Project Appleseed

 

El Paso, TX.

The Heart of the Chihuahuan Desert.

It's 104 degrees in the shade.

10 intrepid men and women are on deck and ready to immerse themselves in our history, our liberty, and our marksmanship training, DESPITE the scorching temps.

Oh wait!!  Did I forget to mention that we were in an air-conditioned, indoor range?       

Our deepest gratitude, as always, to the El Paso Community College Law Enforcement Training Academy for the generous use of their most excellent facilty. They have supported Project Appleseed in El Paso for almost a decade now, and we just can't thank them enough.

We started the weekend with 10 shooters of varying experience levels, some returning shooters, some participating for the first time.  Ages ranged from 13 to 69.  Several traveled over 100 miles to join us, and we even had a visitor from the Sunshine state!

Your Far West Texas/Southern New Mexico instructor cadre are pleased as punch to announce that no less than FIVE new Riflemen were forged on the anvil of the AQT this weekend!  On Saturday afternoon, after a long day, we shot our first AQT of the weekend. Lo and behold, we got one amazing requalification, Justin, with a smoking hot 234, and one new Rifleman, Gabe.  This was Gabe's very first event, and his very first AQT, with a borrowed rifle, after having only put perhaps 100 rounds of ammunition through any rifle ever before.  Gabe scored a remarkable 220! On Sunday, Gabe was switched out for a rifle equipped with Tech Sights, and after spending the day learning the finer points of using irons, cranked out ANOTHER qualifying score of 217 with that setup. Huzzah!

Sunday morning dawned bright and hot, and all 10 of our shooters returned.  K.C., a cardiac surgeon, had never fired a rifle in his life before this event, and he struggled mightily on Saturday. On Sunday, Shoot Boss OL took him and his rifle into the range armory and worked on it for awhile, getting it properly set up and everything tighened down. With some intensive one-on-one with our instructors, K.C.'s groups improved greatly.  We hope to see him again at our next event, so we can work with him some more and watch his groups continue to shrink! Huzzah!

Father and Son shooters Chris and Trevor did beautifully!  Chris originally just came to observe while son Trevor participated, but with very little encouragement, Chris decided to join us as a shooter.  Trevor is an active duty soldier, and Chris is retired Navy and Air Force. Gents, thank you both for your service.  Chris had very little experience with rifles, being primarily a handgun shooter, but by the second AQT of the day he qualified Rifleman with a 211! That score ALSO earned him a bath in icy cold Concord River water  Trevor turned in a very respectable 203, and will no doubt blast his Dad's score to splinters at his next event.  Huzzah!

Lauren and Chuck, husband and wife from New Mexico, came with challenges to overcome, and did so with gusto.  Lauren shot qualifying scores several times under Adaptive Appleseed parameters, including a beautiful 232.  She came to us hoping to develop a love of the sport of shooting, and I do believe we have helped begin that process    Husband Chuck started out with a lever-action, tube-fed rifle, and with some tube-feeder tips from the instructors was improving steadily.  He did accept the use of a loaner rifle on Sunday, however, to better learn the fundamentals without the extra work.  Later when he's more proficient, he's looking forward to going back to that lever-action and tackling the challenge again.  Chuck worked his way up to a SWEET 205, knocking hard on that door to Rifleman.  Next time, Chuck!  Huzzah!

Allen showed up out of nowhere, and quietly and unassumingly qualified on Sunday with an awesome 227. Then he blew our minds by becoming El Paso's FIRST Distinguished Rifleman, scoring a 241 with optics and earning that sweet red bar to pair with his Rifleman patch.  The Army, and the rest of us, are proud of ya, Allen. Hooah! Thank you for your service!  Huzzah!

Leticia, wife of IIT Joey, came and persisted, reaching 176 before having a pretty scary blood sugar drop and needing to forego the rest of the weekend's AQTs. However, she honored our organization by accepting the Blue Hat of an AppleCore volunteer.  Her organizational talents will be an invaluable asset to Project Appleseed, and she will no doubt continue to strive for that Rifleman's designation while she provides administrative and moral support to her fellow shooters and the instructor cadre in our isolated little part of America. Huzzah!

Last, but DEFINITELY not least, is 13 year old Fernie.  Fernie has attended every El Paso Appleseed event that I have. He's quiet, respectful, and one heck of a fine shooter. Fernie has been BANGING on that Rifleman door for a long time, and he finally broke that barrier with a rockin' 224!  He followed that with a few more qualifying scores, proving the notion that once the pressure of that first one is off, it's a piece of cake!  Huzzah!

