Paintball as a leadership exercise?

[TAMHSGT]

Hey everyone,

I just recently had an idea of using paintball as a leadership exercise within my battlion. I was thinking that every other weekend one platoon could go out to the local paintball field and "battle" eachother for a couple hours. I think this is a good idea because it will allow the leaders within the platoon to lead their cadets in a stressful enviorment, while having fun. It is $17 per person, and of course the cadets would pay for themselves and the event would not be mandatory.

What does everyone think?

Thanks,
TAMHSGT

[Drill for life]

Good idea but sounds nothing like a Leadership Training at all sounds more like a "Hey I want to play Paintball in BDU who else wants to."
I'm not trying to be rude but it's pointless and doens't have anyhting to do with JROTC or Leadership. I would love it if my unit had Paintball though, good luck on it. It's good to meet you I'm Drill for Life.

[TruBlu]

I must disagree with Drill for Life on this one. Exercises such as this are great unit building opportunities, and for those in charge, good command experience. But, here are some thoughts.

• You cannot have it in the name of JROTC. JROTC units do not allow combat training.
• You cannot have it unit funded, as that would be in the name of JROTC (good call on your part there).
• Your cadets would have to know that it was not a JROTC event, so could not wear full uniform with rank and such. But, it would be unofficially, and I use that term loosely, the unit, so COs and the like should be respected.
• If you want real leadership experience, you get inter-company competition with platoons facing off against each other. Or if your unit permits, have inter-battalion competitions with companies facing off against each other.
• Do it once a month at most, not every other week. If you do that, you face monetary issues and time constraints. Have one week, set each month, where all wishing participants can plan for it.

I'm interested to see how this comes about, keep us posted.

[TAMHSGT]

That is one thing I forgot to mention, that I was going to say that cadets DO NOT wear their uniform. And if they did want to wear cammies the field supplies camo woodland tops and bottoms for use. Thanks for everyones help on this.

The reason I had said everyother weekend was each time we went out it would be a different platoon, seeing as it would be kind of difficult to get the entire battalion to fit in one field.

I do like TruBlu's idea of inter-company competitions. That would sound like a good idea.

Thanks for everyone's help on this, I think ill pitch this idea to my SMI when I get back to school this Tuesday.

Thanks,
TAMHSGT

[TruBlu]

Originally Posted by TAMHSGT

That is one thing I forgot to mention, that I was going to say that cadets DO NOT wear their uniform. And if they did want to wear cammies the field supplies camo woodland tops and bottoms for use. Thanks for everyones help on this.

The reason I had said everyother weekend was each time we went out it would be a different platoon, seeing as it would be kind of difficult to get the entire battalion to fit in one field.

I do like TruBlu's idea of inter-company competitions. That would sound like a good idea.

Thanks for everyone's help on this, I think ill pitch this idea to my SMI when I get back to school this Tuesday.

Thanks,
TAMHSGT

I'm not aware of field restraints. The paintball place in my area is some 66 acres with 11 to 15 fields, each large enough for at least 50 people on each team. You work with what you've got, but is your entire battalion or even a majority of the battalion going to be attending these events?

[TAMHSGT]

Thats the thing I am working on. Obviously the event would not be mandatory. I was thinking about sending out a sign up sheet for anyone interested this Tuesday(I am off of school until then.).

Thanks,
TAMHSGT

[devin0116]

Paintball is an excellent team building exercise. I know from experience. First off tell me about the field and the company that runs it. do they chronograph (speed check) guns. Do you buy their paint or can you bring your own. Do they have CO2 fill stations. Do you rent the gun and mask. Does the 17 dollars cover everything or just admission? Remember these will come into issue when it comes to finances.Is it a large field because it becomes a real nightmare when you have 3 people trying to hide behind an object that is only big enough for 1.

best regards,
devin0116

[TAMHSGT]

Yes the local field is very professional. They chrono, and the $17 does cover rental markers and masks. As well as the first 100 paintballs. I was thinking if every cadet brought an extra $5 dollars we could probally buy a case or two of more paintballs (it is field only paint).

The field has around 7-8 fields of a realative large size, and they allow the boundaries between fields to be opened if there is an extremely large group.

Thanks,
TAMHSGT

[TAMHSGT]

I just did a little research on two local fields to compare prices.

Field 1:
$53 Per Person
-Rentals
-500 Paintballs
-Camo top and bottom
-Safety Presentation
-Field use
-Lunch

2000 Paintball Case- $60

Closer to our school

Field 2:
$50 Per Person
-Includes all things Field One includes, except 1000 paintballs.

2000 Paintball Case- $40
If we get 25 or more people to come out we get a free, new, paintball gun. we could probally just raffel it off or sell it.

A little farther away from our school

I know the obvious choice is field 2, but I just want to see what everyone thinks about the prices?

Thanks,
TAMHSGT

[TruBlu]

Originally Posted by TAMHSGT

Yes the local field is very professional. They chrono, and the $17 does cover rental markers and masks. As well as the first 100 paintballs. I was thinking if every cadet brought an extra $5 dollars we could probally buy a case or two of more paintballs (it is field only paint).

The field has around 7-8 fields of a realative large size, and they allow the boundaries between fields to be opened if there is an extremely large group.

Thanks,
TAMHSGT

Well just to give you an idea, as a baller and having been a referee for a good amount of time at our field I can give you some insight on pricing. Lets say you have 50 cadets who would like to attend your exercise. Everyone pays the required $17 for marker, tank, mask, and admittance. Oh and 100 paint balls (about enough for 1 round, maybe...). Your crew arrives on time and gets chrono done about an hour to an hour and a half after arrival. You have a pretty full day of play ahead at this point, and 100 balls won't do much. OK, lets buy some more paint. Well, field paint (standard "white box") will go for roughly $50 a case (2,000 balls). You need to know how much paint you will need and how much you need to buy it. OK, full day of play with a group of first timers and non experienced players (I say this because the rentals), lets guesstimate about 500 to 1,000 balls per person for a full day of play where everyone is playing every game and shooting an average amount. Lets go in between to cover the lower and upper extreme, 750 balls per person. Well 50x750=37,500 (the amount of cadets times the amount of balls per cadet equaling the total amount of balls for the entire day). 37,500/2,000=18.75 (the amount of balls for the entire day divided by the amount of balls in each case equaling the total amount of cases needed to be bought). Well you can't buy .75 of a case, you need to buy 19 cases. 50x19=950 (the amount per case times the amount of cases equaling the total amount of money spent on paint). 950/50=19 (the total amount divided by the amount of participating cadets equaling the amount that each cadet would need to bring for his/her share of paint).

So your $17 for basics plus the $5 for paint equaling $22 (plus extra for food if you won't be bringing your own) has turned into $17 plus the estimated $19 for paint equaling $36 per cadet (plus extra for food if you won't be bringing your own).

I'm just trying to make sure you know exactly what you are getting into for a good experience. And just as comparison here, I play at my field for a $10 entrance, about $5 in air, $20 in high grade paint (I only need 500 balls or so for a full day), plus cash for snackage. I spend about $40 a day for play, and I'm playing pump, not rental semi-auto "tippy time." Oh, just for fun, I own a VSC CCI Phantom (www.wevopaintball.com is good for some pics) all tricked out .