First RWVA Rifleman's Boot Camp, Ramseur, NC Aug. 2006 (no pics with this one)

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fred
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     FLASH REPORT! Rifleman Boot Camp!
<< on: August 28, 2006, 09:14:15 AM >> Quote  

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    With weather sunshiny and temp in the low 90s, and humidity pretty reasonable, we kicked off the first day of the first RWVA rifleman boot camp with a bang with 25 participants from all over the eastern seaboard, from New York to Indiana to Texas to Florida.

    And a good bunch of people they are, too.

    Not a single ringer in the group.

    Not a single challenge! Make riflemen out of these boys (sorry, no girls showed up )? Easy as pie!

     By late PM, most of them were getting rifleman groups at 25m while firing sighter groups.

    OK, that's it? Shall we all go home? Is it party time for the rest of the camp?

     Don't believe so. Gotta finish up the camp, by qualifying them to go back home and instruct.

    Heck, for that matter, gotta qualify some to instruct at the Appleseed Tour Stop coming up this weekend.

    Yep, it'll be the boot camp people who run the shoot.

    I love it. In fact, I was there all day because I loved it.

    Teaching people to shoot, especially people who know why they want to learn, is a real part of American heritage. Can't get better work in this country today.

    So look for 25 new riflemen by this weekend - and 25 new instructors.

    PS: We offered the Texas challenge - put an extra $50 down, go up against the 20-rd Classification AQT, shoot 210 or better, and take home your $50 plus another $70 - but no takers. None of these guys is stupid , right?

    PPS: We hooked up the well pump and saw the first running water at the RWVA range. Shower to come today...

    PPPS: Believer is chief honcho-in-charge; 4LIBERTY and Cabinboy are expected in today; thanks to Atlas Shrug who also instructed; and special mention to Son of Martha who is also in for some new experiences later in the week!    

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     Second FLASH REPORT - Rifleman Boot Camp!
<< Reply #1 on: August 28, 2006, 09:47:29 PM >> Quote  

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    Second day of the rifleman boot camp progressed nicely. From the 25m Classification AQT (the hard-to-fool 20-rd version) to the popups at 200 and 300 yards in rapid-fire, most of the participants will no doubt, if not totally worn out yet, remember these highlights.

    Or maybe they will remember the "crack and thump" range estimation/target detection exercise, being on the receiving end at 300 and 500 yards, locating the target direction and range by the interval between the bullet "crack" and the muzzle "thump" in the distance.

    Some will remember the 'counterattack' three man team racing downrange in the heat, stopping to knock down popups whenever they appear, before scaling the 100-yard berm and hosing down all the popups at once (and the popups are hard to see, and very TINY, only part of a head, some of them, at 200 yards...). Some teams already are doing fine after only the first couple of times!

    Or maybe they will remember the look on Fred's face when he asked the assembled crowd, "who's got the tracers?" - only to be met with blank looks on all sides. He felt like a boozer at a Sunday School picnic! Holy cow, Batman! Maybe we've got a little too much seriousness, here. Gosh, there has to be a little fun, right? "All work, and no play...", right?

    4LIBERTY showed up in time to show he hasn't forgotten to how to shoot as he did the downrange popup stuff for the first time. Both he and cabinboy are expected to be on the line, reinforcing the rifleman boot camp staff as we hit the instruction highway after the two days of introductory work...

     At any rate, got the improvised - and promised! - shower in place, just in time...

    But the students are coming along fine, starting to fire Rifleman scores on the AQT already.

    Tomorrow, they break up into riflemen and coaches, and the riflemen will meet up with the 100-yard AQT to bring them back to reality and reload their humility some!

    Stay tuned...looks like a couple of days of rain coming up, and cooler weather for the last part of the week. Will the boys survive it?

    PS: We're thinking of declaring future rifleman boot camps "for men only", so we can get a few females to attend. Think it will work?  

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New RWVA bumpersticker: "Ornell Fuggett Lives!
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New RWVA Instructor shirt: "The beatings will continue until the marksmanship improves!"

