OPERATION: PITA STORM
SEPTEMBER 2009
Above: Some of the crew at September's training.
It was also our annual shotgun familiarization day.
On a sunny day in September at Camp Stasa, Michigan, a crowd of militia persons experienced swarms of mosquitoes (which did indeed come hither amongst us to harass us and drink up our substance), three media crews, and lots of blasttacular shotgun familiarization.
We were visited by crews from HDNET, M2 Productions (which does work for National Geographic), and ORF TV from Austria, which is NOT related to the great composer, Carl Orff, of "Carmina Burana" fame.
Many interviews were conducted, and much footage was taken. We have nothing to hide, nothing to be afraid of, and we do not object to being interviewed. We are trying to see to it that "militia" activity becomes more and more accepted, and more and more part of mainstream American life. Part of pushing the idea that "militia" people are just everyday, ordinary Americans includes being on TV, and showing the world that we are not racists, whackos, or other unsavory types.
We had a good handful of new people gunning for Level One, and there was some success in this regard. Congrats to the folks who made it! The road seemed fairly passable for the walk, and for later patrols. That's "patrols", as in plural.
This was also the day that we normally schedule for shotgun familiarization, which caused some mild bruising, and some even milder mockery. I fed some bird shot through my old break open "Jed Clampett" shotgun. Even the lighter loads provided an enjoyable kick with this beast, but the most fun was when a few of us launched some slugs downrange with it. Still, costwise, a simple break open shotgun can be an effective home defense tool or hunting gun. It would not be a bad idea to set one of these up as a "trunk" gun, as long as it's transported in a lawful and safe manner.
We all seemed to enjoy Chuckwagon's Mossberg 590 with a Knoxx recoil reducing stock (which everyone liked), and there was even a Russian made magazine fed shotgun on site. Meagan also got to show a few folks, including Carol McKinley from HDNET, how to shoot her Rossi 20 gage.
Mags. Megs.
BTK brought a nice pump action 20 gage out. This would be good shotgun for a youth, too.
(Note: Later in September, I got to shoot my Dad's Remington 1100 tactical shotgun. Which I want. Badly.)
We didn't really go into a lot of shotgun tactics, except to stress the importance of keeping them loaded when needed, and topping off your magazine whenever there is a pause in the action.
The shotgun shooting eventually morphed into pistol shooting (doesn't EVERYTHING eventually morph into pistol shooting???), which is never a bad thing, and is useful, practical, and fun. How can you top that?
There was some land navigation instruction, and practice. Please do not even imagine that you don't need to learn this. Your GPS batteries can die, or the GPS satellites can be disabled quickly. Use your GPS device as you will, but always, always, keep a compass and map, and know how to use them. Kudos to Bubba and LFB for pushing this, and getting people trained.
There was also more patrolling class, which Bubba led. Patrolling is not always just about recon. He covered the duties and functions of each member of a patrol, and then set up a couple of patrol routes for people to learn from.
It was on these routes that the mosquitoes bled us out almost completely. It was horrible. Of course, bug juice and gloves helped those of us who had them.
Class.
The folks learned quite a lot on the patrol routes, especially about navigating with landmarks, using dead reckoning, and clearing open areas quickly. We also learned the value of tactical slings, so as to avoid ditty-bopping through the woods with rifle slung comfortably over one's back, and a non-useful configuration. Really. Tactical slings.
Checking patrol route.
Subsequent to these patrols was the debriefing. This is where them "thangs what need learnt, get learnt real good". Everyone listens, everyone has input, and we all come away smarter and better.
After action reviews.
This was one of the better days, with an excellent turnout, good, hard training, and civil dialogue with or media guests. This "militia" thing has momentum. Some people might not be happy with that, but there is really nothing that can be done to stop it. (This is called "mockery", Mr. Potok...)
Meagan and Xena, in case Mark Potok is reading this...
You can view more pictures from this training on Photobucket, here.
A quick note here: I was asking the Austrian TV reporter, whose company is called "ORF", if that had anything to do with the composer, Orff. He said no, and then we had a discussion about Orff's work, and some other composers that we liked. The cameraman seemed shocked. He said that he would never imagine that he would be hearing this conversation from "a militia person."
Well.
Somebody learned something that Saturday, didn't they?
-Weapon M
Note:
Google the following:
Orff "Carmina Burana"
Strauss "Thus Spake Zarathustra"
Bach "Brandenburg Concertos"
Anything by Wagner