JEFFERSON BARRACKS, ST. LOUIS, MO

[crazydima]

Tovarischi,

On the weekend of April 24, 25 2010 is the annual WWII weekend at Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis, Missouri.

2ndrangers.org/wwii_weekend.php

As in the past this is a large grouping of all nationalities for both living history and battle. Large camps containing just about every branch and nationality are present. Each day a public battle takes place and is basically an East meets West battle against the Germans. It is a nice large battlefield with a lot of neat props and mock ups on the field such as dragons teeth, hedgehogs, destroyed buildings etc. Saturday night is a really neat dance with a band.

However, this year will be a little different. A major effort is being undertaken to get more Soviets to attend the event as part of a larger effort in the region to standardize soviet drill and tactics and to get more Soviets into the field.

Our hope is that if we can get enough Soviets to attend then we might be able to have a two part battle. The first half shows the valiant Soviets defending against the dreaded Germans but sadly being overrun and wiped out. The second half would be the Germans taking up positions as the defenders and then be attacked and wiped out by the Americans.

However, this only has a chance if we get RKKA troops to turn out in force!!!! Low numbers do not do any good.

So anyone who has a Soviet kit who wants to get some training in and some battle time please think about being a part of this effort.

As part of making this effort a success I will be bringing all sorts of training aids for the event. Those of you who plan to attend will not have a boring weekend.

Last year the boys of the 343rd had a movie night on Saturday night and played period Soviet propaganda movies on the side of one of the tents. I hope that this will part of this years entertainment as well.

Such training sessions will include:
Range Estimation - Use of Mil reticule equipped periscopes, field glasses and other such optics.

Observation - Improving skills of observation to aid in obtaining information as part of recon activities.

Obstacle course - This will be something that will get the blood pumping and put the brain into high gear.

Close order drill - Yep, the dreaded task of getting everyone on the same page regarding formations and marching.

Tactical drills - This will cover a variety of things including deployment formations for combat. Proper methods for cutting barbed wire(one and two man method), reduction of obstacles using simulated demolitions, bayonet drill, etc.


So if you are interested in being a part of this effort then please contact me at your earliest convenience and get registered for the event ASAP.

Thank you for your time and attention on this matter.


Sincerely,

Dima
[e-mail]

[dixieflyer]

Vladimir and I are both really looking forward to this. I'm not looking forward to the 5+ hour drive after a day of herding cats and then 2-3 hours of ethics training either. I've never driven to St. Louis before, so this should be quite an adventure!

Yuri S.

[dixieflyer]

On another note, never having been to this, is there a list of "definitely bring this" and "don't bother with this" for this event?
We do plan on bringing our "captured" German radio. It is the model issued to Wehrmacht troops for listening to broadcast programs. No doubt it will pick up Hitlerite programing, but I have a feeling that the stronger radios signal from the people and workers will overpower that. Oh, and the politruk approves.

Yuri S.

[velodya]

Wading through a few hundred variations on the same picture of smiling Americans is rather dull.

But I'll have to keep this in mind for the future, maybe next year. It does look like a large and well-planned event.

[dixieflyer]

I'll try to take pics and post them afterward. It should be a great time with members of at least three different RKKA units from around the Midwest/Ohio valley area all together at one event.

Yuri S.

[dixieflyer]

"Tactical drills - This will cover a variety of things including deployment formations for combat. Proper methods for cutting barbed wire(one and two man method), reduction of obstacles using simulated demolitions, bayonet drill, etc."

This sounds great, but according to the event sponsor's website bayonet drill will be a "nyet".

I'm trying to decide whether to bring out the PPS43 or my 91/30 for this thing.

Yuri S.

[crazydima]

Tovarisch,

Actually the rules state:

[i]"6.No one is to affix any bayonet to any firearm at any time. Any weapons seen with bayonets will be confiscated until the end of the event or the participant will be asked to leave the event."[/i]


You are thinking like a German. You must think outside of the box. LOL!

There are ways of conducting bayonet drill without mounting the bayonet on the end of the rifle.

In reality you are teaching the motion of the piece in relationship to an opponent and the position of his piece or lack there of.

Not to mention the use of the rifle butt under such conditions. All will be well.

Sincerely,

Dima