from Norm Olson, Commandant
Mud Creek Militia Training Facility
Near Black Lake Michigan

The Mud Creek Militia Training Facility near Black Lake will host guerrilla training September 22-23. Operations Officer Mark Price, together with a highly trained staff will instruct.

Training will begin on Friday at 1200hrs. Those arriving throughout the day, up until 1800hrs, will be fit into the ongoing schedule.

By1800hrs, the trainees will be divided into either land ops or water ops teams. The scenario is being planned but will unfold something like this:

At 1900hrs, a BLUE recon team will be discovered moving inside enemy territory, attempting to return to their base. They will attempt to avoid capture by floating the river approximately 1 mile with their gear. At some point along they will emerge from the river and attempt to return to camp, approx. 1 1/2 miles away, through heavy cover. At 2000hrs, the "enemy" RED forces will deploy a large team to find and "destroy" or take captive the BLUE team. (The objective will be to interrogate BLUE team members.) The RED team will be approximately three times larger than the BLUE team, but will be challenged by the BLUE Team's smaller size and ability to move quietly without being discovered.

All of this will be carried out in some very rugged terrain with many challenges and dangers. Players will be fully rigged for the operation.

RED Team forces are masters at ambush, trip wires and booby traps. They control the land along the river.

BLUE Team members are masters of stealth and "silent running" through the jungle, but must pass directly through the RED Team ground to reach their home base.

Who will win?

Trainees will be taught the following skills throughout the training event:

1. Counter ambush.
2. River ops. Water tight gear holder required, and face camo. (The Black River has given trainees a great lesson in moving/escaping via a waterway. The rivers in Northern Michigan are a challenge. Teams choosing to do the river operation may construct a floating platform for concealment of equipment and as a practical means of moving gear down river. As before, trainees are required to properly prepare themselves and their gear for this instruction.)
3. Wetlands ambush practice.
4. Close quarters self defense.
5. Night ops.
6. Night patrol.
7. Night vision demonstration.
8. Escape and evasion. (Day and Night)
9. Fighting positions and fox holes. (You get to dig it.)
10. Firing and reloading under high stress conditions.
11. Close quarter pistol course.
12. Hostage silhouette shoot off.
13. Shooting with gas mask on under stress conditions. (running, jumping, etc.)
14. Team road crossing.
15. Hand signals.
16. Use of spotting scopes.
17. Radio communication skills.
18. Close quarters pistol course by fire light.

There will be other small items that we will include in the training as time allows, and if you have areas that you feel you need training please feel free to e-mail Mark Price at the address below. Please make sure you have good high calorie snacks that you can carry with you on these ops, protective eye ware for night ops and face camo paint.

The Mud Creek Training Facility has a medical facility, mess, latrine, and plenty of excellent fresh drinking water.

NOTE: No .22 rifles please. Training on the rifle range will be with military weapons only. A rack of accurate Romanian SKS rifles will be available for those who do not already own a battle grade weapon.

Plenty of ammo will be on sale at very low prices. Trainees will be taught how to use stripper clips to reload the SKS rapidly.

For further info and directions, contact me or Col Price.

NOTE: You MUST have your combat gear to participate in the field operations. This includes AS A MINIMUM, BDUs, face paint, web gear, pistol belt, battle pack, flashlight, and any other equipment to make you field ready to fight.