(Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. Didn’t we just have the Independence Day Shoot the weekend before this???? Yep.)

On Saturday, July 8th, some hearty members of the militia reported to The Badlands for monthly training. A couple of stalwarts actually showed up Friday night.

The day was filled with rifle drills. Lots of them. Fun ones, too.

First, we shot at 25 yards, just to see how we were grouping, and where the rounds were going to impact at such close range. Too often, we consider our pistols as our close range weapon, when in fact, we should be more likely to have our rifle in hand most of the time.

So we went through a plethora of close-range rifle shooting exercises… a veritable soiree of up-close, in your face, speed shooting.

The first drill was where we would carry the rifle at roughly port arms, and upon a signal, we would raise the rifle, take a quick aim, and snap off a shot. The rifle was then lowered until the next signal was given. (Hence the term: "snap-shot drill".) This was done three times for each shooter, with each shooter getting several attempts.

What this accomplished was to try to develop skills and techniques for gaining a fast sight picture, and getting off that all-too-important first shot. This drill needs to be done more and more and more. Some folks were taking too long to aim. Perhaps, in the comfort of your own home, you could practice bringing your rifle up to a firing position to sharpen this skill….

What we found out was that this needs to be worked on. We found this out in a fun and productive manner…

Next, we changed the drill to include three quick shots, without having to lower the rifle. This is an effective combat drill, since we all know that follow-up shots are also very important. The drill was as follows: Rifle carried at the ready, and upon a signal, rifle was raised and three quick shots snapped off. We tried to get the shots off as quickly as possible, because in combat, the other guy won’t be standing there like a target…

We thought about timing these events, to pressure everyone into shooting faster, but then, if you shoot slower than the other guy, you lose. It is up to each person to determine his or her appropriate reaction and quickness. We can’t force anyone to shoot quicker.

These events were not scored in a competitive manner, but scored so that each person could judge his or her own weaknesses and strengths.

Then, what fun, we practiced something horrible called "point shooting". This totally sucked. The drill was to carry your rifle at the ready, and upon a signal, just shoot at the target from the hip. No aiming, no raising your rifle. Just point and shoot. It was terrible. The only thing I learned from this, is to not ever do this. Here is where a nice laser would come in handy, because without aiming, the target was unscathed...at 25 yards. It was determined that point shooting is something that needs to be practiced a lot more than we have time to do.

Scoring wise, it was worth the extra time to bring the rifle up to eye level and at least get some rudimentary sight picture. Maybe point shooting will work to get the bad guy to keep his head down while you raise your rifle to get a good sight picture, but as far as perforating any hoodlums from the hip, don’t count on it….

But wait! We did more….

The next drill was a multiple target shoot, again, at close range. The idea was to engage each of the five targets with whatever fire you felt would be a critical hit (usually, one or more hits with a score of seven or better…). You could shoot each target as much as you wanted, until you felt it was dead. This was also a speed drill. Kill the targets the deadest, the bestest, and the fastest. If you judged wrongly, and one of your targets did not sustain a critical wound, then you were considered dead….so at least two shots were suggested.

Of course, we also had the usual, "hey I need to try this new rifle/pistol/magazine/scope/sight/ammo/whatever out. Mind if I pop off a few?"

And whilst this was going on, a couple of us did the full-blown, foliage-chopping camouflage thing. With the right stuff, one can disappear rather easily into the brush. We, of course, have pictures to prove it.

We then backed the range up to 100 yards for some more basic marksmanship training, which we can all always use. Skills do not remain safely and permanently honed whilst we do not utilize them...so at the least, get out and shoot.

Then, to add to the fiesta-like atmosphere, we did an abbreviated one-mile tactical march, complete with hand and arm signals, and a slight bit of running. No, we will not always do the march at the beginning of the FTX. Sometimes we will do it in the middle or end. This is to prevent people from experiencing the heartbreak of missing out of a walk, because they had the great misfortune of arriving late….

The mosquitoes provided a delightful atmosphere. There were plenty of berries to munch on along the route, however, to replenish what the bugs sucked out of us…

It is important to listen to your own gear on these marches, especially when we are running. Here is where you find out what makes noise. Do you have some clanking metal objects bumping together? Fix that. Do your canteens slosh around? Top them off. My personal noisemakers are empty magazines. Full ones are much quieter. The solution? Keep them full, or maybe wrap a bit of felt or something around them to lessen the noise. It is also important to listen for each other.

Feel free to point out where your buddy’s gear is the loudest (or brightest).

See ya in August. -Lee