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AAR Kodiak, Alaska 5-6 September 2020

Started by ItsanSKS, September 09, 2020, 02:09:33 AM

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ItsanSKS

I think my boots may have finally dried out.

A few days before the scheduled start for this past weekends Appleseed Clinic, the weather reports began to turn ominous for the large island just off the southern coast of the Kenai Peninsula.  A large (think Alaska-sized) front was moving in from the South West, and was forecast to bring torrential rainfall and high winds.  Temps would remain in the mid-50's, as though Mother Nature was offering up some small consolation. 

Still, so long as at least one student was willing to brave the elements, the Appleseed Instructor Cadre will don their hats, and put on a show.  I am grateful that we didn't have one student on Saturday morning, but were met by 17 Alaskans instead.  Some of these faces were familiar, having attended the previous two Appleseed events, though many more were fresh faces to Appleseed.  Nearly every single one of these students had one person to blame for their being away from their hearths and homes on this blustery weekend:  OldMikey.   Kodiak's resident Red Hat Instructor has been working overtime on recruiting his fellow islanders to attend the Kodiak Appleseed events, and his efforts have really begun to bear fruit. 

Saturday morning began as Appleseed events always do: the instructors introduce themselves to the students, explain why Appleseed exists, why we volunteer our time, and then we begin the Safety Briefing.  The tension was high.  The weather forecast, updated at 06:00, called for a 100% chance of rain, with winds in the mid-teens.  We had fog.  An early morning mist held on far longer than anyone expected it to, but it never seemed to give way to the rain we all knew was coming.   Kodiak is the first place where I have experienced 100% humidity, without it actively raining.  The water just seemed to hang in the air, making everything damp. 

Stay tuned for more!  (It's 9:00pm, and I have to wake up at 04:30)
"Those who would trade an ounce of liberty for an ounce of safety deserve neither."

"To save us both time in the future... how about you give me the combo to your safe and I'll give you the pin number to my bank account..."

Corvette

Wow, what a special event.  Huzzah to any and all shooters that braved these conditions.  Riflemen persist.  I look forward to the follow up posts. 

Corvette
Be bold, brave and forthright and the bold, the brave and the forthright will gather around you!

Captain

Wow! I can't wait to hear "the rest of the story". Alaskans are TOUGH! Although a balmy 50 degrees probably meant most of them were wearing shorts (at least that's how it was when I lived there  ;D ).

Especially a big HUZZAH to OldMickey - that is some piece of work getting 17 shooters to the line in Kodiak!!!!! In a summer storm! WOW!!!
There's things that gnaw on a man worse than dyin'. - Open Range

M1bzrk

Thanks for showing us wimps how it's done!  Congratulations and look forward to the IAAR.
LIBERTY!

sleepy

Some say "if it ain't rainin', it ain't trainin'...bullchips! When you're in that kind of humidity, you're learning and working in spades. Thanks for persisting.

KodiEricAK

In Kodiak we don't have trial by fire, we have the driven rain. Last year the driven rain won. This year, my third...yes THIRD attempt to qualify, I could not come up short again! Thanks to Old Mikey, Eric and Scott for sticking it out so the shoot Gods could take favor on me. I can finally wear the patch of a Rifleman!!!

ItsanSKS

And now, The Rest Of The Story (TM)

As with all Appleseed Events, Saturday morning's festivities began with engaging the Hits Count! target, affectionately known as the Redcoat target; this target, when posted at 25m (82') has silhouettes scaled to represent targets at 100, 200, 300, and 400 yards.  It is used to determine maximum the effective range of the students, and provides a baseline skills assessment- it is engaged without the benefit of any instruction whatsoever, other than knowledge of the Four Safety Rules.

Only 5 of our students could successfully engage targets beyond 100 yards.  That's less than 30%.  :'(  That said, two of our students not only engaged successfully at 400 yards, but absolutely cleared the target- three rounds per silhouette, and one round in the "Shingle".  (It should be mentioned that both shooters were prior Appleseed attendees, and both had received their Rifleman patch at prior events...)

Ringers aside, the rest of our students obviously had room for improvement; even though their equipment was light years beyond what the colonists used on April 19th, 1775, their marksmanship capabilities had limited them to essentially musket range.  Well, they came to the right place.  Appleseed Instructors have been well trained to pass on the tradition of rifle marksmanship to their fellow Americans, and that instruction began in earnest.

