Everybody knows SF guys are badass. What most people DON’T realize is how intelligent they are, and how much time they spend working on ways to improve their brainpower and solve really complex problems under stress. Did you know every single one of them speaks at least one foreign language (many of them speak FIVE!)? How many languages do YOU speak?
To help showcase this better, for the first time ever we’re working with 5SFG(A)'s Cognitive Performance Specialist to help us give competitors just a TASTE of things like this 5th Group does. That means we are really stepping up the mind games this year with his help! In addition to working on your running and shooting, you just might want to pump up that 3lbs of jelly between your ears too.
To put your mind at ease: we are not testing any esoteric technical and/or language knowledge. You don’t have to KNOW anything - but you do have to be able to observe things and think well under pressure (and while you’re exhausted).
I am pleased to share that Tomahawk Strategic Solutions is returning this year as a Stage Sponsor.
Tomahawk creates programs to better prepare your organization for evolving threats and emergency situations. Tomahawk personnel include Special Operations Forces (SOF) operators, corporate security experts, SWAT/ESU/Patrol officers (retired and active) hand-selected for their specialized skills and experience, and medical professionals.
Check them out at: https://tomahawkstrategicsolutions.com/
I am excited to welcome Nocturnality Night Vision Devices to the fold as an Obstacle Sponsor. Nocturnality is donating a White Phosphor PVS14 ($3,699 retail value) for us to raffle off at the match! Must be present to win - and the raffle will be drawn at the awards ceremony for the Team Night Match.
We still have a few slots left for the night match. Register here: https://practiscore.com/team-night-match-legion-memorial-run-n-gun-2023/register
You don’t have to be a night competitor to win, but you DO have to stay up all night and physically be at the night awards ceremony. Oh yeah - and have the winning ticket. How bad do you want it???
Check out Nocturnality for all your night vision and training needs at: https://www.nocturnalitygear.com/
Innovative Targets has helped us with this match since the beginning, and I’m excited to announce Jason Agee has increased his support this year to the biggest level yet - supplying $2,400 in targetry to help us make the match flow better and do everything we can to minimize wait times while still providing interesting and challenging target presentations.
Definitely check out https://innovativetargets.net/ for any steel target needs you have!
I don’t normally like hidden target stages in a match, but this is such a real world skill Green Berets use we can’t ignore it. The honoree for this stage is Billy Waugh, who spent most of his career finding and eliminating targets over a span of several decades - from Vietnam all the way to deploying to Afghanistan at the age of 71 (and further!). We lost Billy in April of this year at the age of 94. Read more about him here, or from MANY different books that tell about just parts of his amazing life: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Waugh
In this stage: Find and eliminate targets. As in the real world, some targets will be obvious and easy to see/hit. Some will be much more difficult. Use all your tools to figure it out.
I am happy to report Glockstore Nashville has signed on as a Vendor Level Sponsor and is not only bringing $2,000 worth of product for the prize tables, but also one of their trainers to compete for them!
If you have a Glock (or if you NEED a Glock!) and are anywhere near Nashville, you need to get to Glockstore!
https://www.glockstore.com/gsntn.html
Samson Manufacturing has been a sponsor since the beginning, and Bryan Ray and Brian Vaught were instrumental in getting me “in” at Rockcastle to do this crazy thing we do the very first year. So it is fair to say that the Briyans and Samson made RNG east of the Mississippi possible!
Not only that, but they are bringing $2,000 worth of product to the prize table this year! Samson does so much so support the shooting sports of ALL kinds - be sure to look to them first when you need great handguards or other gear! Check them out at: https://www.samson-mfg.com/
I am excited to announce that for the first time ever we will have a food truck onsite! Jeremy Swofford with Red’s Dinner Bell will be there all day Saturday and Sunday selling from his menu (below), and will have a special fundraising dinner menu Saturday night - part of the proceeds from that dinner will go to SFA.
Stage 3 will honor MSG David Thuma, who after an amazing career full of accomplishments, died unexpectedly from a heart attack during morning PT in June of 1998. Some 5th Group Soldiers die in training - not just on the battlefield. Sometimes terrible things happen close to home too, and I think the surprise and shock of this almost makes it worse.
Read more about MSG Thuma’s impressive career and life here: https://army.togetherweserved.com/army/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=ShadowBoxProfile&type=BattleMemoryExt&ID=115120
In this stage: resupply ammo to your teammates while knocking back enemy attack. (HQ1SG)
I am happy to announce RnG Tactics has joined on as a sponsor, and will be providing almost $1,000 worth of product for the prize table! Check them out at https://rngtactics.com/
Stage 4 (10k only) honors SFC Karl Anker. Sometimes life is random and tragedy strikes when and where you least expect it. SFC Anker was killed in a car accident in Western Maryland while working on his Enlisted to Medical Degree Preparatory Program (he was an 18D, or Medical SGT).
In this stage: Use terrain for cover while moving and neutralizing difficult targets. (18D – Medical SGT)
In another effort to raise funds for the Special Forces Association, Chpt 38 - we are auctioning off ONE of the SF slots for each day match to the general public. Whether you’re on the waitlist or not - you can buy your way into the match with a big enough donation. This will be a blind auction. Send your highest bid to legionrunngun@gmail.com and note whether you want the 5k slot or the 10k slot.
Full disclosure: we’ll give away any extra SF slots this weekend to those on the waitlist, in the order you signed up. So you MIGHT get in anyway if you don’t bid. But you might not. The only way to ensure a match slot at this point is to bid high!
We’re cutting the bidding off at 11:59pm Central Time this Thursday, August 24th. Jay and I will evaluate the bids and notify the winners this Friday.
Note the match fees are $150 for the 5k and $200 for the 10k. Any bids lower than that will be ignored.
Round Count: It’s complicated
Anyone who has ever shot Legion before knows that I can’t give a straight “you need this much ammo” answer to this question. There are several targets you could shoot with either rifle or pistol, and depending on which weapon you use, you need a different number of hits to neutralize those targets. And the intel/mental challenges this year are OFF THE CHAIN, thanks to 5SFG(A)'s Cognitive Performance Specialist - and how well you do on the intel challenges will determine how many targets you have to hit in some cases.
So I’ll share the minimum hit count IF you shoot it like I plan to shoot it, and IF you successfully complete every single intel challenge:
5k: 38 rifle, 56 pistol
10k: 73 rifle, 61 pistol
Don’t be fooled by the low numbers. You will miss - a lot. Bring extra. You may chose to shoot pistol instead of rifle (or vice versa), and it takes more pistol hits to neutralize a target than rifle hits. You may fail the intel challenges and have to use more ammo to compensate for that. Maybe a LOT more ammo, depending on how badly you miss the intel.
Bring plenty.
Stage 5 (10k Only) honors SFC Frederic “Nic” Moses.
Over a five year span from 2007 to 2012, Nic completed three deployments to Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn, then a fourth deployment to Afghanistan for Operation Enduring Freedom. He had just returned to Fort Campbell, Kentucky for a brief training cycle on March 6, 2012, after which he was scheduled to rejoin his team in the Baghlan Province of northern Afghanistan to continue fighting al Qaeda terrorists.
Nine days after returning to Fort Campbell for special training Nic was shot five times in his home by a former Army soldier, Benjamin Schweitzer, who was staying as a guest in the house. Moses and Schweitzer had both been assigned to the 5th Special Forces Group of the United States Army, but Schweitzer had reportedly just been demoted and later testified in court he had taken ketamine that night, and later woke up believing Moses was an intruder in the home. A jury found him guilty of reckless homicide, and he received a maximum sentence of four years in prison.
Things like these are HARD to talk about, but I think also important to talk about. The struggle is very real, and sometimes bad things happen and we lose very good people. I don’t know the answer, but we owe these guys better.
In this stage: struggle with finding concealed targets and telling the enemy apart from your allies. (18E – Communications SGT)
I am happy to report that HOIST has joined back in as a sponsor this year, and has provided an “IV Level Hydration” drink for every single competitor. Not only is this GREAT stuff, but they support the military in big ways.
Would you rather receive your free Hoist during registration, so you can do with it what you please? Or in a big iced down tub at the finish line as a reward for finishing the match (and to help your recovery!)?
How many matches have you seen the other drink makers support? None. Buy Hoist whenever you can to support those who support us - most Food Lion and Food City stores stock it now, and some WalMarts. You can also buy online at: https://drinkhoist.com/
Just a reminder of some important things regarding our rules:
Shooters will be disqualified (DQ’d) and not allowed to finish the course for the following violations: having a loaded rifle anywhere EXCEPT on a shooting stage after the “beep”, dropping a loaded pistol, pointing a loaded weapon at someone, or having a Negligent Discharge (ND). It is solely the judgement of my Staff that I trust if these should occur, so don’t get close and there won’t be an issue.
Your score will be 50% how fast you run and 50% how fast you shoot. Each shooting score will be how fast you finish the stage with penalties added in for any targets not fully neutralized (or non-threats hit).
Any questions???
Stage 4 (5k) AKA stage 7 (10k) honors WO1 Sean W. Mullen.
Warrant Officer Sean W. Mullen, 39, of Rehobeth Beach, Del., died June 2, 2013, in Ghur Ghuri, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained from an improvised explosive device.
Mullen was assigned to Company B, 2nd Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Campbell, Ky., as an assistant detachment commander for a Special Forces Operational Detachment-Alpha (ODA), or A-team. He was deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom-Afghanistan. This was Mullen’s sixth deployment in support of an overseas contingency operation.
In this stage: Find and neutralize the HVT. (18Z – Operations SGT)
I’m running out of days and still have too much info to post - so today you get a two-fer. Here are some military acronyms you might want to familiarize yourself with - especially if you’re running the 10k!
PZ = Pickup Zone
HLZ = Helicopter Landing Zone
SSE = Sensitive Site Exploitation
EXFIL = Exfiltration Route
.MIL guys - feel free to add your favorite acronyms below! 
I am thrilled to share that Aero Precision (https://www.aeroprecisionusa.com/) is returning as a Stage Sponsor and providing around $8,000 worth of product for the prize table! Be sure to buy all your Aero gear through Alan’s Arsenal LLC (https://alansarsenal.3dcartstores.com/) to maximize the payback we give to these companies for helping!
Stage 5 (5k) AKA stage 8 (10k) honors SSG Jason A. McDonald.
This is another terribly sad and unfortunate story - but is definitely worth remembering. Things go wrong in war. Terribly wrong sometimes. Honor their memory.
McDonald excelled as a soldier. He trained at Fort Benning, taking on increasingly demanding duties. In his last deployment, he was a staff sergeant assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group from Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
The Department of Defense announced that McDonald was among five killed June 9, 2014 in a battle in a remote part of Afghanistan. They came under attack from Taliban forces and called in an airstrike to repel the attackers. The strike may have zeroed in on the wrong targets. The incident is still under investigation.
Also killed were Staff Sgt. Scott Studenmund, 24, of Pasadena, California; Spc. Justin Helton, 25, of Beaver, Ohio; Cpl. Justin Clouse, 22, of Sprague, Washington; and Pvt. 2nd Class Aaron Toppen, 19, of Mokena, Illinois.
In this stage: build an improvised shooting position and eliminate the enemy at distance. (18B – Weapons SGT)
