Re-post from Javier at "One Gunts Opinion"

 The following is a re-post of a great artical written by Javier aka "Darkhorse" of "One Grunts Opinion"  https://www.facebook.com/OneGruntsOpinion

"Today's opinion is a little less controversial and a little more informative. I hope you enjoy and share it. It's how we get the good word out.

"So you want to start a team"

Before you can even begin to look at how to build a team, you need to ask yourself what kind of team you want. The definition of a team is as vast and open to interpretation as is the word Milsim itself. You've got your buddy teams, your casual big op teams and your hardcore big op teams. Within those three quick examples you have a hundred different shades and other types of teams. So, today we will look at building a national op team on the one grunt templet.

Now, within my templet you can choose how hardcore you want to take your team. I will say that it will take more dedication then just a group of buddies that decided they would come up with a team name. These teams may have fun but that shouldn't be it. They should have fun at the ops but, also be proud of their achievements. Winning isn't everything in the sport but you can't deny it feels that much better when you are. Let's get started with a foundation of the right kind of players.

Resist the urge of just getting your buddies together and saying, lets be a team guys. You have to assess the commitment and dedication of all the members of your team. My magic number is a minimum of 8 good guys ready to be on a national op team. You need to outline your teams goals, direction and expectations. Because if everyone isn't on board with these basic concepts of the team then you will quickly start to lose guys or have conflict. With everyone on board and a solid direction that you all agree on, it will make it easier when you recruit since guys will know what they are getting into.

Now that you have your solid core of guys ready to grow the team and are in agreement with your direction. It is time to build your SOPs( Standard Operating Procedures). You will need a gear/uniform SOP and a training/doctrine SOP. Uniformity is not just about looking good and matching. There are very real tactical purposes and psychological reasons for this. For your team having uniform gear helps break down the concept of an individual and solidifies the team concept. You are no longer alone out there and your team mates are counting on you to perform on the same level. The very tactical consideration for uniform/gear uniformity is an understanding that you know that everyone in the team has the minimums needed for the event. What you carry exactly will vary from team to team but everyone should carry the same minimums in the same place on their gear for easy access by any team member. On the flip side your organization and uniformity is its own psychological weapon. It can be an intimidating factor for the opposing team that is not as prepared.

One big consideration in your gear SOP, is what weapons platform your team is going to use. You need to keep it as close a possible, like keeping everyone or almost everyone on an M4 so you can share mags in a tough spot. Obviously, support gunners with SAWs will be an exception. Too often, teams are so mix matched in weapons that no one can share a mag in a fire fight. Some other minimums are to set a number of mags you expect carried, if and where everyone carries a first aid kit, how much water should be carried, a utility pouch of some kind with potentially mission specific items, and then there are coms. These are just some of the minimum gear considerations that you can build on for your team that should be carried close to if not in the same way by all members of your team. Remember, the exact details on what is needed must be tailored to your team but the fact that you should have minimum standards and uniform setup is a must for all teams.

You now have your team on the same page and they are equipped uniformly. You are going to need a team training/doctrine SOP. There's a hundred ways to clear a building, all kinds of schools of thought on weapons manipulation, and tons of text on how to wage warfare. It is time to decide how your team is going to do it and train on it for national ops. Individuals will always do things a little different but there has to be a foundation of training and how your going to fight that everyone knows. Since Airsoft and real combat are very different, I can't say just read the Ranger handbook cover to cover and make that your SOP. There is a vast amount of knowledge in that book that you can incorporate into your team specific training/doctrine SOP. Some of the nuts and bolts to consider are hand signals, breaching procedures, and special signaling techniques.

When it comes to training your team, many folks have practice and training confused. Practice is when you hit the local field and play against other teams. Training is working on skills in a classroom environment. Training can happen at home with a dry erase board or at the field working through drills. Teams underestimate the usefulness of just sitting down and talking through their techniques on the dry erase board. This visual representation and walk through gives you a stronger grasp for when you hit the field putting it in action. Drills and rehearsals are important also because they build the muscle memory that will take over in the heat of the op.

You now have a solid team of guys, your gear is uniformed, your tactics are on the same page, and everyone's training to the same standard. It's time to look at the details people forget and the details people rush to think about. Teams need funding of some kind to help pay for expenses. Unless you have a rich benefactor that funds you, then you will need to collect team dues. Team dues are critical to affording special team equipment like a large supply of smoke, helping pay for travel to expensive events, and buying extra gear for new members transitioning into the teams SOP requirements. You can not have few on the team paying extra to help fund the team. Everyone needs to put in their part to support the team, spreading out the cost.

Notice that I have yet to mention anything about a team name or patch. Before you can come up with those, you need something to name. Too often, it is where guys start when forming their teams. You need that foundation, the core that is what your team really is before you go naming it. Look at it this way, what's more valuable? A group of guys with a cool name and patch that can not perform in game or a group of organized and prepared players that kick ass, but, have no team name. If you want that ideal team of your dreams that can truly succeed in game play, then you need to rethink how you build a team. It has to be a ground up project that takes time and effort.

