OPERATION AUGUST BREEZE 2009

Above: LFB giving an in-depth class on the AR15.

Camp Stasa, MI

Temp in the 80's, high humidity. Mostly clear, very slight breeze.

Yep. In the past, the June, July, and August training sessions were sparsely attended. As seen in the above picture, and in our other summer reports, that hasn't been the case this year.

And, though it may send Mark Potok and other discredited, donation leeching, left-wing, anti-freedom extremist groups into some kind of tizzy (albeit one which they can use to solicit donations, and scare people into supporting them), the simple, brutal truth is: The Militia is growing.

But we aren't just getting bigger. Bigger alone isn't enough. This is becoming a sharper outfit. There is an excellent mix of veterans and non-veterans that have assumed leadership roles. We have a mix of younger patriots, and older, more experienced people. And kids. The future generation of patriots is being exposed to ideas and concepts embraced by freedom-loving Americans. The kids are coming out, and they are learning at the range, and in the woods. They are also being taught at home. I know. Eight of them are mine.

If Mark Potok is having a fit today, what will he do tomorrow, when Meagan and Xena are adults? Think about that, Potok. Stay awake at night and think about that.

Bigger. Better. Stronger. Faster.

They started the two mile walk before I got there, a horde of militia people cranking out a hike through Camp Stasa. They were there early, so they started. This is called "initiative", and it rocks. (Not to worry if you miss an early walk, we can and will do another one.)

There was a gear check, whereupon we poked and prodded and pulled out gear and checked cleaning kits and first aid kits and so forth. There seemed to be a plethora of AR15 type weapons, with a handful of .308 for long range purposes. (This included my new Remington 700, making its range debut!)

There was a navigation course set up and practiced upon. Sometimes, navigation requires math. We can do math. LFB also gave a compass demonstration again at our August meeting. You need a compass. The GPS system can and will be turned off if "they" want to. We have actually seen this happen under circumstances that I am unwilling to describe here. Trust me, it can be turned off.

There was, of course, some shooting, for both Level 1 and 2. Congrats to all of the qualifiers! Some people with newer rifles needed some additional time, and will continue to improve with more practice.

There was a very, very extensive AR15 class. Not like we are trying to be salesmen for AR15 rifles, but... There were plenty out there, and quite a few people had some input. LFB is a good instructor.

Bubba also taught some very basic hand-to-hand moves, mostly involving "controlling the space." We don't have much more than one day per month to train as a whole group, so you should learn as much of this on the side, or really, really practice the small number of moves that you can learn at training.

As usual, there was some close range shooting. I had the opportunity to take some of the kids downrange for a bit, including Sam, who was a new shooter. I think we might have another convert on our side now. I love to see the kids sharpening their skills at the range...

It turned out to be an awesome day, with little to no "stand around time", which tends to kill militia training. We also made good use of the squad boxes for feeding purposes. Sometimes, I wonder if we could just buy several cans of pudding at Gordon's... Still, if everyone keeps a squad type box or a case or two of water in their vehicle, this will make sure that the troops have at least one decent meal at training.

-Weapon M

PS. I want to give a shout out to my wife, who made the effort to come out and try to qualify. Everything was good, but she needs to bring her shot group in a little tighter. Thanks for being a part of this, honey!