Ben Stoeger is an IPSC World Champion and multiple time USPSA National Champion. He travels all over the United States and the world shooting matches and teaching classes. In this video he discusses the Doubles Drill and why it is the only thing you need to practice live.
ATHENS, Ala. – December 14, 2022 – Shoot Like a Girl is thrilled to announce they are hitting the road in 2023, bringing their mobile range to a variety of locations across the country. Dedicated to educating women and their families about the importance of firearms safety, the trailer allows attendees to gain experience in handling and shooting all types of guns and compound bows. The Shoot Like A Girl tour gives women who are new to shooting sports the confidence to begin their journey, while simultaneously encouraging experienced shooters to continue their journey.
“After traveling over 35,000 miles in 2022, we’re excited to announce we will be continuing to deliver some amazing shooting experiences to women across the country,” said Karen Butler, Founder and President of Shoot Like A Girl. “Our Shoot Like A Girl 2023 tour will provide a safe and welcoming environment for women and their families to confidently learn about all things firearms, shooting bows and self-defense. We’re proud to continue expanding on this mission as we hit the ground running in 2023.”
2023 Shoot Like A Girl Tour Dates Include:
• JAN 16: Range Day – Boulder City, NV (Invitation Only Event)
• FEB 16-19: Bass Pro Shops – Daytona, FL (Daytona 500)
• MAR 4-5: Bass Pro Shops – Tampa, FL
• APR 1-2: Bass Pro Shops – Garland, TX
• APR 28-29: PBR – Ridgedale, MO
• MAY 6-7: Bass Pro Shops – Columbia, MO
• MAY 20-21: Bass Pro Shops – Clarksville, IN
• JUN 10-11: Cabela’s – Centerville, OH
• JUN 24-25: Bass Pro Shops – Rossford, OH
• JUL 15-16: Cabela’s – Avon, OH
• JUL 28: Corporate Event – New Port, NH
• JUL 29-30: Bass Pro Shops – Hookset, NH
• AUG 12-13: Bass Pro Shops – Hampton, VA
• AUG 18: Corporate Event – Mayodan, NC
• AUG 26-27: Bass Pro Shops – Cary, NC
• SEP 14-16: NASCAR – Bristol Motor Speedway
• SEP 30-OCT 1: Bass Pro Shops – Kodak, TN
• OCT 14-15: Bass Pro Shops – Chattanooga, TN
With guidance from certified female instructors dedicated to empowering and teaching other women, guests will have the chance to handle and shoot a firearm in the semi-tractor trailer, free of charge. Using a state-of-the-art, military-grade firearm stimulator, guests will experience realistic recoil, impact and sound feedback. Archery coaches will also be onsite to assist guests in shooting bows.
Outside of the trailer, visitors of all ages are welcome to compare a variety of disabled firearms including revolvers, semi-automatic pistols, shotguns and rifles. Additional outdoor and self-defense products from Shoot Like A Girl partners such as Gun Tote’n Mamas concealed carry handbags, CrossBreed Holsters, TrueTimber camouflage, Vortex Optics, SABRE pepper spray and much more will be on display.
To learn more about Shoot Like A Girl’s mission, partners, resources and events, visit ShootLikeAGirl.com.
ARLINGTON, Va. (AFNS) —
Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall selected Will Rogers Air National Guard Base, Oklahoma, as the sole candidate location to replace its MC-12 Liberty with the AT-802U Sky Warden and to convert the MC-12 Formal Training Unit to the AT-802U Total Force Integration FTU.
Will Rogers ANGB will receive 28 AT-802Us and about 80 personnel to support the mission of the 310th Special Operations Squadron. The squadron will relocate from Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico, to Will Rogers ANGB, creating an active association with the 185th SOS.
The AT-802 Sky Warden is a multi-role platform capable of close air support, armed intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and precision strike missions in support of geographically isolated special operations forces.
A site survey at the candidate location is scheduled in spring 2023 and will assess operational requirements, potential impacts to existing missions, housing, infrastructure and manpower.
Once the site survey is complete, the Department of the Air Force will conduct an environmental impact analysis, which is expected to be complete in fall 2023, before a final basing decision is made.
Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs
Editor’s Note: The Sky Warden has been designated as the OA-1K aircraft by the Air Force.
MANAS, Brazil – For New York Air National Guard Tech Sgt. Jeremy Miter, adapting to the heat and humidity of the Amazon basin was the toughest part of the six weeks he spent at Brazil’s jungle warfare school from the end of September until mid-November.
“Once we got into the jungle, it was a whole other level of heat,” Miter said. “The triple canopy rain forest keeps the heat in and all around you. It creates a pressure cooker.”
Despite the heat, Miter became the fifth New York National Guard member to graduate from the course.
CIGS — the acronym for the school’s name in Portuguese, Centro de Instrução de Guerra na Selva — conducts the course for foreign military personnel in Manas, the capital of Brazil’s Amazonas state.
