Tactical Games Sniper Challenge Volunteering @ GTI

TRAINING LEAD-UP

Monday, June 10:

With CLT ruck club, I did the 101st Airborne D-day 80th Anniversary WOD.  It consisted of 400m, 101 lunges, 400m, 101 swings, 400m, 101 squats, 400m.  Our legs felt like jello afterwards.

I hosted it at the new airport overlook, which was a pretty awesome setting for this workout.  It was the first week that they had opened, so it was super crowded.  We were lucky to find parking spots.  

There's a fake runway, astroturf, picnic tables, a memorial, and an airplane from the Korean war there.

Tuesday, June 11:

Deepen - Move & Flow - Day 11 - Soul Yoga with Adriene.  I didn't get much sleep the previous night, but my body wanted to work out the soreness from yesterday's workout.

Wednesday, June 12:

HDT 31.1.2 (core) in 36:08 with 30#RPC with legs still very sore from the 101st WOD. 

Afterwards, I ran 5K nose breathing in 42:38, wearing Rough Runners around the neighborhood.  I was still very stiff due to soreness.  I probably ran at higher than Zone 2, due to the heat and stiffness.

I took my parents to the overlook afterwards.  It was even more crowded than before.  We got some nice sunset views and saw planes land on the other side.

Thursday, June 13:

I hadn't planned to, but I ended up completing the 10 mile "overnight ruck" challenge for PATHFINDER, with 30# in the v2 rucker wearing Salomon XA Comps.  I wasn't tired after the initial miles, and I didn't really need any food or water or bathroom.  I covered it in 2:58:23.

TACTICAL GAMES SNIPER CHALLENGE

SB wasn't available to shoot this with me, so I decided to volunteer for it.  It's often said that ROing at a match is a great way to become a better shooter.  You see techniques that different teams use.  If you're on glass, you get better at reading plates when they're hit.  

I've volunteered at many OCRs before, but I think this would be my first time volunteering at a shooting event.

Each event series definitely has its own vibe, and TTG is no exception.  Lots of muscles and hard-coreness and everything, haha.  The crowd that this event drew as far as participants go included some of the best field match shooters in the country, though.

Friday

I drove down Friday, since they wanted us to check in the day before the match.

My lead RO Sal showed us where the stages would be, and talked us through the courses of fire.  It was a pretty chill evening.  

It was my first time visiting GTI, so I was excited.  It's an abandoned energy plant, so it has tons of real structures to go in and around and on.  You don't get many opportunities to shoot from a place like htis.

I slept at a Walmart parking lot afterwards.

Saturday

I had several friends competing in this.  I said hello to them.  They had a safety brief.  They had to prep the gear they needed (including ammo) for the entire weekend, even though they'd be going to their hotels overnight.  They ended up being quite strict about this, and took peoples' ammo bags overnight.

Then, it was time to head out for the first stages, with the field split up into three groups.  One guy used a hoverboard, which was pretty epic.

Stage 1:

I was a backup spotter for the first stage.  I got to watch from 2 ladder climbs up, in a crow's nest.  I was glad to have good clothing coverage, since it was out in the sun.  

They provided us with food and water, though.

Learnings from observing all the teams come through:

- Having your rifle on your pack horizontally definitely would not have worked on the ladder climb.

- Good teams spot, range, communicate, and shoot sooooo quickly.  It's like one target after another, non-stop.

- They didn't shoot that far on this stage (up to 400yd).  My Vortex Razor glass was definitely overkill and would've been hard to use even with its minimum magnification, so I ended up using my binos to spot.

- Spotting's not super easy, especially when the partners are good enough to shoot one after another.  It certainly helps to have backup spotters.

- Some teams took forever getting up and setting up.  Some teams spent a lot of time finding and talking on.

- It's a good idea to always look with your eyes first.

- Poor ROs have to deal with ineffective target call-outs from the shooters, like "white square with red border" or "IPSC" when all of the targets are like that... or "far left" when we don't know whether you really saw the farthest left one or just the one you think is the farthest left.  In those situations, it helps if you as the RO is right behind the shooter and able to see where their muzzle is pointed.

