A week ago we had 3 preregistrations, then 6, 11 and 18. Monmouth is a great club and very supportive of Appleseed. You can camp on site. Seventeen shooters showed up and were registered by North Country Lady, a Blue Hat. Six of those shooters were Army Reserve troops in uniform with M4s. This was a welcome surprise because all we had in advance were the names. We had a few repeat Appleseeders including Dr. Rick Ames who qualified as Rifleman at Columbia in April and has indicated he wants to become more involved with Appleseed. I gave him my old Orange Hat and he is now an IIT0.
With the safety brief and safe rifle behind us we went to the line. There was quite a variety of rifles from an ancient tube fed that belonged to "grandpa" to a takedown floating survival rifle and military issue M4s. There was an M-14. With a covered line it was noisy down on the right end of the line. The Redcoat targets showed we had our work cut out for us. One shooter had not hit the paper. After lunch on Sunday Alisha put 5 rounds in a one inch square. This weekend was her first shooting experience.
Most of the morning was taken with sighting in brand new rifles, new scopes on older rifles and working on that NPOA which is so elusive at first. Everybody improved. North Country Lady gave the First and Second Strikes. She has been doing this at Libertyseeds, but this was her first Appleseed presentation of two strikes. It was very smooth and the shooters loved it. Club VP, Mark Stevens was helpful on the line and throughout the weekend. Next month he will be a shooter on the line.
Nickerson was our first Rifleman after lunch with a 225.
On Sunday our thin line was reinforced by IIT1 Frankie Twoshoes with his booming voice and efficient Line Boss skills. We had two one day shooters and at the safety brief review Frank seemed surprised that all 18 shooters chorused the four safety rules. One each Redcoat and squares target to verify that the rifles were dialed in and we began to make Riflemen. Nick Girardin fired a 216 and 227. Rick Ames requalified. Phil Dow Jr. fired a 213 and Sgt. Holmes who is the Maine marksmanship coordinator for all Army Reserve units in Maine fired a 211, 216, 226 and 228. One of those targets he fired in what could be record time. This guy can shoot! He is going to promote Appleseed participation throughout Army units in Maine.
The club made pizza runs both days for lunches. I told the Third Strike and covered some of the Dangerous Old Men. North Country Lady did The Ladies of 1775. Justin, a shooter who had never fired a rifle before this Appleseed fired a 206 on Sunday afternoon. Despite a poor weather forecast the weather was fine. The shooters all went away happy. Most will be back and bring their friends. What a fine group of Americans.
At the benediction I quoted John Adams' "posterity letter" to Abigail after he walked Battle road. Then I asked the shooters why our forefathers took such great risks. They did it for us.
They did it for us.
I had a great time at the Appleseed shoot this past weekend. The marksmanship information covered is just what I try to teach the Army National Guard about. I was suprised to see that natural point of aim is covered as well. This is a technique that the Army has finally started teaching within the last ten years. It can truely be amazing when the marksmanship fundamentals are correctly applied. Thanks for your effort of teaching our civilians to become riflemen. That said, I wish we had more riflemen in the Army! As this project continues to grow, my hope is that we have a nation of riflemen, like the days of old.
The thing I enjoyed the most was the storytelling of history that most people just don't hear enough of. Thanks for all that you do,
SSG Holmes
PS, I would love to have the pics that were taken on the range to help promote the shoot to others in the Guard.
The pics are on the way. We were pleased and honored to have you and your soldiers at our shoot. Hope to have you back next month and along the "Appleseed trail" all over Maine.
As a result of my observation of our brother Mainers in uniform on this weekend, I have spent significant time reading through the Maine Army National Guard http://www.me.ngb.army.mil/ (http://www.me.ngb.army.mil/) website, where I was very pleased to find significant amounts of history here: http://www.me.ngb.army.mil/about/history/ (http://www.me.ngb.army.mil/about/history/). That is very reassuring.
Thank you, gentlemen, for your presence and for your patience. It was truly an honor to have you and fun to watch some tax dollars go for a worthy cause.
A job well done to all. Really felt bad I couldn't help out on this, hoping things settle out a bit for me this autumn.