TEXAS! #2 on the Appleseed Hit Parade!


DrPacer
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    Re: FLASH REPORT! Rifleman Boot Camp!
<< Reply #2 on: August 28, 2006, 10:26:18 PM >> Quote  

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AS one of the absentee instructors...Out-Flipping-Standing.

Keep the Sitreps coming, Fred!

And may these Riflemen arise to the need

Barry

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3 minutes without air (oxygen)
3 hours without shelter (from extreme exposure)
3 days without water
3 weeks without food


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    Re: Second FLASH REPORT - Rifleman Boot Camp!
<< Reply #3 on: August 29, 2006, 01:51:51 PM >> Quote  

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Quote from: fred on August 28, 2006, 09:47:29 PM
        PS: We're thinking of declaring future rifleman boot camps "for men only", so we can get a few females to attend. Think it will work?  


Well I did a study of the probability of this,  on the women's Fun-O-Meter, running up a 100' berm, hanging out with sweaty men for a week in N.C. heat and humidity etc, ranked somewhere between cramps and child birth.  So, I'm afraid it's not likely.  

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LUCKY MAN
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   Re: FLASH REPORT! Rifleman Boot Camp!
<< Reply #4 on: August 29, 2006, 05:31:11 PM >> Quote  

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Mel said child birth wasent as bad as she was afraid it was going to be, we will have to try for next year!

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    Re: FLASH REPORT! Rifleman Boot Camp!
<< Reply #5 on: August 29, 2006, 06:42:49 PM >> Quote  

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Quote from: LUCKY MAN on August 29, 2006, 05:31:11 PM
Mel said child birth wasent as bad as she was afraid it was going to be, we will have to try for next year!


We could offer free Epidurals  

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fred
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     Re: FLASH REPORT! Rifleman Boot Camp!
<< Reply #6 on: August 30, 2006, 08:33:27 AM >> Quote  

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   Well, as usual, the comedians come out of the woodwork!

   The third day of the rifleman boot camp shows how intimately intertwined with the weather the entire Appleseed program is.

    98 (degrees) in the shade! And scads of sunshine!

    I've noticed over the years that marksmanship performance is effected by weather.

    Usually, most noticeable in the times of the speed shoot on the popups. The best times are turned in, in cooler weather. Rapid-fire performance definitely goes down as the temp goes up!

    More guys at the camp are breaking the barrier and shooting rifleman scores on the AQT. Our focus today is to cement those skills, as well as bring along the ones who haven't done it yet, and deal with some 'bottom of the class' types who are stubbornly resisting shooting better. (Who was it who said the longest distance at any range is the distance between the right ear and the left ear - yep, we're dealing with mental issues - what, we have to be shrinks, as well as teaching to shoot? You bet!)

    Yesterday it was drills and AQTs and Six Steps of Firing the Shot until there were complaints about all the iterations of Firing the Shot - but the answer is simple. We keep doing it, until YOU start doing it.

    Rick from SC was match director from the day and it makes you feel good to see a good man in action, running a line. One of the goals of the camp is already being met: identifying and training good instructors.

    After the 25m stuff, along with a good dose of Rev War history (Fred believes it is important!) it was up to the 500-yard range for some team volley fire on the popups, and then, despite the heat, the downrange course. Even Fred got to go once...

    Some of the older guys wilted a bit in the heat, but most everyone kept going...

    Up for later today - Old Man Weather will be giving us rain (supposedly up to seven inches!), and some relief from the heat. Ten degrees cooler today; another ten degrees cooler tomorrow. Lots of heavy rain on the campers the next two nights. Gonna be spotting hits on the popups by watching the mud fly, not the dust!

    Come to an Appleseed, and don't like the weather? Wait a couple of days, and it'll change!

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New RWVA bumpersticker: "Ornell Fuggett Lives!
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RifleWoman
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    Re: FLASH REPORT! Rifleman Boot Camp!
<< Reply #7 on: August 30, 2006, 11:06:14 AM >> Quote  

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Quote from: fred on August 30, 2006, 08:33:27 AM
   Well, as usual, the comedians come out of the woodwork!
 

