Port Townsend, WA May 9-10, 2015

[kenjo]

A fantastic weekend at Port Townsend! The weather was great and the shooters were awesome! Where to begin? To sum up, we had 4 new riflemen, 2 multiple repeat riflemen, a new red hat, two new orange hats (with another thinking about it) and a new blue hat! Oh yeah--see the part about the marriage proposal below  .

How about a triple Huzzah! for Robert with multiple rifleman scores, best was 240! Chris repeated his rifleman performance, while Lawrence, Adam, Jason and Michael R picked up their patch! Adam and Michael both stepped up for an orange hat as well!

Jeannine fought through the rear sight on her rifle falling off twice, both during different AQTs, but still scored an impressive 205. One more Appleseed with a cooperative sight and she will score at least 210, probably much higher. She knows very well what she is about!

We saw great improvement not only in scores but shooters using the six steps, building good positions and checking their NPOA throughout the weekend. I have no doubt that every single shooter there will earn a rifleman patch with one or two more Appleseeds. Keep practicing, especially dry practice, getting in and out of the positions (especially the dreaded sitting position) and work on getting into the sitting and prone position via transition from standing. With practice getting into positions quickly and establishing NPOA, those 2nd and 3rd stages will be a piece of cake!

I noticed that two of the shooters, Heather and Jason, while next to each other on the firing line and working together to help with the various courses of fire, seemed to be a bit, um, distracted. Apparently they had something on their minds that I was not aware of until the end of the day on Sunday, when Jason presented to Heather, on bended knee, a large, red balloon with the words, "Heather, will you marry me?" on it. Of course, she said "yes"! A very impressive ring was inside the balloon, so Heather wasted no time in popping it and putting the ring where it belonged. So, congratulations to the happy couple, and thank you Heather for taking a blue hat.

Shooters were attentive to the history presentations and "call to action" so if we've done our jobs there will be more patriotic Americans carrying the message of heritage and liberty back to their communities.

In case you are wondering why there are no pictures, the Jefferson County Sportsmens Club has a strict rule against video and photography on the range. They have their reasons and we respect their rules.

[George Hacker]

Sounds like an excellent shoot! Congratulations to the new riflemen, the new red hat (good job, Fixer!), and the new orange and blue hats.

Actually we do have a picture on file of the shoot boss, so I thought it would add to the AAR.

Congratulations, Heather and Jason!

George

[kenjo]

You could have at least used a more recent picture.

Sounds like an excellent shoot! Congratulations to the new riflemen, the new red hat (good job, Fixer!), and the new orange and blue hats.

Actually we do have a picture on file of the shoot boss, so I thought it would add to the AAR.

Congratulations, Heather and Jason!

George

[Earl]

 http://earl-earlsview.blogspot.com/2015/05/it-just-gets-so-much-better-on-road-and.html

Oh, look there is an After Action Report, nice job there Kenjo!

It was a great Appleseed, and I get to do another in two weeks. How do I get so much fun?

It sure is nice having more shoot bosses and RH and IITs, but most of all, it is best having shooters showing up to hear the call, improve the marksmanship and remember what being an American is about. I have been honored to be part of their lives.


Hope to see the crew and the shooters on the lines in the future, thank you very much.

[kenjo]

How could I have forgotten to mention one of the highlights of the weekend: A visit to the range by an actual Revolutionary War Veteran, dressed in his old uniform, carrying his flintlock. He gave a very informative talk about the flintlock, names of the various parts (the tickler??) and then fired off a round at one of those pesky redcoats, giving it a serious belly ache. Next, a volunteer (Heather) stepped up and loaded the musket, took careful aim and nailed the redcoat! No surprise--using her own rifle she scored 50 points on the standing stage 1 AQT. So thanks a bunch to the old vet for showing up and providing some valuable, historical information about the soldier's gear and weaponry of the period, including that nasty, oversized salad fork he called a halberd that (trust me on this) you don't want to be stuck with. Funny thing about that old vet--he looked just like our own Earl. Must be an ancestor.

