Last May I attended an award ceremony where a Trophy was being dedicated to the individual considered the father of Modern Marine Corps Sniping. That man is Major E. J. Land (ret). Land was surprised by the trophy (a nasty looking wild boar's head) and he spoke of the process that he went through when he was charged with restarting a sniping program in Vietnam.
He told us that he landed in Country with a list of the best competitive shooters the Marine Corps had. He then sought them out, got them transferred and built a school and a unit.
It's a story I have heard before second hand from Gunny Hathcock. But Land and Hathcock believed that competitive marksmanship was a good test of what a person could do under pressure.
Below is a link to "Being of Service Rifle." I suggest that anyone interested in competitive or practical Marksmanship read the information and interviews there.
http://www.beingofservicerifle.com/process/
Interviews I particularly like include those of Kris Friend, Kirk Freeman, Norman Anderson.
OK, 60+ of you read the original post. How many of you went any farther? I learned a long time ago to seek out the best when I was trying to master something. That philosophy lead me to VAShooter and Appleseed. There I met Boltgun71 at my first full Appleseed and have had the pleasure to teach with and shoot with him for the last 9 years. It has also led me to places like the "Being of Service Rifle" and to advising other Appleseed instructors of the value of integrating dryfire into the AQT (particularly the first one on Saturday and an early one on Sunday). It led me to classes with Jim Owens, Ken Roxbugh, and Brian Zins (extra credit if you know the common link of the three). Then came coaching from National High Power and Long Range Champions (Nelson Ocascio and Alex Arietta, extra credit if you know what those two share as well).
Here's the thing. No matter what you want. You have to work for it. So stop talking about it and start doing it.
Maj Land just happens to be a coworkers step father! WAY cool it was to actually meet him like 7 or so years ago. I HAD no clue who I was eating dinner with.
My coworker is not a shooter....he is a retired Marine but never did take the sport up.
Maj Land said..."Check this out" as he passed me books, rifles, then a quick walk thru the garage! WOW! Medals upon medals, trophies...etc!
WAY COOL!
For the extra credit...., Coz and Alex share a love of messing with us! LOL
R/
Chris
Land is the real deal.
You only get half credit on the bonus. ;D Even though you are right, you know the correct answer and gave the smart one.
Quote from: jmdavis on February 27, 2017, 11:13:00 AM
It led me to classes with Jim Owens, Ken Roxbugh, and Brian Zins (extra credit if you know the common link of the three).
Common link=USMC
aj
ding, ding, ding. We have a winner.