Well, comic relief is a tough job, but somebody's got to do it.  

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MrandMrsSmith
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 Re: FLASH REPORT! Rifleman Boot Camp!
<< Reply #8 on: August 30, 2006, 11:16:38 AM >> Quote  

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Quote from: fred on August 30, 2006, 08:33:27 AM

    Up for later today - Old Man Weather will be giving us rain (supposedly up to seven inches!),



good golly
SEVEN INCHES!!!!!!!
We only get 13 inches of precipitation on avereage all year here in the high desert
7 inches in one day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

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fred
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     FLASH REPORT! DAY 4, Rifleman Boot Camp!
<< Reply #9 on: August 31, 2006, 04:21:11 AM >> Quote  

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    Sun and heat! And humidity! But a day of transitions, with a front (actually, remnants of a tropical storm) coming thru at the end of the afternoon's shooting, turning the range dark and gloomy after a day (and week!) of bright, bright sun.

    Transitions in another sense, too, as the shooters settled down to a day only shooters could love: a grind of AQTs, AQTs, AQTs. One AQT after another: Classification AQTs, Quick n Dirty AQTs, practice AQTs - even some stages of the regular AQT.

    It was a grind, but a grind that hones marksmanship skills and gradually wears away at shooter errors that interfere with putting the bullet exactly where you want it.

    For most of the shooters, it was a fourth day of shooting for guys who've never put in more than one day on a range, and that day not anywhere near the disciplined course of fire of the RWVA Rifleman Boot Camp!

    And on top of growing fatigue, Day Four offered none of the foppery fun of rapid fire on the popups. No sir, Day Four was all meat and potatoes.

    Fred was only there the first half of the day (warehouse duties demanded the second half), but even he was impressed with the progress he saw at the midpoint of the boot camp.

    Perhaps some shooters were motivated by the statement that NO ONE leaves the boot camp without being a qualified Rifleman - and that the camp will be extended another week, if necessary!

    "Oh no! Anything but that!" (You could read the shooters' minds, practically.)

    What a contrast today, the fifth day, will offer!

    Clouds, no more bright sun, periodic rain - and AQTs!

    Those who go to the popups on Range 1 will no longer spot their shots by plumes of dust drifting in the air, but by spurts of mud! And for the forecastable future, not a 90-degree day in sight! In fact, for the next two days, temps will be almost 20 degrees lower (in the upper seventies) so comfort should be considerably improved.

    This being the next to last day of the Rifleman Boot Camp proper, we'll be getting ready for the final day tomorrow, cramming as much into each day as we can. The shooters will then 'relax' with a weekend Appleseed. Should be an interesting contrast to the Boot Camp... An easy series of now-familiar shooting exercises for the veterans of RWVA's first week-long rifle marksmanship clinic.

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New RWVA bumpersticker: "Ornell Fuggett Lives!
RWVA.org"

New RWVA Instructor shirt: "The beatings will continue until the marksmanship improves!"

TEXAS! #2 on the Appleseed Hit Parade!


OPossum/TX
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   Re: FLASH REPORT! DAY 4, Rifleman Boot Camp!
<< Reply #10 on: August 31, 2006, 07:39:09 AM >> Quote  

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Quote from: fred on August 31, 2006, 04:21:11 AM
(actually, remnants of a tropical storm)

Is the apple seen still on for this weekend?

I'm in Memphis on the way from Houston.  

If it is, I suppose I can wade the mud with the  best of them.

What shape is the camping area in?  

Have FUN!
O'


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   Re: FLASH REPORT! Rifleman Boot Camp!
<< Reply #11 on: August 31, 2006, 08:04:27 AM >> Quote  

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O'Possum/TX

See answer in the other thread re/Ramseur.

It may be a bit muddy by then, depending upon how much rain we get.  However, the terrain is hilly and drainage generally pretty good, so just have some boots and rain gear on hand and you'll be fine.

And the well water is now flowing!

