Camp Stasa, Michigan
02 June 2002

Warm, sunny weather, a frightened fawn, and we kicked a lot of rocks....

You know the drill by now. Several motivated militia persons from Wayne, Eaton, Macomb, and Monroe Counties deployed to Camp Stasa for regular training. At least three were motivated enough to stay overnight all weekend. It would make a nice mini-getaway.

Three of us wanted to try out our new PA-63 Hungarian Makarov pistols. They were comfortable, accurate, and not too terrible heavy in the recoil department. The only negative comments I can make about these pistols are 1. The magazines are hell to load, and 2. That first, double action shot is a monster, as far as trigger stiffness. This can be solved by 1a. Loading and unloading the mags so maybe the spring tension will diminish a bit, 1b. Buying more magazines, so I will not have to reload on the range as frequently, and 2. Cocking the hammer back if there is a round chambered, or racking the slide if there isn't. These are minor considerations for a pistol that is very inexpensive, relatively light, and fairly accurate.

Someone had a new Bushmaster AR on the range, and it was kinda stiff in places. We think it needs to be broken in via the "shoot a lot of bullets" technique. After a brief cursory gear inspection (most of the same folks, with the same gear as two or three weeks ago, don't really need to see everything pulled out and displayed, but if I remembered something missing from last time, I ask for it), we started the two-miler. If this sounds a lot like every other training report, it's for a reason. The gear check, shooting, and march are things done as part of training to either develop or MAINTAIN these basic tactical skills. Shoot more, shoot better. Train more, fight better.

The march, which started off as a run, thanks to our pace man, also included the "Rock Punting" exercise during which we kicked rocks off of the road and into the ditch, while we were marching/running. Some of the rocks provided an unsafe route for vehicles with low ground clearance,and humans with ankles and things of that sort. Some of the rocks were heavy. Ouch. Consider it the Michigan Militia tribute to the World Cup soccer thing going on somewhere in Japan and Korea, except we were carrying rifles. The road was completely dry and hard however, which made for good speed.

 

A couple of OPFOR persons were also deployed. One person was only spotted by his rifle barrel, and the second person was not spotted at all. This makes the march more interesting, and of greater tactical value. On the march, my M66 .357 kept knocking into my rifle, and also into the stopwatch (yes, we time these things). I was carrying it along with my PA-63. I have decided that at this time, I only really need one side arm, so after the walk, I detached the .357, in favor of the Makarov. I may hear some whining about this...

A bit more shooting, and the burgers were done. Following the bit of grubbulence, we headed out to the field, so we could head back into the woods, and practice crossing a linear danger area. We broke down into three 3-person fire teams, and as "A" team came upon the danger area (sort of a road), they sent their left and right people out to cross and secure the other side. After the side was secure, the signaled the team leader, who passed the info back to the squad leader, who then sent "B" team across. We have found that three-person fire teams seem to be the best. They are tighter, more controllable, and can communicate very easily with eye-to-eye hand and arm signals. As long as each team leader has a radio, communication through the whole squad/platoon can be accomplished very quickly. We are currently using FRS radios, and they work out well.

We then had a class about defensive perimeters, sectors of fire, and final protective fire. Not content with mere chat, we headed into the woods and set up a tiny perimeter. This is something that takes practice. It was during this drill that we came across a fawn, curled up at the base of a tree. I was told that they do this when they are afraid. I hoped that it was not injured. We managed to creep up fairly close to it, and almost took a great picture, but someone spoke to it, and it got up and ran away, bleating like a sheep. (I didn't know that they made those kind of sounds...It was kind of cool...)

.

We did some four pin shooting, which is a good way to sharpen and maintain you tactical ability. We decided that the four pin drill could easily be applied to an urban setting, so this training is far from ineffective. (We are scheming about setting up some urban looking facades here...watch this space for details...)

Also, we will be swapping team leaders in and out, to give everyone some valuable leadership training. So if you show up, be prepared not only to train, but to lead as well. We hope to see you at the next training, the weekend of June 15th, when we will do some bolt-action drills. It should be a hoot.

-Lee