Matt in TN

I've had a few RO cancellations recently, so I need to find two more volunteers. You'll run/work Friday, and then work all day Saturday and Sunday. I can promise you that you'll work your butt off all three days, and have both frustrations and plenty of last-minute changes to deal with along the way But you'll also have one of the most rewarding experiences of your life - working with these guys really is a treasure. And you'll get a comped run slot, half-price hotel room, and lunch provided and delivered Saturday and Sunday. Preference given to anyone who has RO'd a RNG before. This is going to be a pretty complex match and I need experienced people who can move quickly for three days straight. If you haven't ROd a RNG before but would still like to help don't be shy - just let me know who you are and how you're qualified and we'll go from there. Email me at mstennett-at-twlakes-dot-net if you're interested.

I am amazed at people's kindness: Robert Hundley had to cancel, and instead of getting a $100 refund for the 10k he donated his slot to the next shooter on the waitlist "because this is for such a good cause". I've contacted that shooter and let him know - not only did he just get in, but he got in for free! I also told him he'd better bring plenty of cash for the side matches and other fund-raising goings-on to make up for his good fortune. And since I was in the registration data anyway, I had to pull some stats. We have 21 5th Group guys currently signed up out of 158 total competitors. And here's the other data summarized:

I am thrilled to award this donated slot to Spc Randall, CTRP “Shadow” 1-33CAV, 3BCT “Rakkasans “, 101ABN. He's going to go Tier One and run the event at his full Mortar fighting load weight. The perfect candidate!

Attn: any Active Duty personnel: Christopher Gillis of Southern Custom Guns signed up for the 10k and has a conflict. Instead of withdrawing and getting a full refund, he'd like to donate his spot to an Active Duty military person. Any branch is fine - the first one to contact me at mstennett@twlakes.net by timestamp gets it. And this is the honor system - if you claim to be AD military and you're not, it's between you and all of the SF personnel onsite who will likely want to talk with you about it. https://www.facebook.com/S.G.G.LLC/?hc_ref=ARQ8V_In7ErFHemaIYIoZ-w6MKnmOxXs_uedZUqdXVXRe_6Q8OkIJmF7gQBMKU5Q6Yw

More match DOPE! Ever shoot a clay that was launched by falling steel? With your pistol? Be prepared if you're running the 10k. #runwiththelegion #strengthandhonor #deoppressoliber Big thanks to WSRC Pistol and Multigun Competitions, @sig_glockincolt and @bilodeau13 for setting this up to show our shooters how it's done and that it's doable. @tacticalsht will be at the match representing our amazing sponsor pool. Better go train! See here to find out how to do it: https://youtu.be/DPf_tJn-E1g If you practice this, be sure you have a big enough backstop. Do NOT launch pistol rounds into the air willy-nilly. Also - shotshells in your pistol (or a shotgun) is ONLY allowed for Tier 1. 45 lbs just started looking better...

MTSC in Manchester has 3-gun this Sunday - come on out and join us!

Only a Green Beret can call out Lanny Oakley, JP Enterprises, Bryan Ray's "lacking pistol skills" and Chris Hemsworth! The Rockcastle Gun Show on ESPN Radio dedicated an entire hour yesterday to allow three active duty 5th Special Forces Group Green Berets to talk about the 2018 Legion 9/11 Memorial Run N Gun, presented by Alan's Arsenal and the Special Forces Association, Chapter 38. If you're coming to this match, you NEED to download and listen to this broadcast to hear what you have coming. And if you're not coming to this match, you need to listen anyway and find out why you need to come out to Rockcastle on Sept 7 - 9 to support the SFA, shoot some awesome side matches, and rub elbows with some very impressive people. http://rockcastlegunshow.libsyn.com/podcast/rockcastle-gun-show-81

I'm honored to announce Spike's Tactical has jumped on board again this year as a Stage Sponsor. And nothing is for sure until match day, but it sure sounds like we'll have a 37mm Havoc with chalk rounds to incorporate into the match. https://www.spikestactical.com/ SF makes the call in the end, but let's just pretend for a moment you had a grenade launcher you could use in a match. How would you do it???