- Good shooters always search the entire range fan.

- When wind builds up throughout the day, you might be unlucky and have to shoot in more difficult conditions than other teams.

Time to caravan over to the next stage!

Stage 2:

The afternoon stage involved shooting from inside a building, out of a low port.  The targets weren't very far away here, either.  For this match, secondary does have a magnification limitation.

Teams had to run down a dark hallway (a headlamp is helpful, though not an absolute necessity).  

There were only a few ports in the wall.  One was for prone shooting.  One was for the team's spotter.  The third was for the RO spotter.  My job was therefore to count hits, and to start the timer.

Learnings from observing all the teams come through:

- Sometimes, targets are really close, like 100yd, and people might miss them because they are so close!

- Depending on how your bipod buttons work, make sure you don't accidentally hit the buttons on whatever you're bracing against, causing your bipod legs to collapse... it's not your gear, it's you.

- Be aware of whether you're actually building a good position... many teams had barrels against the wall, and that would inevitably cause them to miss.  They didn't even realize it... it was more difficult for them to realize it when they had suppressor covers on.

- Suppressors are nice for ROs.

- Like with the previous teams, good teams continuously communicate with each other.

- When you're building your position, be aware of all the little ledges and other structure features that you may be able to use to your benefit.

- Good teams have spotters get right up over their shooters, for better spotting and easier communicating.

- Lots of different shooting positions are usable.  The best choice was probably bipod legs on the ledge, though.

- Many times, people are too accepting of poorly built positions, though.

- Having a second bag under you for high prone was a nice idea.

- As a partner, always be looking for work... with some teams, the partner just stood there doing nothing while the shooter worked.

- Only one shooter could fit in the port at a single time.  Some teams had a pre-arranged time limit before they switched.  Some teams waited too long to switch, and by the time they finished switching (wasting 20s switching), time ran out.  Also, don't fiddle with a mag issue for 20s when you could've just switched a little bit earlier.

- A barrel on the barricade can cause a deviation of 6 inches at 100yd, Sal says.

The TTG staff slept at the trailers onsite, and there were showers, too, which I got to use.

I slept in my car onsite this time, so that I didn't have to drive extra for no reason.  

Sunday

Stage 3:

We just ran one stage that day.  Today was the super physical day for the competitors.  They had a ruck in the heat.  A KIMS game was involved.

They got to my stage early on.  The subsequent stage involved shooting at a Marathon Mover Car, which I've never seen before.  Must've been fun!

This stage was pretty straightforward... simultaneously, teammates run to their respective sides, shoot pistol at steel, and then primary does like 50yd shots on paper, while secondary shoots steel.  It tests your knowledge of your close-range dope on your long range gun, plus your ability to build a decent position, even when you're limited to shooting within a little box.

I gave the brief a few times, when we had multiple teams come through in quick succession.  They had a tee time staggered start, but fast ruckers might catch up to slow ruckers.  

My main job was to call impacts for the secondary shooter lane.

Learnings from observing all the teams come through:

- Tripods are useful if you can afford the extra weight and bulk.  Even two tripods might be helpful, if you want to shoot from very stable platforms simultaneously.

- If you don't have one, you can get creative with partner shooting or with using a wall that you can stretch yourself over.

- Sometimes, ROs will intentionally rush you through the brief and get you started, since their goal could be to test you on your ability to manage stress.

- As an RO, it can be hard to not call the hit before you should... I messed that up a couple times.

- I learned how to clear a pistol with a side safety... although I'm not sure I remember how to do it anymore, a couple months after... maybe push up on it?

- Double up on ear pro, even outdoors.

- I saw several teams get flustered and miss easy pistol... we've all been there.

- If you have trouble making your pistol shots, give up on it and get on to rifle!  

- Several people dropped mags or loose rounds while running.

- A bunch of teams had WMLRFs, although only about half of them were Vortex Impacts... the other teams were fancier.

We tore down the stage after the last shooters were done, and then I got to watch my friends finish.

Overall

It was nice getting to spectate a match again, like what I did at Vortex at Coleman's before I even ever seriously considered getting into long range.  This time, though, I actually knew what I was looking for in good teams and techniques.