AAR Kerrville, TX May 14-15, 2022

[GenX Minuteman]

    The Texas heat sure can play tricks on your mind sometime!  Take for example, is that one hole in the target or two?  There clearly looks to be a slight elongation, but maybe you are just seeing things.  It sure is hot outside and maybe your vision is failing you.  Then how the heck are there three other people, who are having the same thoughts!!!!  This was about how this past weekend's Appleseed event in Kerrville, TX went.  Great surprises and epic times!
   
    Saturday morning started off strong with only 5 of our 22 shooters not showing up to the event.  I'm sure somewhere along the line, people actually looked at the weather forecast and decided, maybe this wasn't the weekend for them.  Those who did show up were ready and willing to get things going.  Well, we dove right into the instruction ASAP to utilize the early morning low temperatures.  Our first Red Coat Target of the weekend showed we were starting with a group of shooters who already possessed a bit of marksmanship talent.
   
    Alexey (Alex rushin') was kind enough to take on the task of the morning's Point of Instruction since he was completing the demonstrations necessary to finalize his IIT3 Progress Check.  Lucky for me, his descriptions and talking points were spot-on!!!!  I was in the early stages of losing my voice which made addressing the shooters ever difficult.  Alexey rocked through each Point of Instruction quickly to end the morning's information dump with Natural Point of Aim and a few guided sample squares to reinforce the concept.
    This lead us directly into the fun part of the weekend, learning the history of the Gift of Freedom granted to us by brave men and women, - "The First Strike of the Match".  Peter (Malibu) basically walked the shooters through a cinematic perfect description of the events which occurred on April 19th, 1775!!!!  Honestly, it was like I was watching a PBS History Special!!!  He did an amazing job!  This was Peter's first time to an event as an Orange Hat, and he came out of the gates swinging hard with a power packed oration!  Way to go Peter!

    With the shooter invigorated and temperatures climbing quickly, we introduced the concept of Inches, Minutes and Clicks to the shooters.  Again, Alexey helped lay the foundation of this topic before our shooters.  Alexey asked them to inspect their targets down range and judge the group placement for potential sighting system adjustment.  It was at this point which all of the Instructors began to notice something unique with this group of shooters, almost everyone's groups had greatly improved from the morning's showings.  Luckily we only had to go through three rounds of Sight-In squares to get everyone dialed in.

    Next, the seated shooting position was taught to the students to illustrate the importance of steady hold factors and "Six Steps of Firing the Shot" when you are faced with a lack of body-to-ground contact.  By this time, the students had been exposed to the high-noon heat of the Texas sun for quite some time and it was starting to drain a few people, including me!!!!  We practiced the basic positions and introduced the idea of a timed transition stage to show the shooters what to expect during an AQT.  Clearly, by this point the shooters were getting a bit tired.  The heat sure can drop a person's energy level down quickly!

    With the afternoon temperatures peaking out around the 3:30 p.m. time frame, Alexey walked the students through the Standing Position points of instruction.  Students did a great job of digging deep to pay attention to new information while under such an oppressive environmental stressor.  All of the students came to the firing line and practiced shooting from the Standing position.  At this point it was clear, we were all pretty much crispy bacon - DONE!!!!!

    We asked the students to find some shade, sit down, get cooled off and drink water and grab a snack while Ron (A-Lister) regaled them with a thrilling summary of Colonel Smith's attack on Concord during the telling of "The Second Strike of the Match".  Ron did an excellent job, as always, of transporting everyone's imagination back to the ever important day in American history!  Thank you Ron.

    Attempting an AQT at this point would have been pushing the safety limits for our shooters, heat stroke wise, so we proceeded to knock out a Red Coat Target and call it a day at 4:30 p.m.  Even with the day's efforts behind them, our shooters were able to improve by 66% at the 100 yrd range, 33% at the 200 and 300 yrd range!  This was wonderful to see!

    Sunday morning greeted us with bright sun, no clouds and my voice now completely gone!  Luckily, the amazing group of Instructors present at this event all pitched in and helped direct the action accordingly.  As such, we got our early morning Red Coat completed quickly and saw almost identical results as Saturday's ending Red Coat.  This was encouraging to see there was no second-day regression.  In fact, there was a fully cleared Red Coat achieved by one of the first-time Appleseed shooters, Edward!  Way to go Edward.  I was impressed to see how easily you picked up all of the instruction and put it into practice.

    Our first AQT of the event quickly showed us how dedicated all of the students were to achieving their Rifleman status.  We were not able to hand out any patches at the first AQT, clearly some practice was still necessary for a few individuals.  Our cadre of Instructors helped refine each shooter's technique little by little.  Before we knew it, three AQTs had been completed and the lunch bell was already striking.  We took advantage of the timing to grab some food, water and much needed shade.  While resting, Mike (Edheler) kept everyone's attention peaked by expertly concluding the narration of America's Freedom from Tyranny - "The Third Strike of the Match".  Mike did an excellent job tying all of the actions together during that faithful day back in 1775 and what it means for us today!  Thank you Mike!

   After lunch, you could tell all of our shooters were now not playing around and the "Seriousness Gear" got kicked into overdrive.  Many shooters were turning in scores in the 200+ mark repeatedly.  Two of our shooters had never shot a rifle before (Gysel and Petro) and were hitting scores of 203 and 205, respectively!  Then we started seeing an almost-there score from Randy of 209!!!  On the fourth AQT of the day, two of our first-time shooters were able to put everything together and nail a Rifleman's Score.  Dave was kind enough to make it easy for us by easily making a 215!  Way to go Dave!!!!  We were all impressed with how you persevered through the day's trials!!!  Edward however decided to test the Instructor cadre by turning in an AQT with amazing groups (like really small!!!) which required true forensic dissection of to determine if there were multiple holes in one location.  The consensus was made not just by two Instructors, but by four agreeing Instructors the seemingly single hole on the final target was indeed two rounds in the same hole!!!  This put Edward just above the threshold to make a score of 213!!!!  Very impressive sir, especially since it was done in full chest rig load-out as well!!!  Just to make sure as to never cast doubt on his ability, Edward knocked out a solid 216 on the last AQT of the day!  Way to go sir!

     After a rousing round of 5 ATQs, the time had slipped by quickly and the temperature reached an unrelenting level as to make all students call an early finish to the day's activities.  They were kind enough to allow me to squeak out, time wise and vocally, a quick story of Dr. Joseph Warren and his sacrifices before the Final Red Coat of our event.  I am happy to say, the students were clearly able to "Act Worthy of Themselves" by having everyone complete the 100 yrd target successfully, show a 50% improvement in the 200 and 300 yrd target.  The most impressive statistic was the increase in Morgan's Rifleman made, starting with 3 at the beginning of the event to 9 at the end of the event!  Extremely encouraging results after only a single weekend of instruction!
     
    We were blessed during this event to have such amazing students, as well as phenomenal Instructors!  Oh, I almost forgot to mention, Jerry (Twinkle Toe's) who is our resident Orange Hat, was recognized for his over the top efforts in supporting Appleseed by being awarded a pin for his 75th shooting event.  Thank you Jerry!!!  A special thanks also need to be said for Peter, Ron, Alexey, Mark (El Tejano), Rodger (Two Wolves) and Mike.  They all did an outstanding job bringing the word and spirit of Appleseed to life for all our students!

    Dang it, I also forgot to mention, Edward and Dave both decided to take Orange Hats and help out with the Appleseed cause!  Thank you greatly to both of you!!!!

Always Vote for Freedom
Chad Stovell - GenX Minuteman

[GenX Minuteman]

[M1bzrk]

Great pics!