The first module of instruction covers how to properly use a rifle sling to stabilize the rifle; two methods are taught, with an emphasis being placed on the "Loop Sling".  The students were then taught how to use that sling in the Prone Position.  With the stability afforded by using the sling, and the inherent stability from establishing a proper Prone Position, the shooters were asked to engage a 1" square at 25m.  Groups, while certainly improved, were not typically within the Four Minute-of-Angle standard that Appleseed seeks to achieve.  Further instruction was required.

The next module covered The Six Steps Of Firing The Shot; a step-by-step process that must be employed *every* time a shot is taken. 

  • Sight Alignment
  • Sight Picture
  • Respiratory Pause
  • Focus
  • Squeeze The Trigger
  • Follow Through

Properly instructed on the process for firing a shot, our students were once again asked to engage that tiny 1" square.  While definite improvement had been noted, their marksmanship capabilities still left much to be desired.  On to the next module of instruction, Natural Point of Aim.  Defined as where the RELAXED body will place the shot, Natural Point of Aim is a crucial component to successfully engaging small targets.  Was this it?  Was this the final, missing component that would enable our students to successfully engage that infuriatingly small 1" target? 

Yes, but also no. 

While group sizes had continued to shrink, many of our students seemed incapable of placing even a single round within the square.  With the students gathered all around him, OldMikey introduced our students to the concept of "Talking Targets", and began to offer sage advice on how to listen to what the target is trying to say.  An old language, requiring years of intent study, the language of the target speaks in certainties- sometimes harsh, yet always truthful.  Modern listeners are unused to such unabashed criticism, but the target never lies; ignoring the truth it offers will only deprive the shooter of opportunities to improve. 

After conferring with their targets, more than a few shooters learned that they were doing everything right, but were still not hitting their targets- a simple fix, that.  907Scout, with assistance from OldMikey, taught our students the concept of "Inches-Minutes-Clicks"; the process of determining (using math) the proper sight adjustments to "zero" a rifle. 

All this, before lunch! 

The rest of Saturday was a flurry of instruction, covering new positions, transitions, magazine changes, and the introduction of the dreaded timer.  The weather, for the most part, cooperated nicely. 

Near the end of the day, our students were introduced to the Appleseed Qualification Target (AQT).  This target, loosely based upon the Army Qualification Target circa 1942, is a test of every thing that our students have been taught.  It leaves very little room for error, with a 'passing' score of 210/250, or 84%.  The first time engaging this target can be a humbling experience.  A fumbled magazine change, or a botched transition, may mean the difference between passing and failure.  My own first attempt at the AQT (YEARS ago) netted a grand total of 64 points out of a possible 250.  I am proud to say that many of our students did far better than me at their first attempt:

Jewell T. scored a 106
Jojo I. scored a 136
Gram H. scored a 156
Jake E. scored a 178
Eric M. scored a 198
Nat N. scored a 232 on his very first attempt at the AQT, with a borrowed rifle. :partytime:

I would be remiss if I didn't mention young Henry Lee Jr., 11 years old, who scored a 62 on his first AQT, using a centerfire .223 rifle.  A rifle whose battery failed during the AQT (as batteries often do, right when you need them the most).  Henry was a phenomenal student, and a welcome addition to any firing line that I run.  His dad was an alright guy too.   :cool2:


With the daylight beginning to fade, our students were given an opportunity to engage the Hits Count! target once again.  Either these students had been sandbagging during the first RedCoat, or they had paid close attention throughout the day, because 73% of them were now able to engage beyond 100yds, and 26% of them were successfully engaging at 400 yards!  This cannot be attributed to instructor prowess alone; we're awesome, certainly, but that kind of improvement comes only through the internalization of the instruction provided. 

As students and instructors began to pack their gear to head home for the evening, the winds shifted and the skies began to darken, a portent of what was in store for Sunday. 



"Those who would trade an ounce of liberty for an ounce of safety deserve neither."

"To save us both time in the future... how about you give me the combo to your safe and I'll give you the pin number to my bank account..."

fisherdawg

Way to go Alaska Cadre! So proud of you bringing Appleseed to the Island Terrific of the North Pacific once again. HUZZAH!
If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. (James Madison)

"Young man, what we meant in going for those Redcoats was this: we always had governed ourselves and we always meant to. They didn't mean we should."
(Captain Levi Preston, of the Danvers militia, at age 91, remembering the day)

That it is an indispensable duty which we owe to God, our country, ourselves and posterity, by all lawful ways and means in our power to maintain, defend and preserve those civil and religious rights and liberties, for which many of our fathers fought, bled and died, and to hand them down entire to future generations.  Suffolk Resolves, September 9, 1774, attributed to Dr. Joseph Warren