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I saw a naughtly little elf taking a crack at the uniform standards for Into the Piney Woods in another thread. I believe it was directed at a particular type of belt plate which was either allowed or not allowed, thus comprosing the standards of the event.
For the record, the Ground Hornets are not putting on this event to hold an uber-cool fashion show. While we hope fellows will have good kits and take their impression seriously, that is not the over-riding concern. Kit only takes one so far. Owning the high-end, expenisve, museum-patterned gear is fine but what's the point of owning it and never using it?
What this hobby lacks is people with the right attitude. At BGR we had 200 folks with the right attitude. They were there to get a taste of soldiering. To hump a pack and stand picket next to their buddies. To eat hardcrackers and slab bacon and drink water drawn from a creek. To enjoy the few joys and more constant miseries of being a soldier. In short, to get as close a taste of what the fellows we theoretically strive to portray endured. I feel confident that a similar set of men will show up for Into the Piney Woods.
This is not an event about belt plates. It's not an event about the number of stitches on your cartridge box. Instead, it's an event about experiencing the life of a soldier for five days.
This event will take hardy folks, not flaky, pretentious whiners and snipers. If you are physically and mentally up for the event, come on down. If some particular piece of clothing or gear needs to be swapped with something, we'll square you away.
My guess is that if you asked the fellows who did Banks' Grand Retreat from start-to-finish if they remember what belt buckle the guys around them wore they'd neither remember nor care. They'd remember instead who was next to them and the experience that they had shared with those folks.
Tom Yearby wrote me an email after BGR which I hope he won't mind me posting. I've kept it and read it every now and then when I'm sick of seeing guys bash one another over trivial matters. I think this hits the essence of what we are striving for squarely on the head-
"It was all worth it to see those boys weary and bedraggled back at the parking lot Sunday morning. Then it was all worth it. Iron men they are. Every damn one of them and for those that live on keyboards and at sit around events, they know and we know the truth. The quest of the vision was reached. One of the many moments that I will remember forever was when old Cornbread came over and hugged me and with tears in his eyes said it was the best event he had ever attended and he had attended both the Red Rivers and would continue to come until he died in the woods with the boys."
Hope to see the Iron Men from BGR back in Kisatchie come March. Others up to the challenge are welcomed.
For the record, the Ground Hornets are not putting on this event to hold an uber-cool fashion show. While we hope fellows will have good kits and take their impression seriously, that is not the over-riding concern. Kit only takes one so far. Owning the high-end, expenisve, museum-patterned gear is fine but what's the point of owning it and never using it?
What this hobby lacks is people with the right attitude. At BGR we had 200 folks with the right attitude. They were there to get a taste of soldiering. To hump a pack and stand picket next to their buddies. To eat hardcrackers and slab bacon and drink water drawn from a creek. To enjoy the few joys and more constant miseries of being a soldier. In short, to get as close a taste of what the fellows we theoretically strive to portray endured. I feel confident that a similar set of men will show up for Into the Piney Woods.
This is not an event about belt plates. It's not an event about the number of stitches on your cartridge box. Instead, it's an event about experiencing the life of a soldier for five days.
This event will take hardy folks, not flaky, pretentious whiners and snipers. If you are physically and mentally up for the event, come on down. If some particular piece of clothing or gear needs to be swapped with something, we'll square you away.
My guess is that if you asked the fellows who did Banks' Grand Retreat from start-to-finish if they remember what belt buckle the guys around them wore they'd neither remember nor care. They'd remember instead who was next to them and the experience that they had shared with those folks.
Tom Yearby wrote me an email after BGR which I hope he won't mind me posting. I've kept it and read it every now and then when I'm sick of seeing guys bash one another over trivial matters. I think this hits the essence of what we are striving for squarely on the head-
"It was all worth it to see those boys weary and bedraggled back at the parking lot Sunday morning. Then it was all worth it. Iron men they are. Every damn one of them and for those that live on keyboards and at sit around events, they know and we know the truth. The quest of the vision was reached. One of the many moments that I will remember forever was when old Cornbread came over and hugged me and with tears in his eyes said it was the best event he had ever attended and he had attended both the Red Rivers and would continue to come until he died in the woods with the boys."
Hope to see the Iron Men from BGR back in Kisatchie come March. Others up to the challenge are welcomed.
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