Ellijay, GA - August 7-8 2021 - Private Event for Trail Life - AAR

[Roswell]

Saturday began with over 30 eager Patriots! The Pleasant Grove Baptist Church as always is top notch and so kind to us. Most of the Scouts had camped out the night before on the grounds and were there to greet us upon arrival. After check-in we began with the morning briefing and introductions. We were able to pull together Instructors from Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and Florida! 



After introductions, we began the history with the First Strike of the match as told by me from the perspective of Captain John Parker, leader of the Lexington Training Band.


We then moved to 10/22 familiarization & the Safety Briefing before we hit the range. We learned the Line Commands and the history of Daniel Morgan's Rifle Company before we shot our first target of the weekend to set a baseline. The Redcoat target or Hits Count target showed us we had a lot of work to do. Thus began the fire-hose of instruction. 

We began with Sling Use and the Prone position, then the First 3 steps of Firing the Shot, and NPOA. Then we got to the line for some equipment fitting, NPOA verification and finally shot a square. Next, we learned steps 4-6 and did a trigger reset exercise. Then we put it all together and shot a series of squares. 

Shooters got to at last get everyone's favorite command, "Prep 1 lunch!" At lunch, we covered Talking Targets, Inches Minutes Clicked and The Second Strike by Scuba Steve. After cleaning up it was back to it. We went over all 4 seated positions, then Rifleman's cadence, and then Standing.

Unfortunately, at that point it began to rain and rain hard. That wasn't too bad, but lightning was right behind it. At first, we attempted to move to a covered pavilion and tell the Third Strike in hopes it would blow over. However, the radar said that wan't going to happen and the storm got so loud it drowned out our speaker. We called it a day. Hurriedly the rifles were cleared, moved to a dry location, cleaned, oiled and let rest over night.

Sunday, we were delighted to see things had mostly dried out. Being next to the church, we did not fire before 12:15, but there was plenty to do. We began, where we had left off as Cokeguy told the Third Strike.


Next we heard some more history from 1776 and about the Black Robed Regiment. Then we reviewed EVERYTHING. We went over Safety rules, Sling USe, Prone position, NPOA, Rifleman's Cadence, Six Steps, Sitting and Kneeling, Talking Targets, IMC and to top it off KD. Then we broke for lunch and Ramblin' Wreck presented a module called, "Who do you come form?" and we told some Dangerous Old Men and Brave Women stories.

After lunch, we moved to the line, went over line commands, the redcoat and were able to fire our first shots right at 12:15. After the Redcoat we shot an AQT. Then took a break to hear about Rifleman's Bubble and Rifleman's Dance from Planeman.


We also found that we had a man amongst us who knew what he was about! Michael Little shot a 219! Huzzah!  (if anyone got a picture, please post it.)

We then got back to it with another AQT followed by a closing Redcoat target. Then finished the day up by hearing about Timothy Murphy and how one person can make a difference.

Thank you to all the Instructors and Scouts for coming out! I hope to see each of you again on the line! Remember, a Rifleman persists!

[Captain]

Wow, that looks like a GREAT event! Love the pictures!