Project Appleseed

Why is it that the week following an Appleseed event is always hectic and compressed?  This event seems like it was only yesterday, and yet I've got to get prepared for *this* weekend's Appleseed event, a Known Distance clinic...  My apologies for the lateness of this After Action Report.  It is my sincerest hope that the both the students and instructors who were present had a good time, and learned a little more what it means to embrace the ideals and traditions of the first Americans.


Alaska in September- there's no telling what the weather will have in store, especially when you plan the event months in advance.  Beginning sometime in July, this whole area has been beset by persistently foul weather- cloudy skies, intermittent rain, temperatures in the low 50's and dipping into the 40's.  It's been an odd summer, to be sure, but Alaskans don't hunker down for a light drizzle.  On the morning of September 10th, eight hardy Alaskans (five students, three instructors) gathered at the Birchwood Recreation and Shooting Park and were astounded at their good fortune- not only would they be sharing the firing line with some outstanding Americans, but for the first time in nearly two full months, the weather was cooperating!  There was a light chill in the early morning hours, but the clouds gave way to full sunlight, and not a drop of rain was felt. 

After proper introductions are made, all Project Appleseed events begin with a safety briefing, and our fresh IIT's N.Weseman and AK-CWeezy, a husband and wife instructor team, covered the Safety Rules, and how to make a rifle Safe.  Yours truly performed Shoot Boss duties, and covered some of the Common Rifle Malfunctions along with other miscellaneous safety-related concerns (hydration!). 


(only) Hits Count!
(https://store.rwvaappleseed.com/media/AS912-RedCoatNEW.jpg)

Shortly after the Safety Briefing, our students were introduced to their nemesis- the infamous Hits Count! target, colloquially known as the "Redcoats" target.  This target has four silhouettes, representing a full-sized target at 100, 200, 300 & 400 yards; it also has a narrow rectangle, representing Morgan's Shingle, which in 1775 was used by Morgan's Rifle Company to determine who would be granted the honor of joining Morgan's Rifles and then march hundreds of miles to Boston.  Our students engaged this target with a total of Thirteen rounds- one round for each of the colonies that declared their independence and fought a bloody war for Independence.   Three rounds per silhouette, one for the shingle.  How hard could it possibly be?  The target is only placed at 25 yards!  Saturday morning's redcoat target revealed just how difficult a task lay before us all- virtually none of the students could consistently engage at 100 yards, and the shingle was spared by all. 

As the students were reflecting on their abysmal performance in the face of the Red Coats, they learned how Captain John Parker and the Lexington Training Band stood defiantly in the face of overwhelming odds, with nary a man offering to run.  Shall we shrink from this challenge, or shall we overcome it together?  Shall we honor the men who stood, against all odds, and declared "If they mean to have a war, let it begin here!"? 

No one elected to leave.  These fine Americans wanted to prove that they had what it takes to become a Rifleman. 

Well, if you want to be able to engage targets out to 500 yards from field positions, you're going to have to learn how to use a sling, and you're going to have to achieve a proper prone position, so that's what we taught them first.  The next thing you'll have to do, is find and shift your Natural Point of Aim onto the target- this process encompasses the first three of the Six Steps to firing the shot:

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

Once students could consistently find and shift their NPOA, they were introduced to the concept of Rifleman's Cadence, which relies on using the natural breath cycle to create a rhythm for shooting: Breathe in, Breathe out, pause, Focus, Squeeze, Follow Through. Breathe in, Breathe out, pause, Focus, Squeeze, Follow Through.  Breathe in, Breathe out, pause, Focus, Squeeze, Follow Through. 

This was an incredible amount of information, dumped on the students in rapid fire fashion; granted, they received 1-on-1 instruction and coaching, but would they remember any of it when it was time to pick up their rifles again? 

The Four Minute Square
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The Four Minute Square target introduces our students to the standard by which their shooting ability will be judged.  It is a simple 8-1/2x11 sheet of paper, with five one-inch squares, and has a handy 1/4" grid which is useful for measuring group size and location.

The stated goal of the marksmanship training used during World War II was to ensure that the infantry soldier could achieve consistent hits within a 20" square out to 500 yards- roughly equivalent to a human torso.  Every rifle marksmanship course in existence has a standard; we at Project Appleseed decided to copy the US Army standard from WWII.  If the Greatest Generation could be trained to shoot to a 4 Minute standard, it stands to reason that succeeding generations can be, as well.  One minute of angle at 25 yards is roughly a 1/4"; so, a 4 minute square is roughly 1" at 25 yards. 

