An After Action Report Written by One of Our Newest Alaska Rifle(Wo)Men, Kaleigh W:
I would like to sing praises for and thank all the volunteers at Project Appleseed - Alaska. They made this an amazing weekend. The patience and support these experts exhibited to me, Zeke, and Hazel, is beyond belief.
I am grateful to have had this opportunity. I'm grateful my children had this opportunity. The Appleseed Project isn't actually about learning to shoot -it's about making Riflemen. They made this perfectly and wonderfully clear all weekend by telling the stories of the men and women who took up arms to defend their (and our) liberty on April 18th-19th, 1776. This is the day when we took up arms to defend against the British, and became Americans. An inspiring story, told beautifully, and completely.
Along the way, we did some shooting, learned the importance of position, how to aim, breathe, focus; trigger control; and of course, firearm safety.
To assess our learning, we shot targets with points assigned (like a bullseye target) and were scored. The course of fire includes shooting while standing, sitting, and laying prone. We shot what seems like thousands of rounds of ammunition, but probably was really about 210 per day.
There are several different qualification levels you can achieve, but rifleman is the highest qualification. About 10% of Appleseed participants qualify as riflemen. Brian qualified several months ago when he took the Appleseed with Ezekiel, but Zeke did not. He was bummed out, but excited to try again. This time Ezekiel, Hazel and I all participated and Brian played safety officer for Hazel.
We will all take the Appleseed again. Zeke would still like to qualify, and Hazel would as well, though she has further to go. (So far the youngest rifleman in AK is 11 years old, and she qualified yesterday after taking the course FIVE times. That's perseverance.)
Today, I qualified as a Rifleman. Number 107 in the state of AK. It was a very large accomplishment for me; it wasn't easy physically or mentally to do. The learning curve was huge as I hadn't shot a rifle before about 2 weeks ago. I was easily frustrated by the amount of information that I was given at once - they essentially teach a course in 2 days that they teach in 2 weeks in the military.
I am proud of my self, at what I accomplished this weekend. But more than my sense of accomplishment is a sense of being a part of something larger. More than likely, I will never have to lay down my life for the lives and liberty of another the way the riflemen we learned about this weekend chose to. But I would. It's not the rifle skills that I learned that make me undeniably sure that I would. It's the stories.
I will wear my patch with pride. When I see it I will remember the liberties that I and my children have, and honor the men and women who fought for them. I carry a piece of them in my heart now, and on my sleeve.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart to the Appleseed crew. I look forward to seeing you all again very, very, soon.
I will heartfelt thanks to fantastic Instructor Crew:
Taka222
FourFans
Eagleriver
Pete!
Oldmikey
Bearclaw17
Hogfamily
Maniac
Slowpoke
HUZZAH
Congratulations to our Newest Riflemen and Rilfewomen:
Gracie
Mikea
Scott
Stella
JB
Kaleigh
Jerrod (Requal with a bolt action!)
And all our other shooters: Zeke, Hazel, Toli, Thad, Andy, Austin. Persist in your efforts and you will reach your goals.
Fisherdawg
:pics:
And she still found time to observe me during my "Tactical NAP Briefing".
--FF
Letters like this are what it is all about. Helping people to comprehend, understand and internalize what it took to make our country great. :bow:
HUZZAH!
A few photos.
(http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/oo59/hogfamilyak/Appleseed%20Stuff/Birchwood%20Appleseed%207-16/IMG_9212%20Medium_zpspoojvfto.jpg) (http://s361.photobucket.com/user/hogfamilyak/media/Appleseed%20Stuff/Birchwood%20Appleseed%207-16/IMG_9212%20Medium_zpspoojvfto.jpg.html)
(http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/oo59/hogfamilyak/Appleseed%20Stuff/Birchwood%20Appleseed%207-16/IMG_9225%20Medium_zps8k8qzvv4.jpg) (http://s361.photobucket.com/user/hogfamilyak/media/Appleseed%20Stuff/Birchwood%20Appleseed%207-16/IMG_9225%20Medium_zps8k8qzvv4.jpg.html)
Learning the Heritage
(http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/oo59/hogfamilyak/Appleseed%20Stuff/Birchwood%20Appleseed%207-16/IMG_9231%20Medium_zpskqrdjkaj.jpg) (http://s361.photobucket.com/user/hogfamilyak/media/Appleseed%20Stuff/Birchwood%20Appleseed%207-16/IMG_9231%20Medium_zpskqrdjkaj.jpg.html)
Our future
(http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/oo59/hogfamilyak/Appleseed%20Stuff/Birchwood%20Appleseed%207-16/IMG_9253%20Medium_zps8hdtn7im.jpg) (http://s361.photobucket.com/user/hogfamilyak/media/Appleseed%20Stuff/Birchwood%20Appleseed%207-16/IMG_9253%20Medium_zps8hdtn7im.jpg.html)
Our new Riflewomen and Riflemen.
