bigbrowndog
Red Neck Tactical
Moving through staff we come to RO’s, with them we have the GOOD, the BAD, and the TEACHABLE.
RO’s can sustain a match or help bury it. Every year I get requests for RO help for the High Plains
Shotgun Challenge, and every year I have to refuse help simply on the grounds that I don’t know the
RO personally or know of anyone that can vouch for their personality or demeanor. These two traits
Are very important to a good RO, and in my opinion they are as important as knowing the rules.
A good RO is there to help the competitor safely and correctly navigate their way through a COF,
this may not be what IROA says but it is what I think is necessary for a good RO. They should not coach
on how to shoot the COF, simply read the stage brief and answer any questions, but do not give
elaborate answers, it is the competitors responsibility to know the rules as well. An RO should remind
competitors of certain peculiar aspects of a stage, such as “empty chamber starts means only this many
rounds in your gun†this type information should be included in the stage brief to ensure that all
squads receive the same information, it may sound silly for the open shooters to hear, but everyone
should get the same information. As a MD, if I am unsure of an RO’s ability or experience I will give
them an easy stage to run, one that should not require any opinionated calls for “STOPâ€. I firmly believe
one of the most frequent and hardest calls for a MD to address is an opinionated “STOP†of a shooter
by an RO. As an RO, it is this type of call that you should really think back on and reassess from all
viewpoints and know without any doubt that the call you made is correct. Any RO that boasts about
the number of shooters they have sent home, will have no place on my range, and if I can I will send
them home immediately. The RO needs to be very much like the MD/RM, they must be able to admit
when they may be mistaken or have made the wrong call, as a MD, I would much rather have my RO
admit a possible error, than have a competitor go away with a DQ for an opinionated call that was
questionable. The RO should also be able to look at the stage they will run as a gamer, if there is
something you do not understand in the course description then ask the MD/RM, do not interpret what
you think they meant. On the subject of gaming a stage, if someone asks youâ€what can’t we do†or
something to that affect, ask them what do they have in mind and if need be summon the MD/RM.
One of the worst replies an RO can give to a competitor regarding a shooters plan is “No, because no
one else has shot it that wayâ€. We’ll get more into this when we discuss stages. A MD needs to consider
the RO that they are assigning to run the stage, are they going to be able to keep up with all the
competitors all day long, will they need help calling long range rifle targets, do they possess any special
talents that will allow them to work a particular stage better than someone else. Lastly an RO needs to
allow a competitor the privilege of requesting a different RO to run them through the stage, for
whatever reason, and if it happens perhaps question themselves as to why it happened.
part 3 Practical stage design, to follow.....................thanks
RO’s can sustain a match or help bury it. Every year I get requests for RO help for the High Plains
Shotgun Challenge, and every year I have to refuse help simply on the grounds that I don’t know the
RO personally or know of anyone that can vouch for their personality or demeanor. These two traits
Are very important to a good RO, and in my opinion they are as important as knowing the rules.
A good RO is there to help the competitor safely and correctly navigate their way through a COF,
this may not be what IROA says but it is what I think is necessary for a good RO. They should not coach
on how to shoot the COF, simply read the stage brief and answer any questions, but do not give
elaborate answers, it is the competitors responsibility to know the rules as well. An RO should remind
competitors of certain peculiar aspects of a stage, such as “empty chamber starts means only this many
rounds in your gun†this type information should be included in the stage brief to ensure that all
squads receive the same information, it may sound silly for the open shooters to hear, but everyone
should get the same information. As a MD, if I am unsure of an RO’s ability or experience I will give
them an easy stage to run, one that should not require any opinionated calls for “STOPâ€. I firmly believe
one of the most frequent and hardest calls for a MD to address is an opinionated “STOP†of a shooter
by an RO. As an RO, it is this type of call that you should really think back on and reassess from all
viewpoints and know without any doubt that the call you made is correct. Any RO that boasts about
the number of shooters they have sent home, will have no place on my range, and if I can I will send
them home immediately. The RO needs to be very much like the MD/RM, they must be able to admit
when they may be mistaken or have made the wrong call, as a MD, I would much rather have my RO
admit a possible error, than have a competitor go away with a DQ for an opinionated call that was
questionable. The RO should also be able to look at the stage they will run as a gamer, if there is
something you do not understand in the course description then ask the MD/RM, do not interpret what
you think they meant. On the subject of gaming a stage, if someone asks youâ€what can’t we do†or
something to that affect, ask them what do they have in mind and if need be summon the MD/RM.
One of the worst replies an RO can give to a competitor regarding a shooters plan is “No, because no
one else has shot it that wayâ€. We’ll get more into this when we discuss stages. A MD needs to consider
the RO that they are assigning to run the stage, are they going to be able to keep up with all the
competitors all day long, will they need help calling long range rifle targets, do they possess any special
talents that will allow them to work a particular stage better than someone else. Lastly an RO needs to
allow a competitor the privilege of requesting a different RO to run them through the stage, for
whatever reason, and if it happens perhaps question themselves as to why it happened.
part 3 Practical stage design, to follow.....................thanks