[LadyLarry]

Thanks to all the volunteers for such an informative, fun and DEFINATLY memorable weekend. 
It's hard to pick the best part of the weekend: Jason earning rifleman his first Appleseed, me getting to shoot the musket, or the proposal 🎈💍...
It was awesome to meet all of you (volunteers and fellow shooters) and hopefully we will see you all again at upcoming shoots.
After all I still need to earn my rifleman patch, and break in my blue hat 😉.
-Heather (LadyLarry) & Jason (BadLarry13)

[Earl]

Now if you read this AAR and haven't figured out that we, all that were there, had a great time with marksmanship, History, and our heritage - well, we tried but you just have to come back and see what fun we can have making 4 MOA and a rifle sling sing.

[Fixer]

Preface: When I get to an AS range that allows pictures, there will be new avatar. Until then, I'll be mindful of my roots.

This event marks a new high water line for me, both as an instructor (for obvious reasons) and for the amazing and uplifting performances by each attendee.

Adam and Jeanine had clearly been practicing and to good effect.  Congratulations to Adam on his patch and for electing to don the Orange hat.  When Jeanine's rifle stays assembled next time I have no doubt she'll turn a performance equal to or surpassing Adam.

It was pleasure to meet Al and have an opportunity to chat off the line (I'm wearing my Five Fingers as I type this  ).  My one piece of advice is to concentrate on relaxing your support hand, or setting up your rifle so that you can, and 7th stepping some of your Trooper buddies.  (Three types of people...)

Were there ever a bigger set of eyes waiting expectantly for their score announcement?  Congratulations, Lawrence, on a 222 at your second Appleseed, and with a bolt action rifle to boot.  Beware the man with one gun...

Brady (my son) will get there as soon as you relax, adjust and trust your NPOA, and don't fuss the shot!

Heather turned in one of the most impressive standing sections I've ever seen.  Not only was it a perfect 50, but the group in total was no bigger than 2.5-3 inches.  Outstanding job, now to drill getting into position within time constraints.  Master that and you'll have no problem at all.

Congratulations to Jason on his Rifleman score and, even more impressively, his gumption on taking the opportunity after the shoot to propose to Heather, his girlfriend of 2 years.  There was a bit of argument as to which instructor was so inspirational as to cause such an event.  Ultimately we agreed that it must be Heather herself that deserves the credit.  "Can I have my balloon back?" "Not yet"

Mike and Mark - I could see you both really absorbing the instruction and integrating it well.  The improvement you two showed this weekend was an impressive feat all on its own.  I hope we can see you both again.  Special thanks to Mark for making the drive for Portland OR!

I know you had some difficulty with the transitions Pat, but I'm glad you asked for an accommodation and I'm even gladder that you stuck it through.  You had a great attitude and it was a pleasure to have you.

To Chris and Robert, as noted above you two are excellent marksmen but, more importantly, are excellent people.  It's always great to have you on the line.

For our youngest shooter (by a wide margin) Jack; you are a fine, upstanding young man.  Perfectly safe at every moment, willing to help at all times, I'm happy you were able to attend.

Mike R., it's safe to say I regret turning down your offer to fire the FAL (what was I thinking?).  Thanks again for being super helpful, showing up early and staying late.  You were a great source of positivity on the left end of the firing line.  I was privileged to be present for the day you shot Rifleman AND accepted the orange hat.  I look forward to seeing you on the line.


I'm doing this all from memory so, if I have missed anyone, please don't feel slighted.  This event was truly jam-packed with memorable events (can anyone else claim a proposal at their shoot?) and all of you factored into the great experience in one way or another.  We'd be standing around for hours twiddling our thumbs if not for you so heartfelt thanks for "getting off the couch", learning about our shared heritage, and putting it into practice by slinging copious amounts of lead downrange.

