High Lord Gomer
Poked with Sticks
- Sep 26, 1999
- 11,790
- 34
My youngest, Tommy, started shooting last year when he was 9. Earlier this year we started shooting USPSA. Obviously, we're both hooked. When the chance came to sign up for the Junior Camp at Ft. Benning put on by MGM, http://www.mgmtargets.com/, and the United States Army Marksmanship Unit, we jumped on it.
As the date grew closer, I wasn't sure who was more excited, me or Tommy. Each morning he would tell me, "14 days to go!" What made it even tougher was that more sponsors kept joining in to help. Remington even stepped up and offered free ammo to the first 50 juniors that were signed up. When Rob Leatham said he was coming out to talk to the kids *and* to give a free class to the parents I seriously considered renting Tommy out for the weekend. I'm glad I didn't, though, as the long weekend turned out to be worth more than any amount of money.
When Tommy started shooting he kind of took over my M&P 9mm that I had already been shooting for a year. Between the two of us, it now has a little over 30,000 rounds through it and I was getting nervous. I've never had any problem with it, but I figured it needed some fresh parts. I ordered a recoil spring, trigger spring, and striker assembly. The recoil spring was backordered but I did put the new striker assembly in. Just to be safe, I borrowed another M&P9 from a friend. It turned out that Tommy never needed it so I shot that one during Rob's class. Come to think of it, *that* must be the reason it took me 10 shots to knock down that steel plate during the end-of-class little competition we parents had. Like Rob taught us, if the shot doesn't go where you intended, the very first thing you do is blame the gun. :)
Thursday evening we drove to Columbus, GA. Somewhere between Augusta and Atlanta I had Tommy's name legally changed to "No, we're not there, yet." I'm not sure exactly how many miles it was, but AC/DC and Nickelback were both worn out by the time we got there. Actually, it was 260 miles each way, but that doesn't sound nearly as interesting, does it?
We got there just before registration time, checked in, and went up to our room. Coming out of the elevator I ran into someone I recognized, but couldn't think of the name. It turned out to be none other than the (in)famous Nick Santiago! Over the three and a half days I got to speak with Nick several times, and even got to meet his mother. I was even more impressed with him in person than I had been by his online posts. He is respectful and mature while still being happy and fun. We then went down and got to meet Rhonda and Mike Gibson of MGM. They are truly fine people and have the wonderful relationship that all couples should hope to have.
We got to bed at a decent hour and Friday morning got up, had breakfast downstairs, and headed to Ft. Benning. The kids got to ride an AMU bus to the fort and back each day. It was actually easier to send the guns and ammo with the kids than to carry it in our own vehicles. The kids broke up into 4 squads and got to spend a half day with each of four sets of instructors. I can't say enough about how impressed I was with the guys in the AMU. On top of the obvious of being incredible shooters, they were also very impressive trainers that were able to demonstrate techniques, explain the value of them, and get them through to the kids so that they actually understood.
Friday morning Tommy's group was with Lee Dimaculangan (yes, I had to look up the spelling) and Daniel Horner. Daniel was a sick as a dog, yet he still gave each of the kids very personal attention. He didn't even feel up to shooting the stages Sunday, but he was there to help the kids. They covered basics in that first half day and really helped Tommy with his form.
Friday afternoon they got to be trained by Travis and KC. I learned as much as the kids did. Travis explained the importance of quick and efficient movement. His example compared split times between shots and how much time you could save just be getting out of and into a box efficiently. Travis also explained running from right to left for a right handed shooter and that you should rotate the gun to be parallel with the ground. That allows it to be pointed downrange and you can still run fast with the gun in that position. The really cool thing was to see so many of the kids that were doing exactly that during the competition they had Sunday. Later, in the pics I'll post, I've got one of Daniel doing just that. So many of the things those guys taught actually sunk in! KC worked with the kids on transitions. Again, what he told them (us) made absolute sense and I was amazed that I hadn't thought it / heard it before. I had always (LOL, "always"... I just started shooting 2 years ago) lined myself up toward the center of a set of targets, kept my body fairly stationary, and moved the gun solely with my arms. He had them turning from the knees to maintain the same waist-up geometry.
Friday night Mike and Joe went out for sushi with Tommy and I. Like all of the kids that attended, Joe was another fine example of a son that any parent would be proud to have.
Saturday Tommmy's group got to learn from Max Michel, but I missed all of that because Rob's class was at the same time. I took a bunch of pictures during Rob's class, because face it, the next best thing to having had the chance to recieve personal instruction from Rob is to have pictures of it! I have to admit, I had no idea how funny he was. I would pay money to see him do stand-up comedy. It was very generous of him to come talk to the kids and to spend time with us parents, too. He had a very early flight the next morning but still took the time to hang out and talk with us after he finished with the kids.
Sunday the kids got to shoot 4 stages. I would have liked to shoot them, but I'm actually glad I didn't. I would not have placed well with those kids! Tommy finished 14th or so out of 24 or so limited division shooters. Afterwards Glock had some things to be given away and the kids each got their picture taken with all 6 of the instructors as well as get them to autograph items.
This was truly one of those "chance of a lifetime" things, not just for Tommy, but for me, too. I really appreciate MGM, the AMU, and all of the other sponsors that helped make this possible. I really hope that we can do this again next year. I know I'm starting to set aside my money for it NOW!
OK, enough rambling...on with the pictures!