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Keep your powder dry,

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     DAY SIX of Rifleman Boot Camp!
<< Reply #12 on: September 1, 2006, 08:42:19 AM >> Quote  

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    If you were to have a motto for each day of the boot camp, the motto for Day Six would be "Night and Day".

    Referring not only to the weather - the contrast between hot and sunny of the previous five days compared to the mild temp and heavy overcast of Day Six - few people knew the range could appear so dark at the height of the day - but also to continued progress of the participants.

    Our Brooklyn guy (yep, from Brooklyn, NY) finally hit into the 170s on the AQT, after hunting for paper - anywhere! - on Day One. If we can qualify him, most of us believe we can qualify anyone! (And we will qualify him, you bet!)

    We continued to work on the 'tail' of the bunch to whip them up to a level where they can 'cross the bar' into the wonderful, glorious world of the rifleman.

    Once again, for the laggards, it was AQT, AQT, AQT - all day, in fact. If they can't leap to the top of the hill - well, we'll get behind them and push them to the top!

    The newly-minted riflemen spent the PM up on the 500-yard range, zeroing at distances out to 500 yards.

    Today it's more of the grind for the would-be riflemen, and hopefully, we'll move them a few more steps closer to the finish line, maybe even get a few more across!

    The riflemen will be taking on the Full Distance AQT, right out to 400 yards, which should be an unusual experience. Most don't even know there IS a Full Distance AQT, having fired it at 25m, and only at 25m.

   We'll also be getting ready for the influx of Appleseed people tomorrow, when the worn-out RWVA Instructors can sit back, relax, and criticize the Boot Camp grads as they run the show.  

    Stay tuned...

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New RWVA bumpersticker: "Ornell Fuggett Lives!
RWVA.org"

New RWVA Instructor shirt: "The beatings will continue until the marksmanship improves!"

TEXAS! #2 on the Appleseed Hit Parade!


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    Re: FLASH REPORT! Rifleman Boot Camp!
<< Reply #13 on: September 1, 2006, 09:13:13 AM >> Quote  

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Thank you, Fred, for the daily posted updates from Boot Camp! RWVA is the only organization I know of giving instruction in practical Riflery: it's why I joined y'all in the first place. Spreading the 'Word' is a gratifying bonus. Much appreciation for your efforts, and those of the Instructors. Is this to be put in SGN? With pics? Where ARE the pics, anyhow? Busy, busy!
Anyway, congratulations to the RWVA org for bringing off this success in our first year.

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   Re: FLASH REPORT! Rifleman Boot Camp!
<< Reply #14 on: September 1, 2006, 12:16:51 PM >> Quote  

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DAMMMMN: That sounds like it was the most fun you could have with your close on!   I would have loved to have been there and help out on that one. But my house has not sold yet, and I just don't know how I feel about that, with Elk and Bear season rapidly approching. My wife is already whinning about the cold nights!!!
Jack: I think I will try an AQT course at the club. But I am going to use your suggestion, "Hunting rifles only" I did find out that quite a few people did NOT show because they thought you had to have a military weapon! Like I tell them all, "IF ALL ELSE FAILS---READ THE INSTRUCTIONS!!!  Your brochure was plain enough to understand, they just did not, or for some reason could not read it. We will see what we can do this time, now that the APPLESEED is known. I will keep you posted. -------- Jerry

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     FLASH REPORT! DAY SIX, Rifleman Boot Camp! Fred skunked!!
<< Reply #15 on: September 2, 2006, 07:56:49 AM >> Quote  

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    Day Six of the RWVA Rifleman Boot Camp was a second day of heavy, moisture-laden clouds passing overhead as the temp hovered in a near-chilly (in comparison with prior days) 73.

    It was the effect of tropical storm Earnesto as it continued to be felt at the RWVA range. Overnight high winds caused some excitement for the campers as tree tops came crashing down, narrowly missing vehicles and tents!

    On the firing line, the shooters continued to work on basics. Remarkably, morale was, if anything, UP over previous days. Watching shooters on the line, at least some of them could not get enough. After finishing the last stage of the AQT, I saw one shooter continue - to dry fire! (Great practice, any time!) And, given some ?free time? to work on areas each shooter was free to choose to work on, most of them put up another AQT and shot it!