As icing on the aforementioned cake, both Justin and Fernie accepted the Orange Hat of Instructors in Training.  We at Project Appleseed are honored by your commitment to our cause and purpose.  Welcome to the family!!!

I truly hope to see the participants chime in here with their thoughts and impressions of our program and their experience. You are what we're all about!  Thanks to each and every one of you!

Pics to come, by the way 

Thanks for the wonderful weekend, Traci! I learned a lot and will definitely be back. What a blast! 

Makes me want to start over and earn my Rifleman Patch in El Paso!

Only thing missing was the awarding of your Green Hat and your acceptance of the role of Shoot Boss.  Congratulations, Mrs. Smith!

Deb

Quote from: Mercedes on July 23, 2018, 02:35:59 PM
Makes me want to start over and earn my Rifleman Patch in El Paso!

Only thing missing was the awarding of your Green Hat and your acceptance of the role of Shoot Boss.  Congratulations, Mrs. Smith!

Deb

Aww shucks...  I was just covering the really IMPORTANT stuff 

Thanks, lady 

Quote from: adm256 on July 23, 2018, 02:19:47 PM
Thanks for the wonderful weekend, Traci! I learned a lot and will definitely be back. What a blast! 

You are more than welcome! And we're happy to have you all back any time 

But I have to ask....

Who IS this??? 


WAIT!!!  It's gotta be Allen!

Congrats to the new Riflemen, new IIT's and way to go earning your green hat, Mrs. Smith!   Now there'll be no stopping ya from cranking out new riflemen on the anvil of AQT's. 

Sounds like an amazing weekend! Two orange hats, a blue hat, and a new green hat! Congrats to all! Glad to know that Appleseed and our Heritage are active in the SW New Mexico / El Paso area!

Mike aka Bandaid
Former NMSU Student and Las Cruces Resident

Great job by all the shooters and the crew!....

What?
WHAT??
Look at you go, Traci!!! 
Huzzahr!

W O O O O O O O O O O                W O O O O O O O O O O

Congrats on the Green Hat Mrs. Smith! 

Mrs Smith, thank you for the GREAT report. Even though I was disappointed in my performance at the meet, I am so, so happy to see such excellent teachers/instructors and then the accomplishments of all the other attendees!! We had tears of joy seeing "Fernie" achieve not only his goal of "Rifleman", but the honor of instructor trainee!!!!

All my life I was told "if you want to be good at something, to hang around people who are better than you", so at the next event in October, I'm hanging with "Fernie". Who cares if I'm almost 64. I'm never too old to learn new tricks!

Thank all you for your encouragement!!! Huzzah!

Thanks and congratulations to all our event participants!
Oh Traci, Me thinks that you forgot to mention that oladcock and Jerry Hall did conspire to award you your well deserved Green Hat, denoting you as Texas's newest Shoot Boss!!!
If anybody wants to hear the story give me a call...
And I am truly excited that Fernie did finally produce a Rifleman's score, and beat his fathers personal best all on the first AQT of Sunday.
Here's hoping to see all of Y'all again soon.
Happy Trails,
Jerry

Great job Texans! 
Sounds like a very nice shoot, and I appreciate the great After Action Report (AAR).

And - A NEW GREEN HAT!


HUZZAH!

You guys are AWESOME!

But you know what they say.....

dang thing only letting me post 5 at a time

...

...

 

Quote from: Nashville Stage on July 23, 2018, 11:10:26 PM
What?
WHAT??
Look at you go, Traci!!! 
Huzzah!

You crack me up, Nash!  Thanks 

Quote from: Mike AKA Bandaid on July 23, 2018, 05:21:22 PM
Sounds like an amazing weekend! Two orange hats, a blue hat, and a new green hat! Congrats to all! Glad to know that Appleseed and our Heritage are active in the SW New Mexico / El Paso area!

Mike aka Bandaid
Former NMSU Student and Las Cruces Resident

You're welcome to swing back by any time Mike! 

Looking good in green there. 

It's only appropriate as she has worked like crazy for it
Jerry

Quote from: scuzzy on July 30, 2018, 10:18:14 AM
Looking good in green there. 

WOW!  Those Texans sure can shoot.  Sign me up for one of those indoor SB gigs.