The weather this weekend left much to desire, but that is also half the fun and the challenge. You have to figure out what gear you need to make training a success. It's you and Mother Nature all the way. This time it snowed a wet, sticky snow Saturday morning until around noon. It left the ground mushy and muddy, and snow and ice in the treetops. Every time the wind blew, the snow on the trees came hurling toward you on the ground. I think we all got bombarded at least once, although I think it was after me personally; I got hit directly several times. So, in addition to our regular training, we had to be aware of the snow assault from above and avoid getting dumped on.

Our fearless Leader could not be with us this weekend to train because his wife finally had a baby girl that Friday (weeks later than they originally anticipated - but definitely congratulations!) The rest of us had plans to do a variety of range work and training. Some of our guys showed up (on time) and began to do some range work as well as looking things over for the up and coming Tax Blast the following weekend.

The rest of us showed up about two hours later (oops) and we all did our two- mile maintenance march together; no one needed to do a two-mile walk to qualify for Level 1 this weekend.

After our walk, we did have one person who needed to do their Level 1 shooting qualifications, so we closed the range to any casual plinking. This person was still new to his rifle and requested some help with sighting-in, in which he was given an abundance of advice and suggestions by some of our more skilled shooters.

Although he was not able to get all the required shots on the plate this time, he'll be back next training to work at it again.

We then put together a Fire Team and worked on some bounding movements in the wooded area. We did a bounding over-watch with individual movement to take our objective. We used flanking maneuvers then did a sweep of the area. Once we completed our sweep, our Team Leader advised us that it was important to continue to flush out any support the enemy may have and eliminate them. We did a rush and finished-off the opponent. Afterward, we went over any questions, comments, and pointed out where we could improve.

Another member showed up just as those of us that were staying overnight were getting our sleep areas cleared and set-up. As we settled down for the evening, the Blair Ice made itself known. The area was almost completely silent when a light wind would blow; this caused the now-frozen snow in the trees to come crashing down all around us onto the underbrush of leaves and dead branches.

It was unpredictable and echoed all through the thicket. We agreed that's how they made the sound effects for the movie "The Blair Witch Project" because it sounded just like the clanking of rocks or hollow tree limbs from a 360^o radius. It certainly made for interesting sleeping, but unlike the characters in the movie, we knew better than to sleep in a tent, and besides - we had guns.

The following morning we were all alive and accounted for; the Blair Ice didn't get any of us - although there were some mighty suspicious rock piles...

We then set up the range for one member to re-qualify his Level 1 status. After a couple of practice rounds to sight his rifle in, he not only put the shots on the plate, but got 10 out of 10 with his SKS. Good Job!