    Remarkable, when you step back a bit and recall that this is Day Six of what most people would say is a GRIND, especially as six continuous days on the range is a totally new experience of most of our shooters (and for the few military guys, it?s been decades since their last experience like this).

    The morning was another morning of AQT followed by AQT. You?d think after a while they?d become boring - after all, each one is exactly like the one you just finished - but the challenge each one offers is unique - each and every time. The AQT may be relatively easy for an accomplished rifleman, but that doesn?t mean he sleeps while he?s shooting it! No way. The rifleman understands the AQT demands skill each time you shoot it. And for newbies, it's a tough struggle indeed, to take on the AQT - our guys are no longer newbies, by any stretch of the word, but the AQT manages to maintain its entertainment value for them, anyway...

    Every AQT is an opportunity - to prove you are a rifleman - whether it?s the first one you fire, the tenth, or number 1,047.

    I?m happy to report that more shooters ?crossed the bar? and became riflemen on Day Six. Those who didn?t continued to show improvement. Enough ?improvement? each day, and soon they?ll be riflemen, too.

    In the afternoon, rifleman-qualified shooters went up to Range 1 and zeroed out to 500 yards, then shot the full distance AQT. (In Fred?s humble opinion, easier than the 25m one.)

    At the end of a long day, everyone had a full distance AQT under his belt. And, a mere 10.5 hours after we began, Day Six was done.

   Now comes the weekend Appleseed shoot, to be taught by the boot camp attendees. Let?s see how they interact with the ?newbies?, these sun-bronzed veterans of a thousand rounds of hard-core rifleman training.... It should be interesting - to go from shooter to Rifleman to Instructor in week!

    Ah yes, the skunking of Fred! Almost forgot! It started innocently enough. ?Fred, the guys would like you to get out Widowmaker and shoot the tank with them, so they can say they?ve actually shot on the line with Widowmaker. You know, the ?rock-star? thing...? Ah, the frailties and foibles of the poor human psyche, the illusions and dreams! Fred gets his rifle, finds a spot on the line (conveniently beside the ringleader, of course - think that was an accident?), and is told it?s a two-man team event, 5-rds in 30 seconds to try and knock out the star on the target. No problem, right?

    Then the shooting starts. After Fred?s second shot, he notices the star, barely at the level of visibility, seems to be gone. In fact, the target seems to have exploded with loose paper hanging down - hey, it happens, sometimes, with only a few shots. Then as he fires his third shot, he sees a dozen holes in the white just underneath the target, and it immediately sinks in - the entire line is firing on his target! Yuk. Yuk. Yuk. Or  

    To cap it off, some of these people have elected not to shoot. But worse, to video the event.

    If you come across a video of this event on the ?net, it is a fake, as Fred bought up all copies on the line, within minutes.

    Firing on the tank target is supposed to be a way to break up the day, to have a little fun, to pep people back up.

    I suppose all three objectives were met...        

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New RWVA bumpersticker: "Ornell Fuggett Lives!
RWVA.org"

New RWVA Instructor shirt: "The beatings will continue until the marksmanship improves!"

TEXAS! #2 on the Appleseed Hit Parade!


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   Re: FLASH REPORT! Rifleman Boot Camp!
<< Reply #16 on: September 2, 2006, 10:38:56 PM >> Quote  

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Fred killed the star on the tank with one well aimed shot.



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wayneborngesser
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    Re: FLASH REPORT! Rifleman Boot Camp!
<< Reply #17 on: September 2, 2006, 10:56:48 PM >> Quote  

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Where can I get one o' dem Widowmaker's   ! That is sure one impressive boom stick!

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Psa 144:1-2....... Blessed be the LORD, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle;  he is my steadfast love and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield and he in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me.
ESV


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     DAY SEVEN FLASH REPORT - Rifleman Boot Camp!
<< Reply #18 on: September 2, 2006, 11:28:22 PM >> Quote  

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    Cripes! Looks like I missed the still pics!  (And I know who "Ted" is, so  watch out, buster... ) And, Wayne, you be careful too, ya hear!

