Project Appleseed

After action report, Stinson WV, August 8/9, 2009


This shoot would never happen without the shoot hosts, Mr. and Mrs. "The Machine".  Folks like these expand our Appleseed mission by making their property available and providing hospitality that always welcomes everyone back.   And, a big thanks for the peanut butter icing recipe.  I'm trying to figure out how to tell my wife that I ate chocolate cake without her. 

We missed Crak, who had his flight canceled.  Fortunately, Old Dog was there on Saturday and provided the guidance we needed to work the shoot without Crak.   Our thanks to Old Dog for the help. 

The shooting facility would easily fit 20 or so shooters.  It's mostly covered by a couple of tarps so is shady when it's sunny and dry when it's raining.  Everyone was pretty hot by the end of Saturday.  Even so, we have two new riflemen, Beth is the first female to make rifleman in West Virginia, her husband, Keith joined her on the next AQT.  Both deserve big congratulations for working hard to get there.  They were both determined to make it this time and didn't disappoint anyone with their performance. 

Alex was knocking at the door too with scores around 190 or so.  He's got that one little step to make and he'll be there.

Both Beth and Keith agreed to take the orange hat and begin the Appleseed Trail.  I owe them both an orange hat since I forgot to pack them in the supply box.  Beth work as RSO for about half of Sunday. 

Randy scored a 201 and was close to closing the gap.  This was the first time she had really shot a rifle.  Great going Randy, next shoot we expect you to win your patch. 

The Machine and Spanner really worked hard on the line to make this a safe and fun shoot.  The Machine spent most of Sunday with one of our younger shooters.  It's really gratifying to see a youngster and an IIT improve.  Paxton knew the safety rules, safe rifle condition, and some of the positions before he left.  Good job to The Machine. 

Hope we have some photos that can be posted.  Stay tuned.

I know my whole family had a great time.  Alex (my boy) improved his scores by 40-50 points this weekend.  The little perfectionist isn't happy about it though.  I keep telling him he should be proud for the marked and measurable improvement, and that he'll get to rifleman.  And soon.  But his scores now are close enough that he can absolutely TASTE it.  And he's dying to get back out there and score 210 or better.

Thanks to bulkhead, old dog, and spanner for running the line in a safe and fluid manner.  And special thanks to Mr. and Mrs. "The Machine" for their hospitality.  This weekend was awesome.  We look forward to many more.  Some on the line, some wearing orange hats.

Congratulations Siglite, Beth and Alex! You will get there Alex. I've seen you shoot, I know you can do it. Glad the two of you took the orange hats as well. Husband/wife teams are great I think. I hope to meet you guys and gal on the trail somewhere.

This was another Stinson "squeaker".  ::)  3 days out; no Shoot Boss...PCs need done...2 Rifleman prospects waiting anxiously for the final decision between a cancellation or a "go"...suddenly Crak emerges from the instructor pool, stepping to the Shoot Boss plate. Apparently, the storm has passed; we WILL officially Appleseed!  O0

Well, sort of...

The literal storms came hard and fast, from Fri. morning until Sat. morning. In the aftermath, we were left with local flooding; a soggy, wind whipped DAR; no Crak--his WV "trip ticket" got canceled Fri. evening. After Bulkhead, Old Dog, and Spanner rolled in during the early AM on Sat.--in true Rifleman spirit--we overcame, adapted, and persisted. Tarp repair, backer installation, firing line marking, and general tidying was done before the first students stepped onto the range.

There were 7 students on Sat...including a young boy (Paxton), who laid in the house with a sick stomach for half of that day. We also had 3 "no shows".

As myself and SuzyQ were too busy on Sat., I don't have pics to go with Bulkheads description. We did get a picture later that evening of what is turning out to be WV's first all-Riflemen family...


I thank Old Dog for taking time from his chaotic schedule to do the PCs and hand out patches on Sat., before having to leave. I enjoyed seeing you again and getting to work with you in an instructor capacity. Now, if you'd just hurry up and retire, we'd have you back home where you belong...them VA guys will just have to "borrow" you on occasion.  :)

Sunday turned out to be somewhat cooler, but AQT scores were heating up, with Alex and Randy getting so close to Rifleman, along with siglte and Beth confirming their Rifleman status. Spanner called the line all day, while Bulkhead assumed the role of SB...



Beth got to do some RSO work while monitoring siglite ("hubby")...



The third part of the Rifleman trilogy--Alex--worked very hard and will be getting his patch at his next AS. You heard THAT dude, right?  ;)



This is my rifle...there are many like it ;D...



Bulkhead took a break to reinforce the standing position again on Sun...



Everyone listened attentively, including my little buddy, Paxton...



Nick put the refresher instruction back into practice, while Paxton worked on prone...



Spanner got plenty of LB practice...



I especially enjoy working with the younger students. Paxton was a very dedicated, intelligent young lad, who will some day become a "dangerous old man". First, let me give you a hand with that sling...



At the end of the day, I think he got his money's worth  :~...



All-in-all, we turned lemons into lemonade. What could have easily turned into a disappointment, worked out to be another fantastic Stinson shoot. I appreciate all the instructors and students who came out to make this all work.

Randy (Spanner's daughter) never shot a rifle before this AS. She went from nothing, to scoring a 204 on her best AQT--pretty darn impressive. I want her to come back when she gets a break from college, so I can personally award her a Rifleman patch. I hope you and Nick spread some seeds at WVU.  8)

To my pleasant surprise, Beth and Keith have made it official; they will be joining our instructor ranks.  O0
This family is going to really help move our program along in WV. Keith is also a combat handgun enthusiast, and graciously provided some instruction and equipment after the AS on Sun--thanks again Keith.

Paxton was such a pleasure to work with, and a real inspiration for me. Most kids his age would rather sit home playing videos games or watch TV, but this young man chose to sweat, get dirty, and camp; despite initially arriving sick. He could have just as easily stayed in our house watching TV all weekend, but he wanted to persist instead. If that isn't the makings of a Rifleman, then he sure fooled me. Good job buddy!  O0

Bulkhead trucked it up from NC so we would have supplies for the weekend, and to help with instructing. I really enjoyed meeting and working with him. You did a good job of both instructing and eating SuzyQ's cake!  ;D  I hope you come visit again...maybe we'll get to shoot that M1 and eat some more cake afterward.  ;)

Spanner will probably be a SB by Nov., right? <:)  That's if I can stop him from lolly-gagging around and start working some shoots!  >:D  You did a good job man; I'd give you a "thumbs up", but I'm not sure you would know what that means.  **)  &) Yeah, you can thank me later...

Shoot looked awesome.  I definitely owe you guys one.