Para Blackwater Training

 

He's more machine now than man

So, I'm sitting around the other day with Todd Jarrett, something I'm known to do from time to time, and we were just shooting the breeze. Unfortunately, when Todd Jarrett shoots the breeze, he hits it every time, which really upset the kids across the street who were trying to fly their kites. Todd, being the gentleman he is, felt bad and sent each of the kids a fruit basket with a note that said "If your going to miss, you're going to miss low - TJ". What a guy! Anyway, I had popped a few rounds downrange myself...

The Para USA event as seen by a non-invitee

Greg talks about how he views Para USA's outreach to bloggers There is clearly a need to make your company stand out in a field of glitzy advertising. Innovation isn't enough to sell a product, and traditional PR thinking does not include embracing the "New Media". Early adopters of a new medium are the real risk-takers, especially when it can mean the success or failure of a business. However the risk can pay off huge if it succeeds. Many companies are starting to "dip their toes in the water", but Para is the first to do it big. The...

Cool picture

J.R. took this shot of me knocking down some steel What's really cool is how the plate is halfway down, and you can see I'm already level and ready to shoot again. I need to lean in just a bit more, though.

Blackwater limos

I shit you not, this is what we rode around in  Photo by Joe Huffman There were these vehicles scattered all about. They had the keys in them. Blackwater told us to use them as we needed. They had bullet holes, simunition marks, shattered glass, dents, scratches, and even with all that they ran (and even the radios worked). Here's a few more pics of the vehicles  

Can I get a witness?

Here's a shot of the witness marks Todd Jarrett put on our hands. That's Kevin's mitts on the left, then mine, then Say Uncle's. Since I had to hold the camera, it's only my right hand. I have no idea where Uncle's hand was, although I can assure you it was nowhere near my buttocks. What you can't see, and probably the most important mark, is the one on Kevin's right thumb that is aligned with the one on his left hand. To do this, Todd had us grip the pistol. He moved the pistol until it was perfect,...

There's tacticool

And there's tacticool Check out your favorite blogger in action That's Joe Huffman on the left. I'm wearing gloves for two reasons. One, Blackhawk gave 'em to me and I wanted to take them out for a spin. Two, I noticed my grip kept slipping and the gloves helped a ton with that. The stage went as follows. You were to engage the steel plate directly in front of you with 2 hits, then take cover, placing two shots on a mover if it came into play. Then take down the last 6 plates (again, placing 2 shots on...

About the gun

Ok, I'm finally home and have some time to actually do some blogging. I was having a hell of a time getting the pictures up, and honestly this trip was worthless without pictures (click on 'em to embigginate) First off, I'd like to talk about the Para USA pistol we got to use. The one I chose was the single stack, .45 ACP with the LDA - Light Double Action trigger. The LDA is about a 3.5 pound trigger that operates almost like my Glock 29's trigger. While the operation was similar, that's about it. The LDA was a bajillion...

A bad day at the range

Is better than a great day at work. And I proved that today. I learned a valuable lesson today. I suck. I suck bad. I need to really practice a lot more. In fact, I'd venture to say I was near the worst shooter here. It turns out, shooting at static targets using the weaver stance at the indoor range doesn't translate well into the kinds of shooting I did today. I didn't do too bad when I moved and shot, in fact I did well in that phase, but I couldn't hit the Earth shooting at 25 yards....

He may cry for his mommy

But that little son of a gun can shoot. Todd Jarrett kept asking him when he could take classes from him.

I'm here

Well, at least to Norfolk. Ahab and I, of course, said hello and went right to our laptops. I totally failed to scope out Virginia's gun laws. Hopefully I don't end up in a cell somewhere.