    Day Seven of the Boot Camp dawned clear, not a cloud in the sky, and the temp eventually got back into the low eighties - still much better than earlier in the week.

    The Appleseed people arrived, signed in, and Fred went into the clubhouse, only to run into a gang of new 'red hat' instructors in a 'pre-game' meeting. Looks like the Boot Camp is paying off already!

    These guys did a heck of a job all day, trying to shepherd total newbies thru a demanding instructional program.

    As usual, we siphoned off the better shooters early on and sent them up to Range 1 for zeroing at longer distances, and smoothly rolled them into the club monthly highpower rifle match (yep, this was the first Sat of the month, the day the RWVA HP Rifle match is shot). It was a new experience for them, but an interesting one, and each got the chance to zero out to 500 yards, something you rarely can do!

    Back on Range 2 ?Junior Birdman? and ?Hollywood? divided up Instructor duties, assisted by Doug from Texas and Doug from Indiana (who also ran the line/instructed for part of the day) - all grads of the boot camp...

    Have to pause here a moment to nod thanks to Believer (big thanks!) for undertaking to run what turned into a demanding week for both instructors and students. And to thank Ray, 4LIBERTY, Atlas Shrug, and cabinboy for helping keep things organized. As well as Son of Martha, who ran Range 1 with the help of Mike from Texas...

    It was interesting to hear people saying ?next year, when I come back...? when RWVA has not even announced a ?next year? boot camp, altho betting is that there WILL be another. It?s amazing what abuse people can take and still want to come back for more. (Or maybe what appeared to be abuse was really the pounding in of marksmanship skill which was appreciated by the recipients...)

   Also noticed was that the ?Instructor Effect? - wherein an instructor looming near causes an automatic curl of the trigger finger away from the stock - has been proved to work in the shade of the firing line shelter as well as the glare of the sun. On Friday, the comment was made by Believer that he walked the line during a stage of the AQT, and found NOT ONE shooter ?dragging wood?. Guess the first five days had some effect after all!

    One innovation of this marksmanship clinic was to give the students free time one day to work on whatever they wanted to work on - rapid fire, slow fire, standing, etc. They could put up any target they wanted, and firing was done in five minute periods to allow for both rapid and slow fire. Most people, as stated before, put up an AQT and ran thru it.

    The instructors were of the opinion this was beneficial, and it thereby may be incorporated into future clinics.

    Now, late in the day of Day Seven, Fred was of the opinion some Range 2 newbies were not progressing as fast as he thought they should be, so a Classification AQT target was put up for a 20-rd Classification run-thru. Afterward, Fred walked the line of targets, and marked the ones needing extra attention with a black ?X?.

    The ?X? people (as we called them to the end of the day) were directed to move to one end of the line, where they were given extra instruction. We even slipped dummy rounds into mags to simulate malfunctions while observing for flinching, etc. The motto is, ?whatever it takes!? when it comes to getting people to learn to shoot well, as Americans should...

    One admin note: some disgruntlement was expressed over the portajon, and an extra portajon was delivered the same morning with a simultaneous cleanout of the old. See, complaining works!!

    Next up: Believer weighs in with the inside story; other instructors pitch in with AARs, and hopefully we'll hear from some more participants than "Ted"... (yeah, that was a funny 'caption', too! )

    Tomorrow, the second day of the Appleseed, officially concludes the first RWVA Rifleman Boot Camp. If you were there, you participated in something special. If you were not, you should have been!

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New RWVA bumpersticker: "Ornell Fuggett Lives!
RWVA.org"

New RWVA Instructor shirt: "The beatings will continue until the marksmanship improves!"

TEXAS! #2 on the Appleseed Hit Parade!


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     A SPLENDID LITTLE EVENT
<< Reply #19 on: September 4, 2006, 07:55:13 AM >> Quote  

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    The RWVA Rifleman Boot Camp is over.

    By any measure, it was a success.

    Its graduates ran the weekend Appleseed pretty much unsupervised, and did a fine job of it...