The only time Nemo wasn't smiling was when his finger was on the trigger. (Note to self: Keep Nemo smiling)
Yes, they've grown up
Daniel took a lot of time working individually with each of his kids
Tommy got a lot out of Daniel's advice on posture
As the date grew closer, I wasn't sure who was more excited, me or Tommy. Each morning he would tell me, "14 days to go!" What made it even tougher was that more sponsors kept joining in to help. Remington even stepped up and offered free ammo to the first 50 juniors that were signed up. When Rob Leatham said he was coming out to talk to the kids *and* to give a free class to the parents I seriously considered renting Tommy out for the weekend. I'm glad I didn't, though, as the long weekend turned out to be worth more than any amount of money.
When Tommy started shooting he kind of took over my M&P 9mm that I had already been shooting for a year. Between the two of us, it now has a little over 30,000 rounds through it and I was getting nervous. I've never had any problem with it, but I figured it needed some fresh parts. I ordered a recoil spring, trigger spring, and striker assembly. The recoil spring was backordered but I did put the new striker assembly in. Just to be safe, I borrowed another M&P9 from a friend. It turned out that Tommy never needed it so I shot that one during Rob's class. Come to think of it, *that* must be the reason it took me 10 shots to knock down that steel plate during the end-of-class little competition we parents had. Like Rob taught us, if the shot doesn't go where you intended, the very first thing you do is blame the gun. :)
Thursday evening we drove to Columbus, GA. Somewhere between Augusta and Atlanta I had Tommy's name legally changed to "No, we're not there, yet." I'm not sure exactly how many miles it was, but AC/DC and Nickelback were both worn out by the time we got there. Actually, it was 260 miles each way, but that doesn't sound nearly as interesting, does it?
We got there just before registration time, checked in, and went up to our room. Coming out of the elevator I ran into someone I recognized, but couldn't think of the name. It turned out to be none other than the (in)famous Nick Santiago! Over the three and a half days I got to speak with Nick several times, and even got to meet his mother. I was even more impressed with him in person than I had been by his online posts. He is respectful and mature while still being happy and fun. We then went down and got to meet Rhonda and Mike Gibson of MGM. They are truly fine people and have the wonderful relationship that all couples should hope to have.
We got to bed at a decent hour and Friday morning got up, had breakfast downstairs, and headed to Ft. Benning. The kids got to ride an AMU bus to the fort and back each day. It was actually easier to send the guns and ammo with the kids than to carry it in our own vehicles. The kids broke up into 4 squads and got to spend a half day with each of four sets of instructors. I can't say enough about how impressed I was with the guys in the AMU. On top of the obvious of being incredible shooters, they were also very impressive trainers that were able to demonstrate techniques, explain the value of them, and get them through to the kids so that they actually understood.
Friday morning Tommy's group was with Lee Dimaculangan (yes, I had to look up the spelling) and Daniel Horner. Daniel was a sick as a dog, yet he still gave each of the kids very personal attention. He didn't even feel up to shooting the stages Sunday, but he was there to help the kids. They covered basics in that first half day and really helped Tommy with his form.
Friday afternoon they got to be trained by Travis and KC. I learned as much as the kids did. Travis explained the importance of quick and efficient movement. His example compared split times between shots and how much time you could save just be getting out of and into a box efficiently. Travis also explained running from right to left for a right handed shooter and that you should rotate the gun to be parallel with the ground. That allows it to be pointed downrange and you can still run fast with the gun in that position. The really cool thing was to see so many of the kids that were doing exactly that during the competition they had Sunday. Later, in the pics I'll post, I've got one of Daniel doing just that. So many of the things those guys taught actually sunk in! KC worked with the kids on transitions. Again, what he told them (us) made absolute sense and I was amazed that I hadn't thought it / heard it before. I had always (LOL, "always"... I just started shooting 2 years ago) lined myself up toward the center of a set of targets, kept my body fairly stationary, and moved the gun solely with my arms. He had them turning from the knees to maintain the same waist-up geometry.
Friday night Mike and Joe went out for sushi with Tommy and I. Like all of the kids that attended, Joe was another fine example of a son that any parent would be proud to have.
Saturday Tommmy's group got to learn from Max Michel, but I missed all of that because Rob's class was at the same time. I took a bunch of pictures during Rob's class, because face it, the next best thing to having had the chance to recieve personal instruction from Rob is to have pictures of it! I have to admit, I had no idea how funny he was. I would pay money to see him do stand-up comedy. It was very generous of him to come talk to the kids and to spend time with us parents, too. He had a very early flight the next morning but still took the time to hang out and talk with us after he finished with the kids.
Sunday the kids got to shoot 4 stages. I would have liked to shoot them, but I'm actually glad I didn't. I would not have placed well with those kids! Tommy finished 14th or so out of 24 or so limited division shooters. Afterwards Glock had some things to be given away and the kids each got their picture taken with all 6 of the instructors as well as get them to autograph items.
This was truly one of those "chance of a lifetime" things, not just for Tommy, but for me, too. I really appreciate MGM, the AMU, and all of the other sponsors that helped make this possible. I really hope that we can do this again next year. I know I'm starting to set aside my money for it NOW!
OK, enough rambling...on with the pictures!
The only time Nemo wasn't smiling was when his finger was on the trigger. (Note to self: Keep Nemo smiling)
Yes, they've grown up
Daniel took a lot of time working individually with each of his kids
Tommy got a lot out of Daniel's advice on posture