Jump to content
Brian Enos's Forums... Maku mozo!

My observations as an RO at the 2017 Iron Sight Nationals


CHA-LEE

Recommended Posts

I wanted to compile some of my observations as an RO on Stage 9 at the 2017 Iron Sight Nationals. This is the good, bad, and ugly of what I experienced working for the weekend shooters…..

 

1 – The magnitude of planning effort that went into this match to allow it to run smoothly was not unnoticed. From my perspective, every variable associated with running our stage effectively was accounted for with very little effort needed on our part. This could be as simple as a well stocked stage box (Pasters, Tape, Staples, rule book, etc) to having all of the hard cover targets ready to go so all we had to do was staple them up. If we needed it to run our stage, it was already there before we needed it which was awesome.

 

2 – The range masters job is one of endless patience in undesirable circumstances. We had several “RM Calls” though the 3 days I worked the stage and Evans Kuo was always there to handle the situation promptly and professionally. Evans ability to tactfully handle these scenarios while shooters were acting like tantrum throwing 2 year olds was impressive to watch. There were a few instances where I was all out of patience for the shooters antics and I was thankful of having Evans there to handle the situation.

 

3 – Only a handful of shooters acted like children when things didn’t go their way. A few of these shooters were way out of line in how they handled certain scoring or penalty calls. I understand that people get worked up when things do go as expected. But there is a certain point where you just look like a blabbering idiot. Man up and own your actions like an adult.

 

4 – It’s interesting how a squad will either disengage from the situation or support a shooter when something bad happens. I can understand how people would disengage from a bad situation they are not directly involved in. But I don’t get the “mob mentality” of a squad trying to support a shooter they all know broke the rules but hope that a group effort in opposing the RO’s call will change the verdict.

 

5 – I thought it was awesome that they played the National Anthem every morning before the match started. I think more of that should happen at matches as our freedom to own firearms and participate in the shooting sports is founded on the rights afforded us as Americans. We should celebrate that honor more often.  AMERICA!!!

 

6 – Sportsmanship is alive and well with what I seen during the match. Direct competitors were regularly offering help to one another so they all had an opportunity to perform their best. This sportsmanship is one thing that I really like about this sport. We are all there to truly do our best and test our skills against our competition when they are performing their best.

 

7 – Long days at the range working a stage don’t feel so long when you are surrounded by friends. I was able to see many of my old friends again and also make some new ones. It’s cool to be surrounded by friends all day and see them have fun on my stage.

 

8 – Stage 9 was a super dusty one. The dust was horrible to work in for 3 days, but our crew embraced the suck and got it done. An interesting trend that I noticed was that the more dust that was generated during a stage run, the better the stage run usually was from a hit factor perspective. Most of the airborne dust was caused by the scampering footwork through the stage. The stage winning or close to stage winning runs resulted in some crazy dusty conditions. So basically, if it looked like a full on dust storm after your run, you were usually doing great.

 

9 – Amazingly there were not many wall or port hits. I thought for sure that the edges of the walls and ports were going to get shredded with hits because most of the shooting positions forced shooters to engage targets right on the edge of a wall leg or port. I think the trick to this magic was that nearly all of the targets engaged close to wall legs or ports were partial targets. This forced shooters to use their sights and ensure their hits verses blasting in the general direction of the target. This is some mind blowing reverse psychology that I will be using for my matches in the future.

 

10 – The RO’s on our stage cycled through the Timer, Scoring, and Taping duties every squad. We busted our hump in taping targets just as much as the competitors and it really helped move our stage along. The few times the squads got lazy in taping targets the whip was cracked and everyone snapped into shape. For the majority of the squads they worked hard to get the stage reset in a timely manner. Hopefully some career Nationals RO’s will take these taping comment seriously and do some taping to help their stage run more smoothly in the future. Standing next to a target that needs taped and yelling at the squad to tape it wastes more time than simply taping it yourself and moving along to the next shooter.  

 

11 - It was a lot of work ROing the weekend schedule, but it was worth it to me. More people need to step up to the challenge in helping matches happen, not just the nationals. Hopefully people can look at me and see that working a match and also shooting it can both be successful endeavors. If you are only a "Consumer" at the matches you are attending, then you are doing it wrong. Matches can't happen without the dedicated volunteer efforts from many. Step up to the challenge and help make the match happen in whatever capacity you can.       

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree (mostly) with Charlie on this match. I worked the whole match because Ken asked to have the CROs cover the entire match for consistency. I had 2 different crews for each match. I got the help of a person who had an issue that got him DQ'ed and he jumped in and helped run the match! Now that's sportsmanship! Our stage had the privilege of being covered  by Carl Schmidt. The match was set up with multiple RMs so it was faster to get on the radio for a scoring call than to pull the target. The squads were good about helping for the most part. I would keep some pasters in my pocket just in case someone ran out or a target just needed taping. It was funny that on one squad, the last guy off the stage ran out and went back to get some more. He came flying past me to tape the target that I was heading for while apologizing profusely.

