moving, but once he started training the girls, Adrian realized that he needed to devote his full attention to that effort. They were quick learners, but they had to be taught everything from the very beginning. They were too young to have any experience that could be built on.
He began by matching each of them up with a rifle they could handle. He was fortunate that several of the available guns were lightweight, twenty-two caliber rifles—easy to carry, and with no recoil, they were ideal for the smaller girls. The ammo was generally available, which made them popular for hunting small game; but in the hands of a good shot, even a twenty-two was a deadly weapon.
When each girl had her own rifle, he taught them all how to maintain them—take them apart, clean them, and put them back together again. During all this time, he was teaching, mostly by example, gun safety. He told them the rules over and over, corrected them when they erred, and then did it all over again. He obsessively drilled them on gun safety, stressing it to the point that the girls were ready to scream. He made it so repetitious that some of the girls were reciting the rules in their sleep. Adrian turned gun safety into a religion among the girls; he built it into every single lesson, whenever guns were involved.
Good thing about teaching children, they don’t have to unlearn as many bad habits and their young minds absorb readily.
When the girls had become used to carrying their rifles everywhere they went, treating them safely, and cleaning them every night, only then did he begin teaching them to shoot. He took them through all the basics of shooting, the various positions, and which positions were best for each situation. He taught them how to control their breathing, how to relax the major muscle groups and to rely on the skeletal bones to support the rifle, not muscles. He taught them how to aim, how to pick out specific small target points to aim at, and what a proper sight picture looked like. Then he taught them how to gently squeeze the trigger until the firing pin dropped. Up to this point they had been training without ammunition—except for some of the older girls when on guard duty, girls who had proven they already knew how to shoot, and how to act safely.
Before the girls got to the part where they actually shot live ammunition Adrian was confident in their ability to act appropriately—and he was proven right, they were flawless in their safety. They also quickly learned to place their bullets on target. Two of the girls he discovered were nearsighted. There were no glasses, so he changed their rifles out for pistols and taught them to shoot at the limits of their vision.
When they were all proficient he gathered them together and said, “You’ve all done very well, and are great target-shooters, but being a good shot goes to hell when someone is shooting back. Your heart races, adrenaline surges and your fine motor skills go out the window. So I’m going to teach you to shoot under stress. Be advised, this will not be pleasant.”
Adrian then set Race up to shoot at a target. “No matter what happens, you are to remain focused on shooting. Control your breathing, make sure of your sight picture, align the sights, and gently squeeze the trigger…just like you’ve been taught. Ready? Go ahead and start shooting and keep your focus.”
Race got into the prone position, and just as she started squeezing the trigger Adrian began slapping her on the butt with a piece of brush and screaming at the top of his voice. Race was so startled that she jerked the trigger, completely missing the target and turned her head to look at Adrian in surprise. Adrian shouted at her “Keep shooting! Don’t look away from the enemy, don’t look at me! Keep shooting.”
When Race had emptied her rifle she had hit the target only once, and that marginally.
Adrian told the other girls, “That’s what happens under stress,” Adrian said, both
He began by matching each of them up with a rifle they could handle. He was fortunate that several of the available guns were lightweight, twenty-two caliber rifles—easy to carry, and with no recoil, they were ideal for the smaller girls. The ammo was generally available, which made them popular for hunting small game; but in the hands of a good shot, even a twenty-two was a deadly weapon.
When each girl had her own rifle, he taught them all how to maintain them—take them apart, clean them, and put them back together again. During all this time, he was teaching, mostly by example, gun safety. He told them the rules over and over, corrected them when they erred, and then did it all over again. He obsessively drilled them on gun safety, stressing it to the point that the girls were ready to scream. He made it so repetitious that some of the girls were reciting the rules in their sleep. Adrian turned gun safety into a religion among the girls; he built it into every single lesson, whenever guns were involved.
Good thing about teaching children, they don’t have to unlearn as many bad habits and their young minds absorb readily.
When the girls had become used to carrying their rifles everywhere they went, treating them safely, and cleaning them every night, only then did he begin teaching them to shoot. He took them through all the basics of shooting, the various positions, and which positions were best for each situation. He taught them how to control their breathing, how to relax the major muscle groups and to rely on the skeletal bones to support the rifle, not muscles. He taught them how to aim, how to pick out specific small target points to aim at, and what a proper sight picture looked like. Then he taught them how to gently squeeze the trigger until the firing pin dropped. Up to this point they had been training without ammunition—except for some of the older girls when on guard duty, girls who had proven they already knew how to shoot, and how to act safely.
Before the girls got to the part where they actually shot live ammunition Adrian was confident in their ability to act appropriately—and he was proven right, they were flawless in their safety. They also quickly learned to place their bullets on target. Two of the girls he discovered were nearsighted. There were no glasses, so he changed their rifles out for pistols and taught them to shoot at the limits of their vision.
When they were all proficient he gathered them together and said, “You’ve all done very well, and are great target-shooters, but being a good shot goes to hell when someone is shooting back. Your heart races, adrenaline surges and your fine motor skills go out the window. So I’m going to teach you to shoot under stress. Be advised, this will not be pleasant.”
Adrian then set Race up to shoot at a target. “No matter what happens, you are to remain focused on shooting. Control your breathing, make sure of your sight picture, align the sights, and gently squeeze the trigger…just like you’ve been taught. Ready? Go ahead and start shooting and keep your focus.”
Race got into the prone position, and just as she started squeezing the trigger Adrian began slapping her on the butt with a piece of brush and screaming at the top of his voice. Race was so startled that she jerked the trigger, completely missing the target and turned her head to look at Adrian in surprise. Adrian shouted at her “Keep shooting! Don’t look away from the enemy, don’t look at me! Keep shooting.”
When Race had emptied her rifle she had hit the target only once, and that marginally.
Adrian told the other girls, “That’s what happens under stress,” Adrian said, both
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