AAR Waco, GA April 9 - 10, 2011

[oldfudd]

After looking at the after action report for Three Forks, MT (where they had SNOW), I'm kind of hesitant to report that on Saturday we had a beautiful 85 degree, cloudless day down here in western Georgia at the West Georgia Youth Range.  We had a good day for Appleseed, and had 22 enthusiastic shooters on line.  No Riflemen yet, but the closest was a 207.  Had a couple others just behind that.   

I greatly anticipate that tomorrow will give us at least a couple of new Riflemen and Riflewomen.  I was really impressed with the difference between our morning and afternoon Redcoat results.     Amazing improvement shown across the board.  Had a lot of enthusiasm from the shooters over the 3 Strikes, and still managed to run a respectable two AQTs.  We should have a bunch of pictures posted in the next couple of days.

More Later,

Oldfudd

[4merUSMC1803]

I just arrived home from Waco.  I thoroughly enjoyed this Appleseed event.  The attendees proved themselves to be great Patriots! As oldfudd mentioned, this group of students showed a significant progress over the two days.  Congrats to Chip for earning his PATCH with a 230 on the initial AQT on Sunday.  Proving that he is a man "who knows very well what he is about", he raised the bar for everyone by shooting a couple more Rifleman scores on Sunday afternoon; (I envision an orange hat in his future   ).  For me personally, the highlight was shooting Full Distance (FD) at the 100 yard line!  Each participant was able to verify that what they practiced at 25 yards was valid at 100.  They quickly grasped the FD concepts and had no reservations in adjusting sights going from 25 to 100 yds.  Observing the progress of the shooters, this is the most satisfying Day 2 I've experienced so far this year!  Ladies and juniors, I especially enjoyed watching your progress over the 2 days; you all brought very teachable attitudes and a willingness to learn; it was a pleasure watching your advancement; Chad even cleaned the final redcoat target on Sunday, every shot found its mark! The Waco shooters were a great group, and I'm looking forward to seeing all of you again.  I'll be posting my pics in the next day or two.  Stay tuned.

[oldfudd]

Well, Sunday was just as nice a day as Saturday was.  Only difference was that we had overhead cloud cover and a fairly strong wind starting about  11 o'clock from behind the shooters backs.  Deceptively warm.  Hydration was the order of the day.  The heat and sun on Saturday took its toll on Sunday's shooters.  Sunburn and mental fatigue (in addition to the usual aches and pains from Saturday's exertions) was somewhat evident in a slower moving group of shooters by Sunday afternoon.     This could be observed by the dropping AQT scores.

We did have one new Rifleman, Chip, who really nailed it from the git go on Sunday am.  His first AQT was a 230, but even he slowed down as the day wore on.  He scored additional qualifying targets of 227 and 217 later in the day.  Congratulations to a great shooter with a strong determination.   .  We had a little fun following lunch when we shot at 3/8" google eye targets.  As I predicted, 3 out of 11 shooters made perfect headshots and won fantastic prizes for their skill -- a poster and/or an Appleseed tee shirt.

About 3 we quit the AQT grind, shot our last Redcoat target (where Chad, one of our younger shooters cleaned the clock).  Following this, everyone then moved to the 100 yard FD range and surprised themselves on how accurate a .22 is at 100 yards.  Lots of smiles and bragging rights were earned on the FD range.  We then wrapped it up about 4:30 with the closing Benediction.  Everybody then pitched in to help the instructors police up the range.  Our shooters then departed after a lot of smiles, handshakes, goodbyes and promises of "I'll make Rifleman at the next Appleseed".  I'm looking forward to the next time with these great folks.

Dick

[cswhitfield]

Saturday Pictures

[franklinfarmer]

I'm extremely pleased to see the number of shooters edging up in Waco.  Excellent job folks.

You know, the founders thought in terms of generations.  Jefferson was very concerned that any future generation would be bound by a social contract entered into by previous generations.  But more broadly, you have heard the history of how the founders (Isaac David, John Parker, and others) considered what they could do to secure liberty for future generations.  And then they made the sacrifices necessary to secure it.

The responsibility is now on each of you shooters---it is on each of us.  We've had too many generations that have only taken thought for themselves.  It is now up to you to consider future generations, and the immediate need is to get our fellow countrymen awake to that responsibility and thinking.  By next April will you have gotten someone to start thinking?  Will you have gotten someone off the couch?

We're next to a big city.  That rifle range will hold 20 to 25 shooters.  Can we fill it up once every two months?  Once a month?  We won't know if we don't try.

FF

[oldfudd]

I was very pleased with the improvement in marksmanship shown by our group of shooters.  This can perhaps be illustrated by comparing the results of the first Redcoat shot on Saturday am with the final Redcoat shot on Sunday pm.  You've got to consider that the Sunday pm group had shrunk considerably in the number of shooters present and who were still shooting at the end of the day.

Sat am:  22 shooters; 100 -- 7; 200 -- 1; 300 -- 2; 400 -- 0; HS -- 2; ALL -- 0

Sun pm:  9 shooters;  100 -- 3; 200 -- 1; 300 -- 0; 400 -- 4; HS -- 3; ALL -- 1   

These Georgia folks DO know what they are about.  Congratulations to all.

OF

[cswhitfield]

Sunday Pictures 

[cswhitfield]

Georgia's newest Rifleman 

[cswhitfield]

Thank you to all of the shooters and observers who came out to participate in our shared heritage of marksmanship and history.  You are a great group of Americans.  Your attitude, attention, persistence and patience made for a great weekend for us.  I hope you enjoyed the experience as much as we instructors did.  Before I forget, a BIG THANK YOU goes out to to West Georgia Youth Range for hosting our event!  Your continued support is appreciated beyond words.  WGYR seems to be blessed with fantastic weather for an Appleseed.  This past weekend was no exception.  I was very happy to see the steady progress of the participants all weekend.  I also was impressed by the number of people taking notes during both the marksmanship and history lessons.  Please take a moment to sign up on the forum and post your comments, good and/or bad, on your experience.  This helps us to make YOUR Appleseed better.  More important, just a few days from now on April 19th take a moment to think about the stories of the people on that day 236 years ago and the decisions and sacrifices they made for our benefit.

Again, thank you for coming out this past week end.  I hope to see you each again real soon, down in the dirt, sending rounds downrange, participating in the heritage of the American Rifleman!

Craig

[cowboyoutlaw91]

too  all  who  with  us there  sat  and sun  thank of you who wass there the instructors were great  if i  did not get a chance to  say  thank  you i  do  very  much  i will hope to  see   you again soon thank you from  cowboy and joey

[Roswell]

I attended this event with my wife as my birthday celebration (30th). And I gotta say, I can't think of a better way.  Both of us had loads of fun. By the end we were tired, dirty, sore and ready for more.  I bought a year's membership there and I can't wait until I can make it to the next Appleseed and get my rifleman!  Big thank you to all of the instructors.  I really appreciate what you guys are doing. I loved the instruction and really benefited.  The history stories were awesome too and you guys did a great job making us feel like we were there.  I look forward to next time!