Well, what can I say? The Army does put on a good show. Right from the beginning the cadets were polite, welcoming hosts. I have never been called "sir" so many times in such a short span of time before in my life. A gracious thank you to West Point and the cadets for putting together a great weekend of paintball!!
Worrying we were going to be late and the camp grounds were going to be filled up by the time we got there, Doc and I arrived about 4:30pm. The timing turned out to be perfect however as we arrived shortly after T.J. "Crazy Legs" Hayduk and his father Steve did. They had rented an RV for the weekend so we had a prime spot to set up our tent right next to that, down near the lake’s edge. With the combination of the RV's overhang and our portable canopy, our tent had a cozy little niche from the elements (which would show themselves later)
After setting up, Doc, Crazy Legs, and I met up with fellow ERSA teams to chat. The Loaded Crows, Un4given Ghosts, and a few Red Raiders had made the trip that evening. After getting acquainted, the three of us got our tanks filled to avoid the long lines that were sure to form the next day. With tanks filled it was time to eat. Despite Steve’s request to cook for us, Doc and I dined on some MRE's we had brought. I was quite intrigued to try one and would not be denied that chance, even with the offer of cooked food. I have to say, MRE's, while not anywhere near gourmand, are decent enough. Steve was amused by our desire to "rough it". After dinner we were invited into the RV to watch Apocalypse Now. At 11:00 lights out were called and generators had to be shut down, so bed time it was. I didn't get much sleep that night in anticipation of the next day. Doc snored up a storm!
The rain POURED that night. I mean poured!! Torrential downpours. It was awesome, and our tent weathered it wonderfully under the protection of the canopies, not a drop managed it’s was inside.
At 0600 hours a bomb exploded. Literally. West Point’s alarm clock was a flash/bang grenade that sent shockwaves through the ground. Amusing. I guess they wanted to make sure no one overslept. So we got up and lazied our way through the early morning. MRE's of scrambled eggs with bacon bits (to Steve’s continued amusement) were Doc and my breakfast. We changed into our camies after breakfast and by that time the paint truck opened up so we got our paint. Tom "Six Four" Malone, Bobby "Diesel" Nolan, and Dylan "Hawkeye" Pierce arrived by then. We went through our gear and got ready for the day. After a brief check in with the other ERSA members we geared up and got ready to play some paintball!!
The blue team, or Allies, would insert near the camp area while the red team, or North Koreans, would insert on the far side. West Point provided shuttles to the red insertion point so we didn't have to make the 200 yard trek back and forth. I thank them for that. When it was time we all piled in our transport and headed for our insertion point. It felt like a real military operation riding up there.
The game had already started when we arrived at the insertion point so all we had to do was find what position we were needed at and head over. My first impression of the field, which was basically a set of steep hills, was how much my legs were going to hate me and how long it would be before I lost stamina. Everything was up-hill it seemed, and steep uphill at that! My second impression was how much smaller the field was than I had anticipated. That came as a bit of a disappointment because the field did not lend too much tactical or strategic play. It turned out to be, as Cadet Grimm mentioned, a slug fest. You inserted, walked (rather climbed) for a minute, and you were right in the middle of the action.
TAPs was first called to defend flag 3 which was positioned in a small clearing next to a road that bordered…you guessed it... a very steep hill. Blues were raining down point from the high ground and I was quickly hit. The one benefit of the smaller field was that re-spawn took very little time. When I reinserted I went back to the same position. That's when I started having trouble with my A-5. The general consensus was the paint was not good, which could have been a cause, because paint started breaking left and right on me. Also, the E-grip started acting up. I would pull the trigger and nothing would happen, even though it was set for full-auto. That is pretty much how the day went. Insert, climb to the slug-fest, wrestle with my marker, get hit out, walk back, etc. Despite the small size of the field I really did not see that much of it as the battle line pretty much split the field in half.
At the end of the day and after another MRE dinner, sleep came pretty easy for me. I passed out until the explosion at 0600 woke the camp up again. Time for some more paintball.
The weather was cooler than the previous day as the clouds had dissipated allowing Earth’s heat to radiate into space. No big deal though. After breakfast TAPs geared up and got ready for action. We had learned the Red team was up by about 2000 points thus far, so today was simply holding flags to keep the lead. As I had given up on my A-5, and my back-up Spyder couldn't handle the bad paint either, Doc called on me to be a tank killer. What a load of equipment that was!!! I think I gained more muscle in those few hours than I had in my whole life lugging that stuff around! It was cool though and despite my poor performance with the launcher, I enjoyed myself. By the time the final battle came around Red pretty much had the game in hand. As we readied for the final battle, which would take place in the speed-ball court, Doc and I decided to become ammunitions officers since neither of our markers worked and we didn't want to take any paint home. The final battle was a blast, even if I just watched it. Paint flew everywhere since the speed-ball field was relatively small. I do feel bad for the Blues in a sense as they were at a severe disadvantage. They started on the backside of a hill (no kidding, right?) that overlooked the field. They then had to traverse the hill and enter the field in order to flip the flags. Unfortunately for them the Red side had the advantage of the bunker cover and basically had a turkey shoot whenever Blue tried to make a push. Doc and I just re-loaded the team whenever someone came over to get some paint. About 45 minutes of the final battle the whistle sounded and the game was over. Final score had North Korea win by about 2000 points. The E.R.S.A. took MVT!
Overall it was an enjoyable weekend. Loosing the A-5 to technical troubles made things frustrating as I could not really get into the game, but I was glad to be a part of the experience nonetheless. After purchasing a new marker, and Invert Mini, I should be set to get into the mix of things next year! I for one think West Point should definitely be on the TAPs schedule again.
P.S. - For anyone who doesn't know... M-240s are F-ing LOUD!!!!!