To my fellow instructors; Al, Jay, Nick, Earl; to the Shoot Boss; Kenjo; and to new fellow volunteers; Heather, Adam, and Mike; See you on the line!

[bandmask]

Thanks to all for a fun event. Congrats to all the Riflemen, Best wishes to Jason and Heather. Fixer I was happy to be there when you got your Red Hat.

Jack it was great having you beside me, Look forward to seeing you at the next one.

[Flipper]

Glad it was an awesome event : ) yeah Fixer got his red hat 
Oh and Kenjo according to Earl it's the 'The call to Acton' : )

[kenjo]

Glad it was an awesome event : ) yeah Fixer got his red hat 
Oh and Kenjo according to Earl it's the 'The call to Acton' : )

It matters not what it is called as long as Americans answer the call. Don't forget, though, that Earl is at least 240 years old  . If you don't believe me, you should have seen him with his halberd!

[maxwell]

Thanks to all the instructors who turned out for this...on Mother's Day, no less! I really appreciate the dedication that takes. It was a great event with a good group of people. Jeannine and I had a good time, and are looking forward to her outshooting me at the next one (no, I didn't sabotage the Tech Sights on her rifle; I swear that was red Loctite). I'm pretty sure I was the lowest-scoring Rifleman this time, so that's good motivation to keep up with our dry practice. Maybe I learn how to tighten the rear sights on my M1, too (trying to zero it on an AQT was dumb ).

--
Adam

[LadyLarry]

Fixer I think you forgot Lawrence...?!? Lol
Your carpool buddy... How could you forget him?!?

[Fixer]

Good catch Heather, I wrote his paragraph but left out the name. I tried to do it in firing line order. Always the details...

[cubflyr]

What a weekend on the Appleseed trail this was !  Marriage proposal and all ! How cool is that ?  ;o)   A great group of shooters that paid attention and progressed throughout the weekend. More dry fire practice along with NPOA and the 6 steps of firing the shot and an Appleseed or so and you will be the rifleman you were looking to be ! Earl, a splendid job you did demonstrating the 'ol black powder muzzle loader (way bigger than a s .50 cal.) and Heather smokin' that Redcoat !
Was my pleasure working with all of you fine instructors and hope to see you in  June at Custer.

[CZ Nut]

I gotta' say that Appleseed knows how to hold an awesome event. My hat's off to ALL the Appleseed folks! Thank you for your patience to teach. Mark and I learned a lot and can apply to any firearm.

It was apparent that Fisher would earn his red hat - he's got a command and is a great leader. The first time I saw him demonstrate the steadiness of the green laser on the target I said - Wow! that's what I want to do. And if he can do it, so can I!

Earl, Jay, Nick, Al, Fisher, Ken - you all are great leaders and truly have a love for our nation as we all do. The history came alive in the sessions you shared along with an awesome blackpowder rifle demo!

And, when I was sore and tired and ready to sit it out, the stories of the senior gentlemen that defended our nation stirred my heart to not give up. That bravery and dedication is what make America so great a nation. It's the people that make our country great.

Thank you for sharing, teaching and being great examples.

Aloha!
Mike

[LadyLarry]

Just wanted to let everyone know Jason and I were Married June 20th and we just signed up for our Second (yay!) Appleseed!!! Hopefully I can earn my marksmanship patch but if not will hopefully get even more practice and be no problem next time. We are attending the Lewiston, ID Appleseed this next weekend.  Hoping to come to the shoot in Port Townsend in November as well, and hopefully will see you there!
-Heather Mattioli (FKNA Dildine)

[kenjo]

Just wanted to let everyone know Jason and I were Married June 20th and we just signed up for our Second (yay!) Appleseed!!! Hopefully I can earn my marksmanship patch but if not will hopefully get even more practice and be no problem next time. We are attending the Lewiston, ID Appleseed this next weekend.  Hoping to come to the shoot in Port Townsend in November as well, and hopefully will see you there!
-Heather Mattioli (FKNA Dildine)

Congratulations!