Twigg
NES Member
The Redcoats are coming !
Take note of the target on the right, I believe heard Chris say this is the first Redcoat target to have been cleaned in an Appleseed.
For those who don't know, the silhouettes represent targets at 100, 200, 300 and 400 yards while the red square simulates a head shot at 250 yards.
Now that's some fancy shootin' ! (And why we don't speak with British accents. - Apologies to our resident Britt's.)
The firing line.
Making Rifleman is significant to me because when I served my country as a Seabee (USNMBC – 40, Alpha Co.) it was during the Ford and Carter administrations. For those of you old enough to remember, this was not a good time to be in the military. The Vietnam Conflict was winding down and folks in uniform were not popular with the American public. I have suffered abuse (proudly and defiantly) from those I thought were friends when I enlisted and from the public when I was traveling under orders in uniform.
The Navy was not awarding medals unless your performance truly outstanding. I was issued the National Defense medal which was derisively called a “geedunk medal” as every warm body entering the service was issued one. Medals for marksmanship were issued only to those who qualified at the expert level.
Thus began my quest.
I missed the first year by thirty points, the second year I was with the battalion I volunteered for a work detail at the Point Mugu rifle range. This was a detail normally assigned to screw-ups and those with discipline issues. I had spoken to my platoon Chief and to the Marine First Sergeant (Every Seabee battalion has a senior Marine NCO as a tactical advisor.) about my intentions and had the approval of both. So for the next two months I filled and stacked sandbags for six hours a day, ate C-rats (cold) and got in some additional trigger time in the afternoon with whatever unit was on the line.
I qualified as Sharpshooter but missed expert by 15 points.
In my third and last year I missed expert by three points and what really irked me is had shot expert in practice and choked during the last qualification round I would fire and remained a Sharpshooter for my final year with NMCB-40.
The only consolation was that during my stay with NMCB-40, my battalion had achieved the Navy “Battle E” award twice in two years. Each year that same First Sergeant gave us the highest compliment a Marine can give.
He said he would be proud to go to war with us.
Fast forward to twenty seven years later while watching some hunting show with my son he turns and asks me to take him hunting and eventually I find out about the Appleseed Project.
I attended several Appleseed clinics over the course of the last two years and on Saturday of this Independence Day weekend thanks to the level of instruction I received from Chris and Dan. Achieving RIFLEMAN status was work and it was not something I took lightly.
I am as proud of my RIFLEMAN patch as I would be as if I had earned my Expert Qualification while I was in the Navy.
Next time you see me at an Appleseed event I'll be wearing an orange hat. (Instructor in training.)
To everyone who came out to shoot and also to Chris and Dan for their instructing, I say,
Thanks and a Tip O'the Stetson™
Take note of the target on the right, I believe heard Chris say this is the first Redcoat target to have been cleaned in an Appleseed.
For those who don't know, the silhouettes represent targets at 100, 200, 300 and 400 yards while the red square simulates a head shot at 250 yards.
Now that's some fancy shootin' ! (And why we don't speak with British accents. - Apologies to our resident Britt's.)
The firing line.
Making Rifleman is significant to me because when I served my country as a Seabee (USNMBC – 40, Alpha Co.) it was during the Ford and Carter administrations. For those of you old enough to remember, this was not a good time to be in the military. The Vietnam Conflict was winding down and folks in uniform were not popular with the American public. I have suffered abuse (proudly and defiantly) from those I thought were friends when I enlisted and from the public when I was traveling under orders in uniform.
The Navy was not awarding medals unless your performance truly outstanding. I was issued the National Defense medal which was derisively called a “geedunk medal” as every warm body entering the service was issued one. Medals for marksmanship were issued only to those who qualified at the expert level.
Thus began my quest.
I missed the first year by thirty points, the second year I was with the battalion I volunteered for a work detail at the Point Mugu rifle range. This was a detail normally assigned to screw-ups and those with discipline issues. I had spoken to my platoon Chief and to the Marine First Sergeant (Every Seabee battalion has a senior Marine NCO as a tactical advisor.) about my intentions and had the approval of both. So for the next two months I filled and stacked sandbags for six hours a day, ate C-rats (cold) and got in some additional trigger time in the afternoon with whatever unit was on the line.
I qualified as Sharpshooter but missed expert by 15 points.
In my third and last year I missed expert by three points and what really irked me is had shot expert in practice and choked during the last qualification round I would fire and remained a Sharpshooter for my final year with NMCB-40.
The only consolation was that during my stay with NMCB-40, my battalion had achieved the Navy “Battle E” award twice in two years. Each year that same First Sergeant gave us the highest compliment a Marine can give.
He said he would be proud to go to war with us.
Fast forward to twenty seven years later while watching some hunting show with my son he turns and asks me to take him hunting and eventually I find out about the Appleseed Project.
I attended several Appleseed clinics over the course of the last two years and on Saturday of this Independence Day weekend thanks to the level of instruction I received from Chris and Dan. Achieving RIFLEMAN status was work and it was not something I took lightly.
I am as proud of my RIFLEMAN patch as I would be as if I had earned my Expert Qualification while I was in the Navy.
Next time you see me at an Appleseed event I'll be wearing an orange hat. (Instructor in training.)
To everyone who came out to shoot and also to Chris and Dan for their instructing, I say,
Thanks and a Tip O'the Stetson™
Last edited: