Once again, the “Wild Bunch” gathered in the high country of Colorado, near the small town of Maybelle. Some came to hunt, some to get the hell out of the too-many-people urban areas, but all participated in discussing how to postpone the demise of Western civilization in general, and that of our great Republic in particular for the year. As well as evaluate and discuss new gear, work out new small arms, generally hang out and maybe just maybe harvest an elk or two.
I had fantasized about the possibility of us stumbling across an extensive marijuana farm that we could subsequently lay waste to, along with its farmers, as reports grow of such undertakings taking root in national forests. However, druggies and their farms proved to be as elusive as the wily elk. Well, they weren’t all that wily…they just preferred to stay out of our gun sights which, overall, was quite inconsiderate.
The diverse cast of characters included a former Special Forces reserve battalion commander, my Special Forces medic from Nam, a ranch foreman, and a conservative newspaper editor (no Walter Cronkites or Dan Rathers in this camp! Although, on second thought, we could always use “volunteers” to paste up targets down range. Heh,
heh, heh,), a mortgage broker, a gun activist, a retired Nam and Desert Storm chopper pilot, a gun PR guy, and a wing nut political columnist.
FORMER LEGIONNAIRE HOLDS THE CAMP TOGETHER
The glue that held this mélange together as well as kept the camp in French Foreign Legion spic and span order was Sergeant Chef Paul Fanshaw, a 13-year vet of the Legion. Fanshaw and I had traveled to some of the more interesting hot spots over the last couple of decades, to include Burma (illegal entry), Afghanistan (illegal entry), Zaire, El Salvador, Albania, Saudi Arabia (Desert Storm), Nicaragua, and a couple I can’t remember. Fanshaw, who had 285 jumps with the Legion and saw action in Kolwezi, regaled the camp with tales of his off the record adventures into the dark world of espionage and merc work, as well as how he pulled my ass out of the fire a couple or three times, which may seem funny now but sure as hell wasn’t at the time.
We accomplished most of our missions – I even got my sorry ass up at 0330 on one occasion to help mitigate the elk population – an occurrence I do not intend to replicate in this lifetime. Whether we save Western civilization
and the U.S.A. from, as Col. Alex McColl would say, “The Forces of Evil and the Legions of Darkness” remains to be seen. Yeah, and those “Forces” and “Legions” include the Islamic terrorists that wish to see our way of life end and revert to the savagery and stupidity of the 7th century Koran.
SOF endorses the following individuals for election to the NRA Board of Directors: Steve Schreiner, Bob Sanders, Jim Porter, Tom King and retired Texas Ranger, Joaquin Jackson.
CONTACTS:
American Watch
1225 South Grand Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90015
800.284.9487
ArmaLite, Inc.
PO Box 299,
Geneseo, IL 61254
800.336.0184
www.armalite.com [7]
Black Hills Ammunition
PO Box 3090,
Rapid City, SD 57709-3090
605.348.5150
Blackhawk Products Group
6160 Commander Parkway,
Norfolk, VA 23502
800.694.5263
Burris Company
331 East 8th Street,
Greeley, CO 80631
970.356.1670
www.burrisoptics.com [10]
Bushmaster Firearms Intl. LLC
999 Roosevelt Trail,
Windham, ME 04062
800.883.6229
www.bushmaster.com [11]
Bushnell Outdoor Technology
6845 W. Frye Rd.,
Chandler, AZ 85226
877.413.8800
Cabelas
www.cabelas.com [13]
CamelBak Products LLC
2000 S. McDowell, Suite 200,
Petaluma, CA 94954
800.767.8725
www.camelbak.com [14]
Condor Outdoor Products
1866 Business Center Drive,
Duarte, CA 91010
800.552.2554
DPMS Firearms, LLC
3312 12th Street SE,
St. Cloud, MN 56304
800.578-3767
www.dpmsinc.com [16]
EOTAC
1940 Old Dunbar Rd.,
West Columbia, SC 29172
803.744.9930
www.eotac.com [17]
Fobus Holster & Pouches
780 Haunted Lane,
Bensalem, PA 19020
866.611.9576
www.fobusholster.com [18]
Johnson Outdoors
555 Main Street,
Racine, WI 53403
262.631.6600
Kimber America
Marketing & Sales
2590 Montana Highway 35,
Kalispell, MT 59901
914.964.0771 ext 350
LaserLyte
101 Airpark Road,
Cottonwood, AZ 86306
928.649.3201
www.laserlyte.com [21]
McMillan Firearms Manufacturing LLC
1638 W. Knudsen Drive, Suite 101,
Phoenix, AZ 35027
623.582.9635
www.mcmfamily.com [22]
OPSGear:
890 W. Center Street, Unit 4,
North Salt Lake City, UT 84054
877.677.5906
www.opsgear.com [23]
Pro-Ears, Altus Brands
484 W. Welch Ct.,
Traverse City, MI 49686
800.891.3660
www.proears.com [24]
Revision Eyewear
7 Corporate Drive,
Essex Junction, VT 49686
802.879.7002
Rogue River Rifle Works
500 Linne Rd Ste D.,
Paso Robles, CA 93446
(805) 227-4706
Sako Finland
PO Box 149,
FI-11101RIIHIMAKI
Finland
www.sako.fi [26]
Springfield Armory
420 W. Main Street,
Geneseo, IL 61254
800.680.6866
www.springfield-armory.com [27]
Steiner, Pioneer Research
97 Foster Rd., Suite 5,
Moorestown, NJ 08057
800.257.7742
www.steiner-binoculars.com [28]
Sturm Ruger & Company, Inc.
411 Sunapee Street,
Newport, NH 03773
603.865.2442
Talus Outdoor Technologies
1001 E. Broadway,
Missoula, MT 59802
406.493.0507
Tapco
PO Box 2408,
Kennesaw, GA 30156-9138
800.554.1446
www.tapco.com [31]
US Peacekeeper Products, Inc.
W245 N5570 Corporate Circle,
Sussex, WI 53089
877.732.2303
Vector Tactical Systems
vectortacticalsystems.org/
Wilson Combat & Scattergun Technologies
2234 CR 719,
Berryville, AR 72616
800.955.4856
www.wilsoncombat.com [33]
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