After firing a few groups, our students were introduced to the process of zeroing a rifle, using a concept called "Inches, Minutes, Clicks".  It's a process whereby the shooter can use simple math to determine appropriate sight corrections.  A student who properly learns this process, will save themselves a great deal of money by saving ammunition when zeroing their rifles. 


Isaac Davis and the Acton Minutemen
(https://www.nps.gov/mima/images/Minute-Man-Statue.jpg?maxwidth=480&autorotate=false&quality=78&format=webp)
Just as the students were becoming familiar with the Prone Position, it was decided to take a break for lunch, which was an opportunity to learn more about the events of April 19th, 1775; specifically, they learned about the sacrifices Captain Isaac Davis had made over the winter of '74/75, and the Action at the North Bridge in Concord, where Captain Davis became the first officer to die in what would become the War for Independence.  The mood had become somber, and reflective, and for good reason.  The Acton minute company was comprised of mostly 18-25 year old men, most of whom had families of their own who depended greatly upon them.  The Acton minutemen led the charge at the North Bridge, and so suffered disproportionate losses in that engagement.  Isaac Davis and Abner Hosmer were killed outright, while Luther Blanchard was injured and would later succumb to his injury, likely from infection.  It is hard to comprehend the sacrifices that have been made by men like these.  There's no way to pay them back, or even thank them.  All that is to be done is to deserve it.  To live our lives in such a way as to honor the lives that they didn't get to live.  We must hold to the ideals and traditions that earned them the title Americans. 


Seated & Kneeling
After lunch was concluded, our students were introduced to the Seated and Kneeling positions.  Those who ate light were thankful of it, as the seated positions can be downright miserable on a full stomach and a too-tight belt.  The seated position is a very individual position, in that body geometry, muscle build and flexibility all play a role in just how stable any of the given positions will be;  what works for one, may not work for another, and stability usually doesn't accompany comfort..  1-on-1 coaching was provided, and multiple positions tried.  Open-legged seated was the predominant choice, though kneeling was a close second. 

Green Coats?
(https://ezine.m1911.org/images/pictures/Appleseed/IMG_0315_a.jpg)
As our students move from Prone position into the Seated & Kneeling position, they are introduced to a new target, which we sometimes refer to as the ''greencoat" target.  This target was designed to ensure that students would get useful practice against appropriately scaled targets, and offers silhouettes for practicing standing, seated/kneeling and prone.  It really is a great target to hone your skills, and even features the same scoring rings that the Appleseed Qualification Test (AQT) uses.

"Safeties On!....Stand!" or, Rifleman Calisthenics
About the time our students are becoming familiar with the seated position, a whole new layer of difficulty is added to it- they must now stand up from their seated position (with an unloaded rifle), then drop into their position upon receiving the Fire! command.  The first couple of times a new shooter attempts to transition from standing to prone can be nerve wracking- there's a lot of moving parts, and it's easy to get something out of place to the point that you're pointed at your neighbors target...  Cross firing is frowned upon by all, and so special emphasis was placed on the concept of verifying *your* target after the transition. Oh, and there's a time limit.  The ideal time is in the neighborhood of 12-14 seconds from Fire! to actually putting rounds on target.  It seems simple, and it is, but it certainly isn't easy.  Once everyone showed that they could safely transition from standing to seated, we tried it again as a transition from standing to prone, using the bottom row of targets on the Green Coat target.  This took a few practice attempts to develop an individual process, but overall it went pretty smoothly.

Stand and Deliver!
The final field position taught at an Appleseed event is the Standing position, referred to as the 'off hand' position in some other shooting disciplines.  Simply put, we teach how to position your body to provide maximal stability for the rifle, from an inherently unstable position. N.Weseman tried his hand at instructing the standing position and did a pretty good job of it, especially considering that it was his first time ever presenting a position module.  With a little 1-on-1 coaching after the instruction module, our students tried it for real.  And absolutely smashed it.  I don't know if it was N.Weseman's instruction, or AK-CWeezy's coaching, but something really odd happened, that I've never seen before at an Appleseed- nearly the whole firing line shot better in standing than they had been in seated. (and some shot better standing than they did in prone!)

Are we there yet?
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As the hour grew late, and the students grew weary, they were asked to test themselves against the Appleseed Qualification Test, their first of the weekend, and for nearly all of them, their first AQT ever.  The results were unsurprising- they still had a long way to go, before they were ready to wear the coveted Rifleman patch...

(https://store.rwvaappleseed.com/media/AS902-RiflemanPatch-Small.jpg)


Sunday was only a few hours away, and would bring with it more practice, more history telling, and more opportunities to earn the patch. 

I'll leave the telling of Sunday, for Monday.  In the interim, please feel free to post your thoughts on how the event went!  It'd be even better if you had some pictures from the event... 



In Liberty,

ItsanSKS