(http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/oo59/hogfamilyak/Appleseed%20Stuff/Birchwood%20Appleseed%207-16/IMG_9255%20Medium_zpskrnvbj8i.jpg) (http://s361.photobucket.com/user/hogfamilyak/media/Appleseed%20Stuff/Birchwood%20Appleseed%207-16/IMG_9255%20Medium_zpskrnvbj8i.jpg.html)
(http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/oo59/hogfamilyak/Appleseed%20Stuff/Birchwood%20Appleseed%207-16/IMG_9299%20Medium_zpstkjexkow.jpg) (http://s361.photobucket.com/user/hogfamilyak/media/Appleseed%20Stuff/Birchwood%20Appleseed%207-16/IMG_9299%20Medium_zpstkjexkow.jpg.html)
(http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/oo59/hogfamilyak/Appleseed%20Stuff/Birchwood%20Appleseed%207-16/IMG_9288%20Medium_zpspmemsi5f.jpg) (http://s361.photobucket.com/user/hogfamilyak/media/Appleseed%20Stuff/Birchwood%20Appleseed%207-16/IMG_9288%20Medium_zpspmemsi5f.jpg.html)
(http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/oo59/hogfamilyak/Appleseed%20Stuff/Birchwood%20Appleseed%207-16/IMG_9314%20Medium_zpssvbo8iee.jpg) (http://s361.photobucket.com/user/hogfamilyak/media/Appleseed%20Stuff/Birchwood%20Appleseed%207-16/IMG_9314%20Medium_zpssvbo8iee.jpg.html)
(http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/oo59/hogfamilyak/Appleseed%20Stuff/Birchwood%20Appleseed%207-16/IMG_9319%20Medium_zpsr0jgxba6.jpg) (http://s361.photobucket.com/user/hogfamilyak/media/Appleseed%20Stuff/Birchwood%20Appleseed%207-16/IMG_9319%20Medium_zpsr0jgxba6.jpg.html)
(http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/oo59/hogfamilyak/Appleseed%20Stuff/Birchwood%20Appleseed%207-16/IMG_9311%20Medium_zpswywd73pt.jpg) (http://s361.photobucket.com/user/hogfamilyak/media/Appleseed%20Stuff/Birchwood%20Appleseed%207-16/IMG_9311%20Medium_zpswywd73pt.jpg.html)
(http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/oo59/hogfamilyak/Appleseed%20Stuff/Birchwood%20Appleseed%207-16/IMG_9321%20Medium_zpssp6iakdp.jpg) (http://s361.photobucket.com/user/hogfamilyak/media/Appleseed%20Stuff/Birchwood%20Appleseed%207-16/IMG_9321%20Medium_zpssp6iakdp.jpg.html)
Re-qual using a bolt action.
(http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/oo59/hogfamilyak/Appleseed%20Stuff/Birchwood%20Appleseed%207-16/IMG_9315%20Medium_zpswkbwkpt2.jpg) (http://s361.photobucket.com/user/hogfamilyak/media/Appleseed%20Stuff/Birchwood%20Appleseed%207-16/IMG_9315%20Medium_zpswkbwkpt2.jpg.html)
We may need to change our tag line to "Shoot like a girl, if you can!"
(http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/oo59/hogfamilyak/Appleseed%20Stuff/Birchwood%20Appleseed%207-16/IMG_9325%20Medium_zpsdmvhbd9d.jpg) (http://s361.photobucket.com/user/hogfamilyak/media/Appleseed%20Stuff/Birchwood%20Appleseed%207-16/IMG_9325%20Medium_zpsdmvhbd9d.jpg.html)
Our new Orange Hats!
(http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/oo59/hogfamilyak/Appleseed%20Stuff/Birchwood%20Appleseed%207-16/IMG_9305%20Medium_zpswnmjgpic.jpg) (http://s361.photobucket.com/user/hogfamilyak/media/Appleseed%20Stuff/Birchwood%20Appleseed%207-16/IMG_9305%20Medium_zpswnmjgpic.jpg.html)
HAZZAH!
(http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/oo59/hogfamilyak/Appleseed%20Stuff/Birchwood%20Appleseed%207-16/IMG_9328%20Medium_zpsvc6paaqm.jpg) (http://s361.photobucket.com/user/hogfamilyak/media/Appleseed%20Stuff/Birchwood%20Appleseed%207-16/IMG_9328%20Medium_zpsvc6paaqm.jpg.html)