The Brazilians run a 10-week course for their own Soldiers.
New York Soldiers and Airmen have been attending the school since 2019 as part of the State Partnership Program relationship between Brazil’s military and the New York National Guard.
Army National Guard Sgt. William Dunn, a member of the 101st Expeditionary Signal Battalion, was to attend with Mitre but could not because of a medical issue.
To operate in the heat and humidity, the students from India, France, Spain, Portugal, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina, and two other Americans from the 7th Special Forces Group learned how to stay hydrated.
Miter said students begin the course with physical fitness tests and swimming in uniform with combat gear.
The next step is surviving in the jungle. The students learn what to eat and not eat and how to find drinkable water and shelter.
“They put us out in the woods for 48 hours on our own to survive without food and only the water that you bring with you,” he said.
“I don’t think anybody ate for the entirety of the survival event,” Miter recalled. “Luckily, it rained at the end.”
As a joint tactical air controller assigned to the 274th Air Support Operations Squadron, part of the 107th Attack Wing, Miter supports ground troops by calling air strikes.
Miter, 33, joined the New York Air National Guard in 2006 and served as a firefighter at the 109th Airlift Wing until becoming a JTAC in 2010.
He deployed to Syria in 2019 and to the Horn of Africa in 2021.
In civilian life, Miter is assigned to the Syracuse Fire Department’s Engine 3.
Miter was picked to attend the course because “he has the mental focus and physical strength” to succeed, said New York Air National Guard Command Chief Master Sgt. Denny Richardson.
Swimming is central to the training, Miter said. The students learned to use the rivers to move around. Using makeshift rafts, they would swim with their rucksacks full of equipment. They also learned how to use boats to infiltrate an area.
The round-the-clock training kept the 25 class members so tired that nobody had the energy to worry about the caiman — Brazil’s version of the alligator — or piranhas in the river, he said.
Students also learned how to navigate in the dense jungle using terrain association and practiced rappelling from helicopters.
Since most of the students were from special forces units, that was simply refresher training, Miter said.
Working with 25 soldiers from different countries who didn’t speak the same language was challenging, but they managed to find ways to communicate.
“The exchange of knowledge between us and Brazil was great. Plus working with soldiers from other countries you don’t normally work with was valuable,“ Miter said.
By Eric Durr, New York Air National Guard
You may remember the Multi-Use-Block which was developed by Special Forces Veterans to offer a versatile mount for various optical systems used for sniping and reconnaissance. This was expanded to include a common platform to emplacements optics and lasers on a common plane. While the company shares its name with the initial product they’ve come up with something new and quite useful for an even wider audience.
The Smoker is an inexpensive impact indicator for steel targets. Ingenious in its simplicity, the Smoker emits a puff of smoke each time the target is struck. It is requires no batteries and is gravity fed.
Attached to the rear of a target with Velcro it uses inexpensive, commercially powders like Baby powder, Talc Powder, Cornstarch & Talc mixtures.
DroneShield is pleased to advise it has teamed with xReality Group Ltd (ASX:XRG) (XRG) to provide eXtended Reality (XR) based counterdrone/C-UAS training solutions.
XR includes Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR). It combines physical and digital simulation across the enterprise, defence and consumer markets.
The XR category for military and law enforcement is growing rapidly with the market predicted to grow US$16bn in 2027
XRG’s subsidiary “Operator Tactical Solutions” develops immersive planning, rehearsal and training solutions for the military and law enforcement markets, across local and international markets. XRG is led by Wayne Jones, who prior to establishing XRG was a highly decorated Patrol Commander with the Special Air Service Regiment. Additional information about XRG can be found at xrgroup.com.au.
As part of the launch, XRG will be promoting the training solution at the I/ITSEC 2022 Exhibition in Orlando Florida, taking place November 28th – December 2nd. Additional information about the event can be found at www.iitsec.org.
A video showing some of the highlights of the XR-based counter-UAS solutions can be seen here:
DroneShield CEO, Oleg Vornik, commented: “As the counterdrone industry continues to rapidly grow and develop, evidenced by significant use of small drones by both side in the Ukraine war, there is an emergent need for counterdrone tactics and training packages for the system operators. As the global leader in the C-UAS sector, DroneShield is well placed to provide the training.
“We are excited to partner with XRG, who have deep experience in defence and law enforcement eXtended Reality training, and work in partnership with our customers to tailor design packages to meet their operational requirements.”
XRG CEO, Wayne Jones, added: “Today’s battlefield is evolving quickly making it difficult for front line defenders to be prepared for all situations. Operator’s solutions are enabling defence and law enforcement to rapidly train for these new situations in realistic, virtual environments. We are pleased to be able to add cutting-edge XR-based Counter Drone training programs to Operator’s product offering, in partnership with the C-UAS market leader, DroneShield.”
The Air Force recently replaced the four-day BEAST field exercise during Basic Military Training with a 36-hour experience. The old event was woefully inadequate to actually prepare a new Airman for a deployment, but it was designed around a FOB-centric deployment model.
