El Paso, Texas AAR July 27-28, 2024

[HNHArmory]

As a guest instructor, I am delighted and honored to be able to join in the Appleseed held at El Paso Community College Law Enforcement Academy range. This event was a BIG DEAL to me! I got to meet new instructors and together we all got to teach our shooters about marksmanship and our heritage!

It was pretty warm this weekend, but that's okay! We were doing just fine at our indoor range and classroom.  And! We really put both to use this weekend.



Saturday morning turned into Saturday afternoon WAY too soon after we got the introduction and First Strike done.   The safety meeting, first target of the morning, and points of instruction turned into lunchtime and the Second Strike so quickly!  I think this was because the students were very very interested in the material and asking really great questions.


In an Appleseed first, at least for me! The students were so INTO the second strike they couldn't wait for the Third Strike.  So they all but demanded that Ghostring step up and do the Third Strike right after the Second. It was awesome, in the true sense of the word.  To see how interested they were in their own history! 


After more lively classroom discussions and Q&A the shooters performed the most intense Dry Fire Drill I've ever seen.  There was so much learning happening on the line.  The value of this drill and the time we invested into it was proved many times over with the squares targets and small groups.  Especially true for our novice shooters! The improvement seen in our Hits Count benchmark target is self-evident.


Sunday proved to our shooters the value of Persisting! As the course of fire ramped up in complexity the shooters put their new found ability to create tight groups to the test against the AQT!


To the Shooters, please accept my genuine thanks for your participation this weekend. You were all such great students, who made great strides in marksmanship. But it was the growth in your love and appreciation for the heritage we all share. That is what makes Appleseed so important and so much fun.

To the Southern NM instructors, you guys have a great crew! I definitely learned from you and I hope you learned something from me. Can't wait until we get to work together again. Come and see us in AZ.