"I wrote things, only to have it deleted because someone temporarily in charge did not understand them. Some of the people doing the deleting knew nothing about shooting and could not write - at all."
Great question! The Army at large knows nothing about high level marksmanship and very few pay attention to the AMU or any organized marksmanship activity. Most personnel aren't even adhering to the basic, required doctrine. This is not the fault of the AMU (Army Marksmanship Unit), NGMTU (National Guard Marksmanship Training Unit), the Army Reserve Marksmanship Program, et al. Leadership is either uninformed or does not care and there's no pressure to change. Historical examples:
For those that do pay attention, 3 Gun/action shooting is a benefit. Service Conditions competition is conducted with issue weapons and is a blend of National Match (precision-type) shooting with skirmishing and action (speed-type) shooting. This demands a well-rounded skillset and enhances marksmanship readiness.
In the WWII era Army marksmanship training manual, the respiratory pause at the end of exhalation was an element of achieving NPOA, and one of the “steps in the checklist” of firing the shot. Project Appleseed derived their instruction manual from that Army manual. The respiratory pause is one of the “6 steps to firing a shot” in the P.A. manual. The “3 legs of the stool” in good shooting (also in that manual) are 1. A stable shooting position (with specific orientations & steady hold factors) 2. Achieving NPOA. 3. The six steps. The process works, but respiratory pause is just one sub-element in the entire process. It seems looking historically, that the Army changed the process significantly after introduction of the M16, with it’s pencil barrel and gas block attached sling swivel affecting POI, depending on sling usage & tension.
I went from absolute beginner, to “expert” shooting an AQT in one day following this instruction, and won my very first CMP Rimfire Sporter event using what I’d learned, shooting a 585/600, 21X with a rack grade $200 rifle with $60 scope.
Thanks! The Appleseed instructors could not believe that I shot a “Rifleman” score on my very first AQT, using a stock Remington 597 with cheap Blazer ammo, having virtually zero prior shooting experience. They said “this never happens.” I thought nothing of it, fully expecting to do that well. The only thing I did prior to that weekend was watching the 2 hour YouTube video from WWII on “How to Shoot the M1 Garand,” and practiced positions & dry fire during the month prior. They then recruited me into the instructor core a month later. It’s very formal position KD marksmanship training, taken right from the WWII training manual, and the kind of shooting you see at the National matches @ Camp Perry. Project Appleseed has actually gone to Army bases in the past to provide training to reservists who have had trouble qualifying. I do think that this training is foundational, and that other types of combat shooting training (CQB, unknown distance, etc) would be needed to more fully develop infantrymen. Some of the Army marksmanship training films from the post Vietnam era are downright embarrassing and clownish. Tried finding one again, but didn’t come up in my search. Maybe they were taken down?
Great write up! I dropped out of the Appleseed instructor core when I went back to work in 2014, but am considering rejoining now that I’m semi-retired. Still trying to clean an AQT, have gotten very close (248).
Great question! The Army at large knows nothing about high level marksmanship and very few pay attention to the AMU or any organized marksmanship activity. Most personnel aren't even adhering to the basic, required doctrine. This is not the fault of the AMU (Army Marksmanship Unit), NGMTU (National Guard Marksmanship Training Unit), the Army Reserve Marksmanship Program, et al. Leadership is either uninformed or does not care and there's no pressure to change. Historical examples:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P58a3vTij1s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oI4r496mTWQ
For those that do pay attention, 3 Gun/action shooting is a benefit. Service Conditions competition is conducted with issue weapons and is a blend of National Match (precision-type) shooting with skirmishing and action (speed-type) shooting. This demands a well-rounded skillset and enhances marksmanship readiness.
Do you think the AMUs focus on 3 gun competitions has degraded or enhanced our marksmanship readiness?
In the WWII era Army marksmanship training manual, the respiratory pause at the end of exhalation was an element of achieving NPOA, and one of the “steps in the checklist” of firing the shot. Project Appleseed derived their instruction manual from that Army manual. The respiratory pause is one of the “6 steps to firing a shot” in the P.A. manual. The “3 legs of the stool” in good shooting (also in that manual) are 1. A stable shooting position (with specific orientations & steady hold factors) 2. Achieving NPOA. 3. The six steps. The process works, but respiratory pause is just one sub-element in the entire process. It seems looking historically, that the Army changed the process significantly after introduction of the M16, with it’s pencil barrel and gas block attached sling swivel affecting POI, depending on sling usage & tension.
I went from absolute beginner, to “expert” shooting an AQT in one day following this instruction, and won my very first CMP Rimfire Sporter event using what I’d learned, shooting a 585/600, 21X with a rack grade $200 rifle with $60 scope.
Cheers,
Alex
Good job! As you point out, the Army has been declining on this since WW2. One example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oI4r496mTWQ
The USMC does this better: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjncdmJtJxg
Thanks! The Appleseed instructors could not believe that I shot a “Rifleman” score on my very first AQT, using a stock Remington 597 with cheap Blazer ammo, having virtually zero prior shooting experience. They said “this never happens.” I thought nothing of it, fully expecting to do that well. The only thing I did prior to that weekend was watching the 2 hour YouTube video from WWII on “How to Shoot the M1 Garand,” and practiced positions & dry fire during the month prior. They then recruited me into the instructor core a month later. It’s very formal position KD marksmanship training, taken right from the WWII training manual, and the kind of shooting you see at the National matches @ Camp Perry. Project Appleseed has actually gone to Army bases in the past to provide training to reservists who have had trouble qualifying. I do think that this training is foundational, and that other types of combat shooting training (CQB, unknown distance, etc) would be needed to more fully develop infantrymen. Some of the Army marksmanship training films from the post Vietnam era are downright embarrassing and clownish. Tried finding one again, but didn’t come up in my search. Maybe they were taken down?
That WW2 Garand training film is a classic, and Appleseed is now as well. A write-up I did on that:
https://blog.gritrsports.com/the-appleseed-project/
Great write up! I dropped out of the Appleseed instructor core when I went back to work in 2014, but am considering rejoining now that I’m semi-retired. Still trying to clean an AQT, have gotten very close (248).