College Station September 12-13

[sleepy Joe]

Hi Y'all

The Appleseed in College Station September 12-13 was an adventure.

We started Saturday with 10 shooters on the line. After the Introductions and Safety briefing, it was time for the First Strike. it was well received. Then it was to the line to start hammering out riflemen. We started with the Red Coat "Hits Count" and two 4 Minute Squares targets. Several of the shooters had been there before and knew what was coming.

I want to thank the Instructors for making this an easy shoot.  Steve (Sir Not Appearing In This Film) was a big help on Saturday, I relied on him a lot for keeping the line safe as we went through the training.  He had already made previous plans for Sunday so we had to make it on our own on Sunday. Also I want to thank Guy (CaptG) and Nick (Aromatic) for stepping up and helping make this shoot a good experience. They both called the line and sounded like they had been doing it for years. Also they both took their Progress checks  on Sunday after the shoot and advanced to their next IIT level. Congratulations riflemen you are on your way to putting on a Red Hat.

Now the details of the shoot,  Aromatic called the line Saturday morning; the first rounds went down range around 9:00am.  The sun was hiding behind the threatening rain clouds, but it did not stop our mission.  After the Red Coat drill it started raining and it kept raining off and on all day.  We all stayed with it , a rifleman persists.  Even through the jamming rifles and mud in our bores we were not going to quit. At Lunch We heard the Second Strike and it had quit raining for a while. After lunch CaptG called the line and it was back to our mission at hand. More tightening those groups and working on those six steps.

By the end of the first day, we were covered in the sloppy mud. I thought to myself if it is like this on Sunday most of these guys won't show up. But a lot of them could at least recite the six steps to firing the shot. and I figured we were giving them the tools that they could use later on to build a solid foundation to become a rifleman.  There was improvement in marksmanship, we did not have time to shoot one AQT the first day.  Steve wrapped the day up with the third strike.

Sunday morning I was amazed to find we still had 10 shooters on the line, Two from Saturday did not come back, but were replaced by two new shooters Carlye and Tai. It was overcast and it looked like it was going to be a repeat of the day before. First we posted two 4 MOA  targets and the fun began. after that we started the AQT Grind.

I witnessed much improvement, Christopher, Bruce, Logan, Dustin, Jonathan, Ryan were hanging in there.  They worked on the six steps, they worked on their steady hold factors, they worked on their NPOA, all while fighting the time monkey in stages 2 & 3.  I never heard a complaint from any of them.

During the Grind and right before lunch, it happened...Breck was our first Rifleman I didn't  write down his AQT score but it was in the 220s good job Breck.

Not long after Breck's advancement, Chris qualified also. 

That's right! by the end of the day, we had two new Riflemen. 

And don't forget folks, Appleseed needs all types of volunteers.  If you have not fired Riflemen yet, thats ok.  We can use your help, just let us know you would like be a part of the program 

So anyhow, that's how we finished the shoot. 

Many thanks to my fellow Americans who attended this Appleseed and a special thanks, a very big thanks to Steve (the property owner) who made the shoot possible and for being a wonderful host.  God bless you all.

[Aromatic]

Joe did a great job as SB and was responsible for bringing half the shooters with him  .

As Joe mentioned, it started off a little muddy but ended up being pleasant on Sunday.  Below are a few pictures.

Saturday morning.


LTR


Starting to dry out a little.  Some 1 on 1 instruction.


Great AS weather.


Proud new rifleman.


Another one...


Traditional picture with instructors & new rifleman at the North Bridge.


No Texas AS is complete without these.  Thanks for being a great host Steve.

[CaptG]

The shooters were great. They hung in there through the rain, mud and the rifle malfunctions that resulted. There were a few times when I thought some of the younger shooters were about to give up, but none did. The sloppy mud wound up in everything. (My wallet had mold in it a couple of days later)

The Riflemen and Riflemen-to-be all persisted.

Thanks Joe, SNAITF, and Nick for making my first IIT outing a great one. Thanks again to Steve for the hospitality of his ranch. I'll see y'all again in Nov.

Guy