I am thrilled to announce Alan's Arsenal LLC has just very generously joined on as the Title Sponsor! Please join me in welcoming them and thanking them for their support of the match and the Special Forces Association, Chapter 38. And be sure to check out their website and buy lots of cool gear from them to help pay them back - this is a VERY significant donation! http://alansarsenal.3dcartstores.com/

I am pleased to announce High Speed Gear has joined on as a sponsor - donating a Sure-Grip belt, riggers belt, triple double-decker taco shingle, and slick plate carrier to be raffled off to benefit SFA, Chapter 38. HSGI's Sure-Grip belt is the one I use, and is the only one I've found that holds up well to the heavy weight of all the .308 and .45ACP I carry. They make good stuff! https://www.highspeedgear.com/

Yeah, but with three TGO members, we can take over the world! And I know another one who signed up - so we're at four.

Awesome! Will you wear the Kool-Aid outfit for your run???

And we're open - go and get some!!! If it fills up before you get in, be sure to sign up anyway and get on the waitlist. You will not be charged until you move off the waitlist. We're holding several slots for active 5th Group guys that may very well be released to the public later.

Reminder: Registration opens in 24 hours - Saturday morning at 10:00 am Central Time! Keep in mind three things: 1. You now need an "account" with Practiscore to log in before you can register. It's free and simple, but it takes some time to do. Don't wait until 10am tomorrow to do it. 2. The match fee must be paid in full when you register. We had several people last year sign up and not show up - which kept several other people who really wanted in from coming. Paying up front in full should help that. The cancellation policy is set in stone and non-negotiable: Full refunds will be given if you withdraw more than 30 days before the match. Half your fee will be refunded if you withdraw between 14-29 days before the match. NO REFUND will be given if you withdraw less than 14 days before the match. 3. There are TWO SEPARATE MATCHES set up in Practiscore - one for the 5k and one for the 10k. Be sure to sign up for the correct match. Here's the link for the 5k: https://www.practiscore.com/5k-legion-9-11-memorial-run-n-gun-2018/register Here's the link for the 10k: https://www.practiscore.com/10k-legion-9-11-memorial-run-n-gun-2018/register

Saturday I practiced water crossings at the Rock, and I was glad my boots were tied tightly to my feet. I'm just sayin' -

Early registration invite just went out via email to all who participated in last year's match. Let me know if you were there last year and did NOT get an email just now. And if I catch anyone sharing or using the secret code improperly, I'm going to use you for the dummy drag BOTH days of the match!

Memorial Day is very fitting for this announcement: Registration will open at 10:00am (Central Time) on Saturday, June 9th, 2018. This will give you 90 days to train up once you KNOW you are in. History shows matches like this sell out quickly, so make plans to be near a computer June 9th at 10:00am Central Time. And the Group guys want to reward those of you who took a big chance on them last year with ZERO information by opening registration a week early to anyone who attended last year's Legion Match. Watch for an email either from me or from Practiscore - if you attended last year and DON'T get an email by next weekend please email me at mstennett@twlakes.net and I'll get you set up. In a funny twist - there's a good chance SF Recruiters will be there. Partly for my own selfish reasons, as recruiters can bring more toys off base for us to play with than normal SF guys. And partly for their own selfish reasons, as they are having trouble finding enough intelligent young fit guys to fill their roles. They said if they can run our COF that means they are fit, and if they can do it without shooting anybody they're smart. :-) I warned them their biggest problem will be all the 40 and 50 year olds they'll have to tell over and over again "I don't care how awesome you are, you are too old to begin the training!" As in March - there are TWO SEPARATE MATCHES for the 5k and 10k. Be sure you sign up for the right match. I also ask that you only sign up for ONE match in the first week or so to give everyone a chance to get in. If there are still slots open after the first week and you want to run BOTH the 5k and the 10k - go ahead and sign up then. Prepayment is required on registration. Here's the 5k link: https://www.practiscore.com/5k-legion-9-11-memoria…/register And here's the 10k link: https://www.practiscore.com/10k-legion-9-11-memori…/register