The new reality the Air Force finds itself in is an environment of constant threats and movement, little rest, and high stress. So what does the Air Force do in light of this threat? They dumb down preparation for it. Not only that, but they’re proud of it.
Air Force leaders at all levels should be required to read the accounts of the opening days if the Korean War, the fate of ill-prepared Airmen in particular, and see the images of what happened to our troops when they were overwhelmed by North Koreans. Add in a bit of history on the attacks on sapper attacks on airfields in South East Asia.
Here’s the Air Force’s story about their new toy.
JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas (AFNS) —
Following a 16-year run, Basic Expeditionary Airman Skills Training, or BEAST, has come to an end.
With an eye toward the future fight, Air Force basic military training is implementing a revised training exercise – PACER FORGE – where Agile Combat Employment and the concept of multi-capable Airmen are the beating heart.
Primary Agile Combat Employment Range, Forward Operations Readiness Generation Exercise, or PACER FORGE, is a fast-paced, two-day scenario-based deployment that mirrors the Air Force’s force generation process and reinforces concepts introduced at BMT.
“The move toward PACER FORGE is not just a renaming or re-branding of BEAST,” said Col. Jeff Pixley, 737th Training Group commander. “This was a year-long effort to reimagine BEAST.”
BMT has had dedicated training days to instill the warrior mindset, initially called “Warrior Week,” since 1999. In 2004, that training was expanded and in 2006, the four-day BEAST exercise stood up and had largely remained unchanged, until now.
Pixley assumed command of BMT in 2021, and assessed that BEAST was more centered around just-in-time pre-deployment training which led to the re-engineering and birth of PACER FORGE.
“The creation of the PACER FORGE program is an opportunity for students to prepare for their roles as multi-capable Airmen and for instructors to hone their leadership skills to mentor the new generation,” he said.
PACER FORGE is executed in the sixth week of BMT. During a 36-hour window, military training instructors and trainees, will deploy to the former BEAST site where they will be organized into smaller dispersed teams. Here, they will be put to the test with scenarios that are built to provide flexibility, promote information seeking, teamwork, decision making and are results focused.
Pixley said the PACER FORGE curriculum is designed to enhance force packaging with teams tailored for mission generation, command and control, and base operating support functions to help meet the vision of the 2030 Enlisted Force Airman. It is also a change in that cadre are now in a mentorship and facilitation role, versus giving direction and instruction.
“The most important thing we do at BMT is plant the seeds of personal discipline, wingmanship, teamwork, and embrace our core values,” Pixley said. “This culminating event for BMT does just that while focused on the future fight. We are providing basic trainees with their first opportunity to put their teamwork, discipline, and problem-solving skills to the test in a scenario-based deployment that is physically demanding and based on real-world operations.”
Pixley added that trainees can put into practice the basic war fighting skills learned in earlier weeks of training. Skills such as tactical combat casualty care and weapons handling.
“Agile Combat Employment is about building foundational skills and problem-solving behaviors in an increasingly challenged threat environment to codify repeatable and understandable processes,” said Lt. Col. Jeff Parrish, 319th Training Squadron commander, whose squadron is responsible for the oversight of PACER FORGE.
He added that instructors also love that the new curriculum affords them the freedom of creativity to adjust and adapt in real-time based on trainee actions, skill level, and capability.
“What we are doing is making them [trainees] ready to join any team, to work well together, to solve tough problems, to be good wingmen and teammates, and to innovate,” Pixley said. “If we get it right, it will be the highlight of their BMT experience, despite only being 36-hours in length. Early feedback suggests we are absolutely on the right track.”
PACER FORGE is operational, but officials are purposely keeping the scenarios close to the vest, “We want it to be something trainees consider so important and formative that they don’t spoil it for those that follow,” Pixley stated. “This is not the end of an era but rather a symbolic change to develop capable and ready Airmen and Guardians … anytime, anywhere.”
Story by Joe Gangemi, 37th Training Wing Public Affairs
Photos by Thomas Coney
In this episode, Jamey Caldwell of 1 Minute Out discusses how to properly setup a carbine for both day and night use with NVG’s. Sergeant Major (r) Jamey Caldwell, spent more than 21 years in the United States Army, serving his entire career in Special Operations. SGM Caldwell served 7 years with the 75th Ranger Regiment then spent the following 14 years in a Special Missions Unit that maintained a high operational tempo in Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan, and numerous other countries in the world. He has deployed to combat 14 times and has conducted well over 500 missions. SGM Caldwell has been awarded three medals for valorous actions in combat while under direct fire from the enemy. During his career, SGM Caldwell has consistently dedicated himself to the success of the mission and put the unit’s goals in front of his own. He has been sought after for his leadership skills, planning, leading combat operations, marksmanship, and CQB instruction, culminating from years of adaptive thinking in combat situations.
