if Amy had been the SB you would have shot the same rifle all weekend and made a point of being consistent. Because it was me this time........

[Hop]

Dude, if Amy had been the SB you would have shot the same rifle all weekend and made a point of being consistent. Because it was me this time........

Thanks to you, I'll bet these old eyes can Rifleman with this same iron sighted shorty door kicker bullets hitting the target sideways 'cause it can't shoot that far pea shooter next time.   

[Unbridled Liberty]

Thanks for allowing this Kentuckian to participate once again in the Atterbury Experience. 

For those who were not there, this one minute video will give you a small taste of what it was like Saturday with all the activity on the base:
http://www.mediafire.com/watch/adbb2bk3uaajxdn/IMG_1172.MOV
Now, multiply that by about 500 and you will have the basic idea.  BTW, this is Brian Heeter finishing up the 2nd Strike of the Match.  'Murica! 

Thanks to Brian Heeter, AuntieBellum, SPQR and all the other instructors who made this possible.  The pit crew was magnificent all weekend; many thanks! And thanks to you shooters for coming out and persevering through Saturday.  Here are a few links y'all might find useful:

Learn about Liberty:
Online Library of Liberty http://oll.libertyfund.org/

Register to vote and then go vote, AFTER you research the candidates and issues you will be voting on!
Project Vote Smart http://votesmart.org/

Keep an eye on your representatives; keep them accountable! 
Congress.org
http://congress.org/congressorg/megavote/
http://www.govtrack.us

Indiana Election Commission:
http://www.in.gov/sos/elections/2404.htm

Indiana General Assembly:
http://iga.in.gov/

Impartial real-time legislative tracking service designed for both public citizens and government affairs professionals
www.legiscan.com/

Write letters and make phone calls about issues that concern you.  Let your representatives know that you are watching them and tell them when they do something you like as well as when they do something you don't like.  Invite them to a Project Appleseed clinic (elected officials may attend at no cost).

Long live Liberty!  Long live the Republic!

UL

[ddudeck]

Thanks to all the instructors and pit crew!
Shooting at Camp Atterbury is truly a unique experience (active base, machine guns blaring, multiple groups of paratroopers, C130's taking off and landing a few hundred yds away, etc.)

I continue to learn bunches at each shoot I attend.  This event was no exception.
- The stories of Three Strikes and Angry Old Men are always inspiring!
- We were drilled that the 8 most important words of the weekend are "Cease Fire!", "Write It Down", and "Huff Is GREAT!"
- On Saturday we learned tons about our rifle (Good positions, IMC, SHF, dope out to 500 yds, clicks from the bottom when zeroed, actual sight click value by shooting the square, etc.)
- On Sunday was our day to learn about ourselves and try to put it all together. I received excellent instruction and tips at each shooting distance. We worked on the "Ball and Dummy" drill which pointed out some errors and helped shrink the groups. We even had time to shoot some very dangerous balloons.

I did a lot of prep for this shoot (dry fire, position work, very reduced targets, etc.) and was elated to have scored a Rifleman's score on the last AQT.
By taking an Orange Hat I realize my learning and work has just begun.

The weekend for me was "PEW-topia"

PLEASE KEEP THE POSTING PICTURES/VIDEOS!!!
So I can share the experience with people I want to drag to the next shoot.

[squish]

Yes...MORE PICS would be great. Please share if able. Thanks everyone.