TRAINING LEAD-UP
Sunday, Oct 20:
Rucked 2.5 miles in 38:48 with 50# in the v2 rucker while dinner was still somewhat digesting in my belly. I stopped at 2.5 since I needed to use the bathroom and didn't want to overdo it with my first ruck at Mammoth Sniper Challenge pace.
Monday, Oct 21:
Went to the indoor range
followed by early voting
Tuesday, Oct 22:
Rucked 3 miles using a 30#RPC at the USNWC with my parents, wearing MACV1s. It was near the end of water season, before it would shut off for the winter.
Wednesday, Oct 23:
3 miles using a 30#RPC at Renaissance Park, wearing MACV2s
Thursday, Oct 24:
Played pickleball with my dad
Friday, Oct 25:
Went to my first rally, which was an interesting experience.
Especially at a standing room-only event, there's a lot of standing involved.
I got to the line about 45 min before doors opened, to get a decent spot in line.
Then, it takes a while to get everyone through security and into the ballroom.
Once you're in, you still wait for a couple of hours for the event to start, as everyone is still entering and as they're getting the speakers ready.
Then, there are speeches, not only from the keynote, but from a bunch of others either running for office or supporting those who are.
There was an intermission, too.
About 4x during the event, medics had to be called because standing that long was a lot for some people to take. I'm pretty fit, but even I was getting fatigued. It would've been easier to be walking for all that time, than to have to stand still for that amount of time.
It was a neat experience, being part of the political process in this way. It's not for the faint of legs and back, though.
OPERATION HARD TARGET
I had done GBF's Operation Shooter in December and Operation Contact in July. This would be my third tactical event with them, and it would be their first time hosting a 1-day event. It went from about 8am-5pm. It's a good way to dip your toes into the event flow, if you're unsure about committing to the 2-day version.
Evolution 1: Dueling Tree & Texas Star
We got to practice with pistol on both target arrays at about 10 yards.
We then got to practice hitting the star with rifle at about 20yd, followed by a transition to pistol from 10yd. I'm not sure I've done a Texas Star with rifle before, but it was straightforward and not hard. I could hold center mass, more or less, with that size of target.
We then did it for time, and I got 26.94 with 1 miss on pistol and 1 miss on rifle, not bad.
Evolution 2: Land Patrol
This wasn't for a score, but it was fun.
Ruck up the hill and find 4 targets that you hit 4x each, while also wearing a plate carrier. You had to search for them, since they could be anywhere.
We ended up doing this drill a second time, but more tactically this time. We had to low crawl in and use cover when engaging targets.
Evolution 3: Cardio & Shoot
Run up and down a little hill, and run all the way to a plate rack that you take down with pistol.
Next, run to a tree where you shoot a circle 5x, then you move up closer to re-engage 5x with pistol. Then, move back to hit with rifle again.
Then, run back to the plate rack and engage that again. Then, run back to the start.
I ended up going the long way up and down the hill by accident. At least I didn't have to repeat it, since that was a lot of cardio.
I shot pretty well. It was also a good move to reload before re-engaging the plate rack.
I paced myself well through it all to control my HR.
I finished in 7:20, placing 3rd, even with the extra hill running and same ruck weight as everyone else.
Evolution 4: Ruck for time back to the top of the hill
No shooting, just physical.
I was 5th. We only had to carry our 25#R, rifle, pistol, and mags. No plate carrier, since not everyone had the same weights in their carriers.
Evolution 5: Truck Bed Ride
This was the first time I've gotten to shoot from a moving vehicle. I've shot at movers before, but not the other way around.
I don't think I managed a single hit even after going through 25 rounds. I think I forgot to lead, which is something that it makes sense that we'd need to do, when we're the mover. It is challenging to stay stable, when the car is bumping around on gravel roads, although even when we had a couple of pauses where we were stationary, I didn't hit then, either. You can't rush shots, period.
Evolution 6: River Patrol
Ford to the other side of the river with your rifle, in ear-deep chilly water.
Walk to the end of the sandy beach and shoot at a small target on the far side of the opposite side of the river. The focus was more on rate of fire than on accuracy here, since it was a "contact front" scenario.
You then ford back across the river, which is less deep in this area.
Progress along another beach until you come across 3 more targets, including one that was originally hidden in dead space.
Once you climb back to the top of the bank, shoot 6 total on 2 targets, alternating each time.
It was fun and different to shoot with that much water involved!
I was glad that I didn't slip and get either my rifle wet or my ear pro more wet than they already got when I was at the deepest part of the river.
I placed well overall, which was cool.
It was a good group to spend the day with.
It was a good group to spend the day with.
I have collected quite a few souvenirs from shooting this week...
- hot brass from the indoor range
- tree scrape from the river ford
- boo boo from a sim round when I happened to lift up my shirt to draw, at the same time that a round came at me during a "duel"
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