Operation Argent Thorn

-by Lee Miracle

Saturday, May 3rd, 2003
Camp Stasa, Michigan

The "new" 10 AM start time did not seem to bother anyone, as several folks had arrived by then. More came later. The road back in was rough in spots, and we would seriously love to drop some number 21A professional grade gravel in those spots. If you know of a source for gravel, or want to contribute to this effort, please contact us.

We had the standard check of gear, with the note that, while we usually discuss the cheapest, most low-budget gear around, we saw some costly high-tech stuff that day. The Level Two gear requirements are still being finalized, but we went by the current list. (We are giving thought to bumping the gas mask up to Level Three, and bumping the compass down to Level Two. The thought is that we will use a compass more than a gas mask. We have already added FRS radio to the Level Two list.)

       

The walk kicked off and despite the rough road, the slowest guy (ummm, that would be me), came in at 35 minutes for the two-mile. Several die-hard folks went for the three-mile walk, and they easily finished in the allotted time. A boot check revealed that "Rocky" brand boots had a solid plurality, with a couple of pair of jungle boots adding to the mix. I still will argue on behalf of anything by Danner, but whatever you can comfortably walk in will work. One member, Surefire, noted that he was perhaps carrying too much. Make sure you drink water after such a walk, even if it is only two or three miles.

A new member went downrange to sight in her rifle (with the new super glow front and rear sights - they rock...) with her husband, whilst the other folks finished their walk, and started working on some level two skills.

There were several things happening concurrently: Rifle sighting in and qualifying, Level Two training, lunch preparation, and gear inspections. This was a case of lots o' stuff going on at once, in a good positive militia fashion. This is how it will have to develop as units get bigger, with split training and shared range time. (Ummmm, you do intend to expand your unit/team/brigade/whatever, don't you?)

             

Two people needed to qualify on the range, and this should get priority every time. After a few tries, we had two new Level One qualified militia members. Several people also chose to shoot at the smaller, 6.5 inch Level Two target. One person shot well enough (Nine out of ten hits on a 6.5 inch plate at 100 yards - no bench shooting allowed) to hit the Level Two standards. We are confidant that more folks, myself included, will hit this target soon as well.

Checking the field expedient shelters, I discovered that the German flektar poncho provided excellent camo. This was enhanced by the placement of some local foliage by the dedicated militiaman. The other shelter was passable, and the militia member had even added some straw as bedding under his poncho.

Lunch was varied, as we did not enjoy a burger-rific feast. There were several MREs (of course), a sort of homemade MRE, and a couple of couples had the forethought to bring coolers with actual food and stuff in them. Bringing a cooler is permissible, and even encouraged. One militia member even toughed it out by eating some Datrex survival rations. These are similar to Mainstay rations; dry but somewhat tasty. Might not be a bad idea to keep a block of this sort of ration in your butt-pack, for this times when you don't have your MRE-laden rucksack handy, or when Frank doesn't make it. You will need something to wash these rations down with, though...

(Don't let this happen to your militia unit......)

A low-flying plane failed to intimidate us. It might have been the local sheriff or local resident just checking out the militia happenings. It came in nice and low and slow, and we had a good laugh at it. If you want to see pictures of militia people, just look on the web page, or subscribe to the newsletter. There is no need to risk stalling your plane out over a muddy field, which he almost did. (BTW, if you know the pilot who was doing this, we would love a set of those pictures for the web page...)

A couple of the guys did some more Level Two drills, "applying a field dressing to an extremity", and "conduct a series of three-to-five second rushes". One of the guys, Super Six, did a magnificent bit of rushing, and we kind of wished we had filmed that one....We will get him to do it again for filming purposes next time.

We then did a walk through of a two-fire team bounding maneuver, complete with spontaneous compass class at the start. Then, we did a simple movement based on the same principles. On the way out, there were some problems, like excessive radio chatter, and fire teams kind of crossing in front of each other. They started with two four-person fire teams plus a phantom squad leader, but I then detached one of the team's snipers to the "squad HQ" for control and security purposes. The return movement was much better, with no talking (complete hand and arm signals, it was great...), and much better movement. Just like that, after an hour or so of training, people were picking up tactics and concepts.

The questions asked also demonstrated a willingness to understand some basic tactical ideas. "How far apart should we be, and why?" "Why do we move in a wedge, but then get on line when we stop?" These are the answers that veterans and other trained folks need to share with their fellow citizens - all of their fellow citizens.

After a brief after-action-review, we then did a drill whereby the squad got on-line and engaged a set of targets for a very brief time. (This was also a chance to try another smoke grenade from my H&K 26.5mm signal flare launcher.) Several of the targets were completely missed, and some were killed just peachy dead. We all should consider the value of the initial shot, as there may someday be a situation in which we only get a single shot off.

Then one of our members donned his full-blown NBC gear, complete from head to toe. It looked hot and uncomfortable, but in the event of a serious NBC situation, we would all rather be hot and uncomfortable than dead. It is hard to convince people that they may ever need this kind of gear, but you never know....Better to be safe, I think.

This was followed by some pistol practice, which is always a good skill to work on.

There were three couples there that day, and they all, to a degree, got some training in. In fact, we have two sets of husband and wife qualified teams. These are households that are more secure, and are not to be messed with. (Couples that Blast together last together???). So bring your wife/girlfriend out next time.

Congrats to Surefire and Sheri. (The rest of you folks should come up with a handle, as we tend to give out less than pleasant ones of you don't...)

L to R: Home made MRE, yummy DATREX rations, and MRE Chicken in Thai Sauce...

All in all, it was a splendid militia day, with nice weather and good, tiresome training. We are looking forward to more such days, with more folks, as the spring and summer progress. And, because defending your family and community are the building blocks of true homeland defense, we hope to see you there, too.

-Lee