    50% of the attendees shot at least one "rifleman" score before the week was over...

    Fred can never say again, at an Appleseed, "give us a week and it's be easy - dump you in the hopper, crank the handle and - voila! - out will pop riflemen"...

    In some ways, the Boot Camp was easy; in others, it was not.

    Bet you anything that more than one attendee will, over the next twelve months, fondly think back to when he was at the Rifleman Boot Camp. And wish he was back, there... In the heat, the humidity, the rain... Punching out rounds downrange, all the way to that blasted AQT silhouette, way out there at 82 feet, dancing around just enough to keep his front sight from being on it when the rifle goes off!

    Or maybe, in an idle moment at work, thoughts and mental images will visit the popup range, and that magic moment when he squeezed the trigger and the popup at 300 - or 400 - or 500 yards - went down. Dropped like a rock. Dropped because he did everything right. The Six Steps. NPOA. Position checkpoints.

    Or maybe think back to April 19, 1775, and the sacrifice made by the founders. Maybe even go to the library, and check out a book on the First Day of the American Revolution, and soak himself in the tradition. Maybe the reading of ?The Muster Drum? echoes in his brain, and he goes about everyday life a bit surer of his mission in life. Maybe.

    The weekend Appleseed proved to be ?normal?: Shooters who by the end of Saturday can?t get decent groups (thank heaven we were not shooting at the broad sides of barns!), too much marksmanship info, fatigue, sore muscles cascading until they are barely functioning - and then, after a good night?s rest, showing up Sunday, and tack-driving every round into the one-inch black square.

    It?s remarkable to experience the change, but seeing is believing.

    And it?s part of the miracle of Appleseed...

    Fred didn?t need to even be there. The instructors, each of them, were outstanding. Maybe a little too easy on the students, but that will be self-correcting in the future...

     The RWVA Boot Camp was, and is, as we plan more of them for the future, unique in this country. An effort to intensively teach rifle shooting in a short period of time, and at minimal cost to the participants.

    But an effort to train instructors, to make the tradition self-supporting, to expand the Appleseed Project.

    Twenty-thousand-plus rounds of marksmanship training in a week is not impressive. Heck, we did nearly twice that in a single day at the big Appleseed in Indiana.

    But in terms of quality training, of instructor-generating, this is the most successful Appleseed to date.

    And I can guarantee (I think) that everyone who attended will show up on his home range, and be a different shooter than he was before Boot Camp.

    More confident...smoother...

    No more clumsy mag changing.

    No more ?what the...? when a jam or malf occurs - simply clear it, and continue to shoot...

    No more guessing at zeroing. No sir, no way...

    And, all of us at the Camp most sincerely hope, motivated to pass that knowledge on to others...

    Now, cannot conclude without one more ?Now It Can Be Told? item.

    Yep, it?s been a delicate situation.  The presence, on the same range, at the same time, of an equal number of shooters from Texas and Indiana. (Fred made sure they were separated on the line by other shooters from other states. No point in having everything spoiled for others, just because these two states are feuding over which will end up having the biggest Appleseed.)

    Taunts of ?dirty Hoosier? and ?metrosexual? were kept to a minimum, and Fred and the instructors did not hesitate to intervene with truncheons as needed to keep order.

    It was tense all week, but the other shooters were so wrapped up in struggling to learn marksmanship they probably didn?t notice a thing...

    The Rifleman Boot Camp. The first one. Bet we?re all glad we were there. Bet we?ll all miss it...

    One guy wore a shirt saying ?The beatings will continue, until morale improves...?

    Substitute ?marksmanship? for ?morale?, and you have the essential spirit of the RWVA Rifleman Boot Camp.    

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New RWVA bumpersticker: "Ornell Fuggett Lives!
RWVA.org"

New RWVA Instructor shirt: "The beatings will continue until the marksmanship improves!"

TEXAS! #2 on the Appleseed Hit Parade!


ken grant
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    Re: FLASH REPORT! Rifleman Boot Camp!
<< Reply #20 on: September 4, 2006, 08:07:34 AM >> Quote  

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I don't know why I left it out of my post but I will never forget the showers from the new deep well. They were eye-openers.  BRRRRRR!!!!!!!

