Palm Bay, FL March 3,4th 2012 - AAR

[ItsanSKS]

And the Lord sayeth, "Let there be WIND" and there was Wind.

One of the windiest Appleseeds in Florida history was held this past weekend in Palm Bay Florida.  Undeterred by inclement weather, 19 students arrived at the Port Malabar Rifle and Pistol Club, eager to learn. 

Being our inaugural event at this location, a crack team of experienced, dedicated instructors was on-hand, ready to pass on the tradition of Rifle Marksmanship.

The instructor crew this weekend included:
ItsanSKS, Shoot Boss
Mac66, Red Hat
ShaneD22, 50calTank, nomadichillbilly, TomM1Thumb, and Bill o Rites, all serving as Instructors-In-Training. 


Our weekend began like all other Appleseed events nationwide, with a welcome speech and a safety briefing, with students forewarned about the effects of dehydration.  Even though the temperatures were not expected to climb out of the 'comfort zone', the wind would make it difficult to remain hydrated. 

Prior to the event, students were asked to self-identify their skill level, on a scale of 1 to 5 (5 being an expert shot).  With the number of 3's and 4's on our check-in sheet, I had high expectations for this first target.  I should have known better.  Simple fact of the matter is that these shooters who selected a 3 or a 4, just didn't know how little they knew about shooting a rifle.

With the safety briefing out of the way, our students were eager to engage their first target of the weekend, a 'Hits Count!" target, affectionately known as the Red Coat.  This target features four distinct silhouettes, each varying in size, with the smallest silhouette scaled to represent a 20" wide target at 400 yards.  This target is excellently suited to evaluating our students abilities with a rifle, and since it can be placed at 25m, it can be used very quickly. 

At the beginning of the weekend, fully one-half of our students couldn't engage targets effectively beyond 200 yards, with none of them able to consistently make hits beyond 300.  If nothing else, they were leaving room for significant improvement.

With ego's shattered, our students were now ready to learn. 
The instruction came on like a fire hose, covering Sling Use, Prone Position, The Six Steps, Natural Point Of Aim and Rifleman's Cadence all before lunchtime. 

Not content to allow our students to take a break from the instruction just so they could eat, it was decided that this would be a 'working lunch'.  As our students refreshed themselves, Mac66 presented the Second Strike of The Match- Action at The North Bridge.  Learning of the sacrifice of Issac Davis and Abner Hosmer, our students were anxious to get back to the firing line. 

New concepts were presented, starting with the seated positions, moving on through transitions, the Standing position, and culminating with the Appleseed Qualification Test, or AQT, which is based on the Army Qualification Test, circa 1942. 

With the wind now blowing at gale force, our students were tasked with mission: Nearly Impossible.  They had to engage 10 targets with 40 rounds, scoring in excess of 210/250.  Could they do it?  Had they learned to become Masters of their Rifles? 

Tom did.  Having been a competitive rifle shooter in ages past, Tom came to this event ready for a refresher course on the fundamentals.  Readily accepting constructive criticism, Tom's group size shrank rapidly, until he was consistently putting down sub-4 moa groups in prone. 
On his first AQT ever, at his first Appleseed, Tom was able to score a 214.  Congratulations!

With only one 'expert' in the group so far, and with much more instruction to go over on Sunday, we decided to call it a day, but needed to engage one final target.  Our students would get a chance to redeem themselves against that Red Coat target from the A.M. 

The difference in marksmanship, after but a single day of instruction, was amazing.  Students were now engaging significantly further than they had before, with one student clearing the target, and six of our students able to make the 250 yard shingle shot. 

I'll leave the 'rest of the story' for others to tell. 

I know that there were a few pictures taken this weekend, and they'll be posted up sooner or later. 

Please feel free to contribute to this After Action Report.  Good, Bad, or indifferent, we want to hear from you!


-ItsanSKS

[mac66]

Another trip to sunny Florida and I had the great pleasure of working with ItsanSKS and his crew. Some of whom I worked with at the Brunnel shoot in December. 50caltank, tomM1thumb and Gary. Pleasure to meet Shane and Roy as well.  I also got a chance to see a couple shooters from that shoot and watch one of them get his patch. Way to go Michael!

Despite the added challenge of moving targets (can you say "windy") on Saturday, the shooters persevered and steadily improved. Good attitudes always go a long way and we had them this weekend. 

I got a chance to work with our young Miss Kyra on the line most of Saturday and at the end of the day she was shooting great groups from the standing position. Hey dad! Buy that girl a rifle and she will shoot expert in no time.

Jared came through on Sunday with a nice patch score. Way to go! Of course Tom shot consistent rifleman scores on Sat and Sunday.  We even had a few knocking on the door on Sunday. One more 'seed and they will be there.

Overall a typically great Appleseed weekend. Huzzah!

[TomM1Thumb]

Better late than Never, Here are some Pictures. the Drill target is shown, to Caution, All Appleseeder's to the Danger of Placing a Hand behind the Target Backer when stapling!
Lots of Blood, But nothing a bandage and a little pressure could not cure!

[mac66]

Ah, yes. Florida, the land of the flying canopies.

[TomM1Thumb]

Ah, Yes Mac66 that they Did! some more Pictures Different Camera and Photog.