Training, organization, and goals need to come first. The team name, Facebook and YouTube can come later. "

Just one grunt's opinion
Javier "Darkhorse"

I hope that you enjoyed this as much as I did!

Padre' out...

 

  

Airsoft Action Photography

So in this installment of the Ikaika Warrior Blog, I'm going to ask the question:

"What makes a good Airsoft Action Photograph?"

So to start you need to ask yourself, Is there any way you can improve on what I do already? Most people will get home and dump the contents of their memory card onto Facebook or the web without even looking over the pictures first! At the very least you need to get rid of the blurred and out of focus images. 

So what’s expected in an Airsoft action shot? Being in that moment of time, catching the emotions, the rush of adrenaline, the fatigue, that moment of victory or defeat. Capturing a great image means using what’s there at the time – mud, snow, rain, dust, mist, smoke – to make your subject standout. The background is almost as important as the guy shouldering a great looking rifle and you need to fill your view finder with what’s important and cut out what’s not.  So when you look at your own work, be critical and work out what you need to change or try the next time. These observations will eventually become second nature BEFORE you press the shutter – that doesn’t mean that at some magical moment all your shots become perfect, but it does mean that you will have a greater choice of end results. And on the subject of greater choice, in the days of film photography, you really had to be carefully on your shots because first of all you didn't see the results until the film was developed and second to cost was prohibitive. Now you have a huge number of choices in digital photography, the megapixels rating of camera phones have started to reach the level to capture good quality so don't count them out either.

Composition is key! If you don’t know what the rule of thirds is – find out. As always, rules are made to be broken but you must learn the fundamentals first. Train your eye to recognize it in any composition and then you will understand when it could be broken – or shouldn’t be. Whenever shooting in close on someone shouldering a gun, personally, I always try to leave a lead out. What I mean by that is, if the guy is in the right of the image and aiming left; I always leave a piece of empty frame on the left as that’s the direction he’s shooting. 

 

Likewise if a player is standing where the light makes for a good portrait, whatever direction he/she is looking, I leave a space where they’re ‘looking into’ – It just makes for a better composition (in my eyes) 

This is something I feel we see too much in people’s photos online. There’s very little need for it and it’s definitely not suited for most action photos in Airsoft. That said, it can be used to give an awkward or imposing feeling intentionally, but this has to be used carefully and sparingly to give the right impact.

Now you have one of the D-SLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex - the kind that you change lenses on) or a digital camera that has both program and manual modes for action photography, try using Aperture Priority (AP) and Shutter Priority (SP). These modes will save you a lot of time and heartache. AP will allow you to set how much of the subject and scene you want in sharp focus whilst SP will allow you to creatively blur the action or freeze it depending on what you want to achieve in the individual image. The Exposure Compensation (EV) allows you to simply adjust the brightness/darkness of the shot whilst using these shooting modes There are a lot of creative controls on these types of cameras, so take the time to learn what they do and use them to your advantage.

As for editing – this is purely down to personal preference. When it comes to Software, there are some powerful editing suites available. They can look complicated and slightly daunting but everything is easy once you get your head around them. There are lots of tutorials available for most suites on-line, so learning is not going to be difficult with a little bit of time and patience.  I personally use Picasa for most of my editing, it is free to download and use and it includes all the basic fixes, such as cropping, straightening and color fixes. http://picasa.google.com. Ultimately the mood in a photograph can be as easy as playing about with the colors. The people in the shots know it was a freezing day but what about those who weren’t there? Try colored filters over your images to set the mood, cold days with a blue hue and warm with a light orange (but not to the point where everyone looks like they’ve had a bad spray tan!) 

At the end of the day, anyone can buy a camera, learn photography techniques and get the shots perfectly exposed, but it takes a bit more time and dedication to learn to ‘see’ the photo before it’s taken. Photography isn’t about the make, model or value of the camera, it’s about the eye behind the view finder, being one step ahead of the action and being smart when it comes to editing.

Padre' out...

 

  

Just for the fun of it....

This is one of the big guns, a 12 pounder, that we saw at the Pea Ridge Battleground in Arkansas 

Padre' out...

 

  

Small team, What is the best size?

 

Small airsoft teams can work very well, but it is important to remember priorities and what is essential. 

Steps:

Don't over-complicate. It is often the first instinct of a new team to start assigning roles like sniper, recon, special ops, point man, support gunner, designated marksman, communications expert, etc. However, this is not always the most effective way to set up a team as a persons desires might not effectively match up with their equipment or skills or the needs of the team at that moment.

Don't simplify too much. You need to have some sort of a plan in place of how you will work together. Having a team with no organization means that the team will likely fall apart once the fighting breaks out.