For the most part, the shooters were very well mannered.  Our stage was a real shooting challenge and quite a few people had their issues but tantrums were pretty much absent.

 

It was a good experience and working with Ken is always cool. Now, will I do another 6-day match? dunno. ;)

 

Later,

Chuck

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, CHA-LEE said:

10 – The RO’s on our stage cycled through the Timer, Scoring, and Taping duties every squad. We busted our hump in taping targets just as much as the competitors and it really helped move our stage along. The few times the squads got lazy in taping targets the whip was cracked and everyone snapped into shape. For the majority of the squads they worked hard to get the stage reset in a timely manner. Hopefully some career Nationals RO’s will take these taping comment seriously and do some taping to help their stage run more smoothly in the future. Standing next to a target that needs taped and yelling at the squad to tape it wastes more time than simply taping it yourself and moving along to the next shooter.  

 

11 - It was a lot of work ROing the weekend schedule, but it was worth it to me. More people need to step up to the challenge in helping matches happen, not just the nationals. Hopefully people can look at me and see that working a match and also shooting it can both be successful endeavors. If you are only a "Consumer" at the matches you are attending, then you are doing it wrong. Matches can't happen without the dedicated volunteer efforts from many. Step up to the challenge and help make the match happen in whatever capacity you can.       

 

 

Definitely both of these Charlie, point 10 also applies to painting steel. Taping a target or two or painting a popper while you do your course check on the way back before the next competitor isn't the end of the world as a stage RO.

I worked stage 5 over the weekend not only because I'm a glutton for punishment, but because I really believe that it's possible to be a firm, friendly, and fair RO while still moving a stage along in a timely manner. 

 

I REALLY appreciated the slack that Ken built into the daily schedule between squads. Looking back I realize that the 45 minutes/squad gave stage staff the double rainbow of getting ahead of schedule where possible AND the room to account for the random stuff that can go sideways. I've worked major matches where it was a non-stop sprint from first light to after dark, and it was MUCH easier to remain mentally focused for each competitor on each squad over three full days at nationals. 

 

In any case, I hope that I was able to provide a positive experience for those squads I ran the timer over the weekend. If you want me to be less fun, let me know. ;) 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good points as usual Charlie. After seeing how your stage was going, I felt bad for calling you a noob to dust in another thread a few weeks back. Your stage was every bit as dusty as burning man or a desert motorcycle race. Thanks for your hard work and positive attitude. I always know when I see you working a stage that it's going to be run professionally and I'll have fun.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello Charlie,

 

Thank you for RO'ing Nationals!  You and your group on stage 9 did an excellent job.  Those are great observations to point out as well. I've been in this sport for over 5 years now and have been considering helping out for a major match or two next season. 

 

One quick question:  Did you feel RO'ing hindered your match performance at all?  I have a lot of work to go in this sport and don't wanna go backwards in my progress.  Just curious what your thoughts are for a newbie like myself. 

 

Thanks Dude!!

 

brett

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, SixChickens said:

one quick question:  Did you feel RO'ing hindered your match performance at all?  I have a lot of work to go in this sport and don't wanna go backwards in my progress.  Just curious what your thoughts are for a newbie like myself. 

 

 

i'm not charlie, but I also worked the match. This is the 4th nats I've worked and the 3rd I've shot. In a typical major, the staff shoots first, and usually on a more compressed schedule (1 day instead of 2, or 2 days instead of 3), and they also have to RO and keep score for the staff match just like a local. That definitely affects your match. In the back-to-back format, not so much. The guys working the 2nd half of the match didn't really have to worry about it while shooting the first half. They were just competitors. Likewise, mrs moto and I worked the first half, and then were able to switch to competitor mode and do nothing but shoot the 2nd half. I don't feel like it hurt me at all. What did hurt me was buying a new gun and switching divisions 5 weeks before the match, but it was either that or shoot L10, and I do have some dignity, after all.

 

In general, I try to always work my section match and area match, (and nationals when i can drive to it), and I accept that my performance might be slightly less sometimes, and I go to other matches as a consumer, and enjoy the extra time to focus. Even tho I may not *shoot* as well when working an area match, I definitely think I *learn* more by doing nothing except shooting stuff for 5 days. After I've shot, RO-ing and observing shooters is very motivating for me, and I always come home ready to practice hard on the new things I've learned.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, SixChickens said:

Hello Charlie,

 

Thank you for RO'ing Nationals!  You and your group on stage 9 did an excellent job.  Those are great observations to point out as well. I've been in this sport for over 5 years now and have been considering helping out for a major match or two next season. 

