Redmond WA, AAR Jan 8/9 2022

[GTEngineer]

First event of 2022 for the state of Washington!  We were joined on a very chilly, but dry day on Saturday with 10 attendees.  Some of whom braved flooded roads to make it to this event.  We started the day with our standard safety briefing and a brief pre-history and discussion about the mission of Project Appleseed.  Due to cancellations for various reasons, we were able to spread everyone out accordingly to maintain good distance between groups of attendees, all under the watchful eye of our line boss of the weekend Jay.  The firehose of instruction was turned on and everyone did their very best to keep up with the amount of new information put to them.  The story of the events of April 19th 1775 was presented to an attentive group and we quickly returned to practicing transition drills followed by our only AQT of the day Saturday.  By the end of Saturday, we were able to mint 1 new Rifleman in Ben with a score of 210 and 1 re-qualified Rifleman in Christian with a score of 211.

Sunday came around and we were joined by 7 attendees who came back a bit more sore but eager to continue their instruction of rifle marksmanship.  Christian took the high score of the day with 241 which earned him not only a Rifleman patch, but also a distinguished patch to go along with it!  The best part of Sunday morning was our newly minted Rifleman from Saturday made the choice to swap his brand spankin' new blue hat for an orange hat and I couldn't be more happy to welcome another volunteer to our growing instructor corps!  Ben and Christian both continued to crank out Rifleman score after Rifleman score almost the entire weekend.

The absolute best part of the weekend?  We were joined on the line by 4 pairs of parent/child and folks with their significant others.  Over half of the attendees for which this was their very first Appleseed experience.  It is wonderful to see youth on the line with us to learn about their history and heritage as Americans and reinforces the fact that what we do, is not just for us in the present, but for our posterity and to ask that our posterity understand the immeasurable value of their Liberty and to protect it for their posterity as well.

Throughout the weekend, everyone showed great improvement in their AQTs and techniques, and it reflected well in everyone's scores.  The vast majority of folks achieved the rank of Marksman and were showing improvement target after target.  Even though you may not have crossed the threshold of becoming a Rifleman, your persistence will pay off as you continue to practice the skills you were taught.  There's no better place to practice steady hold factors, 6 steps, and NPOA than in the comfort of your home; just make sure there is no live ammunition anywhere near.  I guarantee that your continued persistence and practice will pay off next time you attend and send your scores soring well into the Rifleman category.  Do not be frustrated, instead you should feel proud that of the countless number of other more comfortable places to be this weekend, you made the decision to come out and learn a valuable skill and test yourself against yourself.  Be proud of the improvement you made this weekend and I look forward to seeing you all again at another event in the near future!  Be our 7th step and bring along a friend/family/significant other to the next event!

[Doc Sporseen]

Well done to all of the folks who attended this weekend.  We know how difficult it is to hit a target while you're shivering!  Thanks for being there, and I hope you all had a great weekend!