Set up a small team with two main elements. That way, tactics such as leapfrogging, flanking, etc. can be used effectively. With only one group, the leader will have to designate certain players to do a certain thing each time he wants to employ a tactic. This would take up too much time during a firefight. With more than two teams, each unit will be too small to be effective. Only two elements or squads are needed for most basic tactics.

The two elements or squads should be approximately equal in terms of the players' skill and weapons. Each should have one leader. All team members should ideally be equipped with radios. Out of the squad leaders, one is also the team leader. Having said that, I am a firm believer in cross training so that if the squad or team leader is taken out at any point during the game that the two units can continue to work in their absence.

Everyone on a four to six man elements or squads should be at least a rifleman. While desirable it is not always a need for more advanced roles. As your team developers, you can and should start to bring on the more advanced positions.

Instead of having one man do scout or recon work, the entire squard should move. Recon elements are only necessary for large teams that would be potentially much louder moving.

Support gunners are not always necessary. While this position is good at larger events, two or three rifleman can be equally if not more effective in "forcing the enemy to keep thier heads down" by effectively staggering their fire. When one squad is giving suppressing fire, ideally the other squad should be moving to a more favorable position.

With so few players, any "sniper" should stay with the squad until needed to set up in key positions or to take out objectives. Designated marksman are also not necessary but are useful with such a small team. Once a rifleman cannot make a shot, he can simply tell another who is capable to do so.

Pros:

With a smaller team (8 - 12 players) made up of two elements or squads it is much more likely that you learn each others skills and abilities. You will also be more likely to move unseen in the field

Cons:

There is a greater likelihood that with a smaller team that if one or two of your players are unable to make a game that your overall team would suffer from losing key positions.

Tips:

When a skirmish does not go well, the team should ask themselves what went wrong. This could be from lack of training in tactics, teamwork, marksmanship, or not having the proper weapons or equipment.

Make sure that everyone in the squad is familiar with the tactics that the team leader plans to use. If there are any instructional material that the team leader learned the tactics from, the entire team should watch or read them.

Have practices to work on the skills listed in the point above. Work on marksmanship by having competitions between team members. Practice employing tactics while firing on some targets.

Make sure that you never loose sight of the fact that this is a game and we are out there to have fun..

Padre' out...

 

  

Airsoft equiptment 101

Airsoft gear - you're going to need sooner or later. More then likely sooner....

In this installment of the Warrior Blog I am going to discuss a few items that you're eventually going to need as you become more involved in the sport of airsoft.

Tactical load bearing vest or Chest Rig: Not required to play right off the bat, but as you add more and more to your collection of Airsoft stuff, you'll need the vest to help you store and carry all that stuff. Stuff like extra mags, two-way radio (aka "Comms"), maybe a stash of extra BBs or even some tactical snacks while you're out in the field. And perhaps one of the most important items you'll need to have readily available on your person during a game is easy access to water for staying hydrated. Getting dehydrated during a game is not only stupid, but downright dangerous. Not to mention extremely selfish. People can actually die from dehydration. And that puts a damper on everyone's day, which in effect, makes it a selfish act to literally die on the Airsoft field from not taking the proper precautions and maintaining your body to allow it to function like a champ on game day. Don't be that guy.

Red Dead Rag:  These are required at most fields to identify the "dead man walking" and should be used as soon as you are "hit". When you are hit you should raise your hand and/or gun up in the air to signal your opponent(s) that you have been hit and and put you "dead rag" on the barrel of you gun or hold it up in the air so that it can be clearly seen as you exit the field. I keep my dead rag in one of my front pouches and have Velcro sewn to the middle of the rag so that I can attach it to my helmet or hat. Sometimes I've been shot while walking out because my red rag wasn't visible to the shooter for one reason or another but it happens. I wouldn't say they are necessary to play, although some fields may require them so check that out before showing up to play for the first time, however, red rags can be effective and useful when used properly in conjunction with walking off the field with your gun pointed up in the air or something else to signal others that you've been hit. 


Extra magazines: You can get away without extra mags if you have a high-cap mag that came with your rifle, and there's always a decent chance someone at the field will have a spare or two that you could borrow, but at some point, you're going to need at least one extra mag of your own. I don't recommend being a charity case every time you go out the field.  I would also recommend that you work towards getting several high quality mid-cap magazines. First of all it forces you to become a better player because you have to pick your shots (no spray and pray) and second because later as you become more active in the sport, you will probably want to attend  mil-sim games that will limit or exclude the use of high- cap magazines.

Boots. Not an ABSOLUTE necessity, but if you're running around a field where it's basically just raw land or has a lot of treacherous and uneven footing, the next few weeks of your life could be ruined by a severely rolled and/or broken ankle. I use the same boots that are issued currently to our military, but any high top good quality boot will work. Again this is an area that you don't want to get cheep because in the end the phrase "you get what you pay for" really applies.

Padre' out...