Alaskan Appleseed AAR - 4/20/13

From the senior instructor at the Chugiak, Alaska event:

Mid-afternoon on Saturday, the temps warmed up (briefly), as ThaiFighter described the retreat of the Regulars from Lexington back to Boston:


Clarissa shows off her left-handed seated position.  Being right handed, but left eye dominant is a perpetual struggle for some, but she took to shooting left-handed like a fish in water!:


Heather demonstrates the proper kneeling position:


One of our youngest shooters demonstrates the prone (supported) position:


Another shot of ThaiFighter presenting the Third Strike, to a rapt audience:


On Sunday afternoon, our shooters enjoyed a much-deserved break from the action, while learning about differences (and similarities) of shooting out to 500 yards:


These youngsters earned the respect of every adult on the line, through their determination and persistence; their attentiveness and willingness to tough it out were rewarded with the Project Appleseed Young Patriot Patch, and a hearty round of applause:


The Appleseed Qualification Test (AQT) is a rigorous, demanding course of fire; designed to test the shooter on every aspect of the instruction that we teach.  A passing grade is a 210 out of a possible 250 points.  To say it's tough is an understatement of epic proportions.  "MountainGoat1980" last attended an Appleseed event back in 2012; stymied by car troubles on his way to our last event in October, he's been practicing through the long Alaskan winter.  His practice paid off, with a by-the-skin-of-his-teeth score of 211/250 on the last AQT of the day.  Here we catch our newest rifleman by surprise, waiting until the event was over to let him know he had made the score:


(blurry) pic of new Rifleman receiving his much-deserved WinterSeed patch:


Having surmounted the challenge of the AQT, MountainGoat1980 accepted the next challenge placed in front of him, and graciously accepted the Orange Hat of Instructor-In-Training (with only minimal arm-twisting, I might add):


I'd like to reiterate my thanks to all who attended this event.  Were it not for you, we instructors would have simply spent the weekend at the range.  Your enthusiasm for not only the marksmanship instruction, but also the history and heritage, gives us hope, and makes all of our own personal sacrifices worth it. 

For those who didn't shoot quite as well as you'd hoped, don't despair- you've nothing to be ashamed of, unless you quit.  Everyone starts somewhere, and making an expert score isn't easy.  It'll take time, persistence, perseverance, and a never-say-die attitude, but I know that each of you can do it; after all, you're Americans. 

If you took pictures this weekend, please feel free to post them up here.  If you'd like a copy of one of the pictures I've posted, drop me a note with your email, and I'll send you the original.  We love to hear from our students, both good and bad, so please feel free to post those too!

In Liberty,

-ItsanSKS