 

One quick question:  Did you feel RO'ing hindered your match performance at all?  I have a lot of work to go in this sport and don't wanna go backwards in my progress.  Just curious what your thoughts are for a newbie like myself. 

 

Thanks Dude!!

 

brett

 

For this match, working it didn't affect my shooting performance because I shot the early schedule and worked the late schedule. If I would have worked the early schedule and shot the late it may have affected my shooting performance due to being tired or simply being over going to the range for a week straight. The nationals is an abnormal major to work/shoot because they usually have enough staff to have dedicated stage RO's on both schedules. For smaller major matches when you usually shoot on the "early" schedule with the rest of the staff so you are usually also tasked with ROing your squad while trying to shoot the match as well. A lot of times you are also forced into shooting the whole match in one day verses breaking it up over multiple days. Playing double duty in this scenario does have a negative impact to your shooting performance simply because it wears you out faster and you have less time to focus 100% on your own shooting.

 

One added benefit of working matches is that it tests your rules knowledge and exposes you to scoring or ruling scenarios you may not otherwise experience. Knowing how the rules apply to your game and how they are deployed correctly are a significant advantage when you run into a scenario where an overzealous RO isn't following the rules or trying to deploy rules in an invalid fashion. My knowledge of the rules, through working matches, has saved my ass on several occasions when RO's were trying to make stuff up or penalize me unjustly.

 

In the end, we would all like to sit back and attend a match as a consumer only. But the reality is that our sport isn't big enough and the entry fee's are not high enough to produce matches run by 100% paid match staff which would allow all the competitors to only shoot. If we all pitch in where we can to help make it happen then it dramatically reduces the overall workload for everyone. For example, when I got to the Nationals on Monday morning to walk the stages I asked the MD if he needed any help with anything. He said that they needed to put 2 extra nails in all of the steel poppers. My buddy Price and I grabbed a couple of hammers and a box of nails then proceeded to nail in 50+ poppers across most of the stages. Is hammering nails until your arm fells like jello something fun to do? Hell No. But it was a task that needed to get done so we embraced the suck and got it done. People willing to step up and get things done like that is exactly what our sport needs to help make matches happen. As I said before, if you are currently not doing anything to help make matches happen then you are doing it wrong. And I am not talking about taping targets, setting steel or picking brass.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Gents,

 

Thanks for the insight. I took the basic two day RO course two years ago. It's time for me to step up and give back.  I'm gonna start with a level two Sectional or something of that size. Everything you guys pointed out may be just what I need to make it to the next level. I just don't wanna get to sucked into that side and then my shooting starts to go backwards. I've met some great RO's that are exceptionally knowledgeable about the rules and the game itself, but their shooting could use a bunch of work!  

 

Thanks again for for your feedback!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What would you personally do differently, and I mean during your time working not as a competitor?  And what did you see someone else do, again a worker and you can keep it anonymous, that you wish would have been done differently?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Personally I wouldn’t have done anything differently while working it. Would it have been more pleasant to work a stage that wasn’t a dust bowl? Absolutely. But that really wasn’t a big deal or pain in the ass to work. 

 

The only thing that I thought could have been run better in a different way was to not split the squads between the “A” and “B” versions of the small stages which were on different berms. I am not sure why they did that verses running the whole squad through the first one then again through the second. Doing it that way would have taken the same amount of time and dramatically reduced the confusion and RO whining about stages not getting reset quickly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Char-Le we did thee same thing at Free State this year ,first squad thru we split in half .The RM watched the progress and after that we had one squad for each stage.

In my opinion it worked better squad on each stage even though we were sharing  a bay.

Ron

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 10/6/2017 at 3:49 PM, CHA-LEE said:

The only thing that I thought could have been run better in a different way was to not split the squads between the “A” and “B” versions of the small stages which were on different berms. I am not sure why they did that verses running the whole squad through the first one then again through the second. Doing it that way would have taken the same amount of time and dramatically reduced the confusion and RO whining about stages not getting reset quickly.

 

I thought it worked pretty well on 14a and 14b, but we RO's taped all the paper targets and only asked for 1-2 shooters to reset steel, and sometimes we jumped in and did that too if there weren't enough folks. We did the math in advance and figured splitting the squad would give us the bare minimum to reset, but they were easy stages for RO's so we figured we might as well do something constructive to keep the match moving and stay warm. When I shot the 2nd half, it also worked well for our squad, but we had a pretty hard-working squad that was paying attention. I can see some potential for distractions under certain conditions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ken will have to tell us why he did the A/B thing but it seemed he wanted to fit 2 stages into one time slot. We (stage 3) split the squads in half and gave a brief and walkthrough to each mini-squad. We were able to finish the entire squad in less than the time slot (55 min) every time. It worked pretty well ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...