What a great day! We had 17 students show up, including 12 young people. Everyone arrived with smiles on their faces and eager to go. The weather couldn't have been better. Special shout-out to our gracious host, the Cherokee County Sheriff's Department and Sheriff Frank Reynolds. We are the only outside organization allowed to use the facilities and we are very grateful.
When preparing the T-shirts for the weekend, I had an inkling we were going to have our hands full...
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The first thing we had to do was get a promotion out of the way. Congratulations to upacreek for changing her orange hat into a red one! Huzzah!
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We had a lot of work to do so we began right away with the First Strike of the match delivered by yours truly under the guise of Captain John Parker.
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It was Sunday and we were lucky enough to have a special treat as Cokeguy told us some riveting stories about the Black Robed Regiment. Next, we rolled into the safety briefing before heading outside to the line. Our morning Redcoat showed that we had quite a bit of work to do. ~~:) We opened up the fire-hose of instruction with Sling Use, the Prone position, the 6 Steps of firing the shot, NPOA and a trigger exercise. We implemented all we had learned on some squares targets before going to lunch. Several of the younger students really enjoyed popping ballons that Wileycoyote and Overmountain donated.
There was a lot to be done, so we worked through lunch. We covered Talking Targets, IMC (Inches, Minutes, and Clicks), as well as, the Second Strike of the Match.
When we got back from lunch, we switched things up. We had some 2nd and third timers that were eager to shoot AQTs. So, Cokeguy and Overmountain took them aside into a different pit and ran a separate line while the rest of us continued. We shot some sighter squares before really getting back into it with all 4 seated positions. Once we knew which seated position worked best for us, we moved into an exercise on Rifleman's cadence. Then we learned Standing before taking an afternoon break.
Well, break for some, LOL. Upacreek was put to work giving us a great rendition of the 3rd strike of the match. Then it was back outside for AQTs and we retired upacreek's orange hat in style (i.e. with large caliber bullets :cool2:). This was a big day for Bug_7 too. She called the line for the first time AND shot a center-fire for the first time (into upacreek's hat). It was a big day for the ladies of Project Appleseed in Georgia. Several of the Instructors were also kind enough to let some of the older teens shoot a centerfire as well. As we like to say in the south, "A good time was had by all." :partytime:
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When the white smoke of hundred of 22lrs cleared, we were shown to have a man amongst us who knew what he was about! Congratulations to Fischer on a 229!
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I should also note that, Fischer's father, an orangehat named Trailman also requalified as did Fischer's brother, Tate. AND... AND... AND Tate took a hat too! Trailman's daughter Bryn and her boyfriend Christopher were both within a hair of qualifying too if not for crossfire. Truly a family that knows what they are about! :---
(Apologies to Tate for not getting a picture of the orange hat presentation).
We finished things off with the story of Timothy Murphy and how one man (or woman) can make a difference. And the presentation of Luther Blanchard patches and the Road to Rifleman certificates for the youth. This group was fantastic to work with and if they are an example of the future, then we are in good hands.
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To those that didn't make Rifleman, keep practicing the perfect way to do things. A rifleman persists! And remember, one man (or woman) can make a difference. YOU can make a difference.
In Liberty,
Roswell
(Special Thank you to 6Bones and Overmountain for help with the pictures)
Fisher and CokeGuy
What an honor to spend the day with Trail Life! Keep practicing the basics and the improvements will come! Several of you are so close!
You heard us quote John Adams when he reflected on his walk down Battle Road, "Posterity! you will never know how much it cost the present generation to preserve your freedom! I hope you will make a good use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in Heaven that I ever took half the pains to preserve it." I firmly believe that we were witnessing posterity practicing the preservation he was talking about those many years ago. Keep growing and sharing the message of God-given Liberty! Our founding fathers would be proud to see you all on the line.
Congratulations upacreek! ..:..