We're going to do things a little differently with this match, and will have three equipment classes to reflect the different ways guys in the Legion fight: “LIGHTFIGHTER”: carry whatever you want, but you are limited to one pistol and one rifle “OPERATOR”: you must wear body armor with plates installed (front and back at a minimum), and are still limited to one pistol and rifle “TIER ONE”: you must FINISH the race with a pack weighing at least 45 lbs (not including your main rifle and pistol) – but that pack may (and should) contain ANYTHING that can give you an advantage. The only limit is that pistol targets must be engaged with pistol rounds, and rifle targets must be engaged with rifle rounds. Want to carry a PCC? Be our guest. Think a scoped bolt gun or different upper in 6.5 Creedmore will give you an advantage? Go for it. You can even carry a shotgun to engage steel pistol targets if you want (birdshot only). Packs may be removed prior to shooting, as that is how 5th Group would generally do it as well – but this will be done on your run time and BEFORE any wait time starts. Green Berets are much more than just knuckle-dragging door kickers; they are well-known for their intelligence as well (just ask one how many languages he speaks, for example). TIER ONE represents a class that has the freedom to think creatively, plan ahead, and bring equipment that might help you in any way you'd like to beat all of the unknown challenges you might face. Take advantage of it, and let's see what you can come up with! I'll have an announcement very soon about registration. Stay tuned...

From one of my 5th Group counterparts. THIS is what it's all about: "This past Friday several of us experienced the honor of participating in funeral services for Major Donald Carr at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Maj. Carr is the embodiment of the American hero; a multi-tour Vietnam MAC-V SOG veteran who left behind country and family to free the oppressed. He went missing June 6, 1971 when the OV-10A Bronco he was riding in disappeared. To the family and his Recon Brothers: It was truly the greatest honor to be a part of bringing your father, grandfather, and friend home. Rest easy Major; we'll take it from here. DOL"

Full disclosure: the prize table will NOT be random draw for this match as I have done in the past. My 5th Group counterparts prefer to award prizes by order of finish. This makes a lot of sense for a match celebrating a group of folks for which "good enough" never is. However - the real prize really IS the match in this case. The time you spend testing yourself, experiencing just a taste of what the 5th Group guys actually do, and having the honor of both competing side by side with active duty SF and honoring their fallen heroes makes the baubles you might pull off prize table seem a little less significant. So if you want a prize off the table, you'd better start training now and show up with your A-game. But really, you should do that anyway. :-)

Ooooh - UML at MTSC? I'm afraid I'm out of town for this one, but you guys have fun!

Since I'm a freaking genius and forgot to put this in the first post, the Facebook Event page for this year's event is located at: https://www.facebook.com/events/201547557109879/?active_tab=discussion By far the best way to keep up with every detail discussed about this event is to visit that page and click "Interested" or "Going" - and you should be notified any time anyone posts anything new regarding the event. I will be also be reposting things I think are important in six other public forums (this is one!) for those who don't do Facebook.

So...I had a meeting with my 5th Group counterparts recently. I don't want to jinx anything, but I will say that if even half the stuff they already have in process comes through this will make "epic" look boring. What we do have nailed down is that the basic schedule will be identical to March: ROs run on Friday. 5k on Saturday with 5 shooting stages (same route and shooting locations as before). 10-ishk on Sunday with 7 shooting stages (new route and two new shooting locations still being nailed down). Should be plenty of side matches with VERY unique opportunities available to help raise funds for the Special Forces Association. More to come...

Dang - you guys had a Heavy Metal fest without me? That's what I get for missing...

For those who have shot my March matches or other Run N Guns - this match is a little different. I decided early on I can't "out badass" 5th Group, so I'm not even going to try. My March matches are simple fun events which test your skills and fitness level. The Legion match is a chance for civilians to actually experience a watered down version of what our 5th Group friends live every day, and is the closest we can get to "real world" in a safe competitive environment. For example - 5th Group rarely knows exactly what they're in for until they get there, so all stages will be shot completely "'blind" and there will be no stage details released before the match. 5th Group never quits, so you can't either. You must keep shooting until you either run out of ammo or the RO makes you stop. There is no "taking the penalty and moving on." It's not always clear who the good guys and bad guys are in the field, so you will be briefed on various intel items as part of the match and be expected to remember, analyze, and decide who and when to shoot and who not to shoot. On the clock. While you're exhausted. In other words, you must be able to perform physically. You must be able to shoot well. And you must be able to think and process information while doing both of the above. More info coming soon. Good luck!