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OH,how I wish to be young(at least 50) again


ken grant
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    Re: FLASH REPORT! Rifleman Boot Camp!
<< Reply #21 on: September 4, 2006, 08:25:37 AM >> Quote  

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My post went away. Bet Fred removed it.
But again----
                    THANKS GUYS
                         Ken

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OH,how I wish to be young(at least 50) again


fred
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Rifleman-instructor


     Re: FLASH REPORT! Rifleman Boot Camp!
<< Reply #22 on: September 4, 2006, 10:23:57 AM >> Quote  

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    Ken, thanks for your posts (and no, I have not removed any... ).

    All of us are waiting with baited breath for the Rifleman Boot Camp Master Instructor to weigh in, and I hope we will hear from some of our new instructors, plus some cogitations from the participants on their experiences.

    You Boot Camp people let us know what you liked, and what needs improving for the next camp.

    Don't mention the portajon - that's already on the list!

    And there's not much we can do about the weather...

    ...except make sure that in the course of a week, it will change...  

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New RWVA bumpersticker: "Ornell Fuggett Lives!
RWVA.org"

New RWVA Instructor shirt: "The beatings will continue until the marksmanship improves!"

TEXAS! #2 on the Appleseed Hit Parade!


Believer
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    Re: FLASH REPORT! Rifleman Boot Camp!
<< Reply #23 on: September 4, 2006, 01:17:38 PM >> Quote  

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Master instructor?

Not sure how I got the Master Instructor moniker, but I guess it also means that I will have to work into the role!

Baited breath?

Can you get a solid respiratory pause with baited breath?

Whew?.

Talk about pressure!  This is a brief report, to be followed up with a longer one later.

We got started at 9:00 AM Sunday morning with several ?classroom? activities.  We spent time going over the care and maintenance of several rifle platforms.  I must say, I learned several things during the class.  A bit after Noon, we got settled on the line for the first shooting of the boot camp.   Anyone who has been to an Appleseed can guess what we started with!  

Although we spent a majority of the week working on marksmanship skill and training methods, we found several opportunities to head on over to the pop-up range and knock a few targets over.  

Although I was overseeing the boot camp and in charge of instruction, I was constantly learning things myself.  A recurring discussion between Fred and I is which side do we want FALs laid on when unloaded?  I want to see the bolt handle and safety up.  Fred wants to see the chamber flag.  Paul, a participant at the boot camp came up with the solution.  Simply insert the chamber flag through the magazine well.  Now we can see the chamber flag, bolt handle and safety at the same time!  It seems like a small thing, but when you are checking 20 to 30 rifles it sure makes the process go faster!

There was a great deal of persistence at the shoot!  I watched the shooters overcome the weather, physical issues, fatigue, stress and other issues.  Not one failed in the persistence department!  

I watched a shooter go from a first score of 65 to rifleman over the course of the week!  

The most important thing I witnessed was a group of people learning marksmanship and how to teach others marksmanship.

The mission of RWVA (Volunteer Americans teaching other volunteer Americans rifle skills and Rev War history) was fulfilled this week.  Appleseeds were planted that will be carried to other parts of the country and grow into mature trees.  Those trees will spread seed to other areas!




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Atlas Shrug
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   Re: FLASH REPORT! Rifleman Boot Camp!
<< Reply #24 on: September 4, 2006, 01:33:19 PM >> Quote  

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I too am compiling notes off line that I'll share later.

One thing quite simple but symbolic stuck with me.

Every day as I turned off of US 64 en route to the RWVA range, I passed a big sign that said:


"Fresh Apples"


that a local farmer had placed at the intersection.

Yes sir, by the end of the week there were surely some fresh apples that had only been seeds just days before.  The Boot Camp sped up the germination cycle exponentially!

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Keep your powder dry,

Atlas Shrug


"Ordnance trumps Ordinance" - Atlas Shrug, 1/24/2007