Summary:

MAJ Luke Gosnell and MSG Michael Bass, both stationed at Wright-Patterson AFB, OH participated in the 3rd Annual “Lonely is the Night 2-Gun match over Memorial Day weekend at Rockcastle Shooting Center, located in between Ft. Knox and Ft. Campbell. While handgun malfunctions devastated Luke’s performance, it did however provide an outstanding training opportunity to correct issues and get back into the fight in the darkness. Equipment, physical conditions, and mindset play critical roles in action shooting as they do in combat; however it is not too often this type of training can be conducted in the total darkness where seeing fast is difficult. It is safe to say everyone will know what fine tuning to do prior to the next night match. Lightening and heavy rain delayed the start of the match causing it to wrap up at 0400 before trophies were given out by the match director CJ Smith (7th for Gosnell & 16th for Bass) and random prizes from the companies such as Anderson Manufacturing, Vortex Optics, Hexmag, and C&C Firearms, among others who sponsored the event this year.

Training Impact:

Scanning and discrimination of targets under the pressures of competition in limited visibility translate into real-world practical combat training. Within the action shooting sports there are various gun-handling skills woven into scenarios such as shooting on the move, reloading, weak-hand/strong-hand shooting, transition from one shooting position to another, engaging threat targets from cover.