Friday morning was like all my
childhood Christmas mornings
rolled up into one. We show up at
Spec Ops and they have all our gear
set out for us with our vest on top
showing our back tags. I was so
excited to find my gear. After opening
remarks from Jayson Orvis and crew
we were issued our gear then went to
building our X7’s. That was kind of crazy
sitting on the floor with the Tippmann guys
telling us how all our markers went together.
Everyone had a different setup, it was cool
to see all the different configurations the
Elite players picked. After lunch Jayson gave
us a tour of the iner-workings of Spec Ops.

We were bussed up to the Retribution
field then given 15 min. to gear up and
head out to the woodsball classrooms.
I was in the Saber Clinic instructed by
Rob “Tyger” and Greg Hastings. They
would instruct for about 15 minutes then
we would play for 15 minutes. After playing
they would have an after action debriefing
then do it all over again. The first time we
played I was heading up a hill to the flank
and I was with Greg Hastings. They said go
and all of the sudden I found myself half way
up the hill next to Hastings . I gave him cover fire and he moved up then I moved up. At that point I started laughing to myself because I just gave Greg Hastings cover fire. It was unreal, like a dream, then I got hit. After the Clinics we played a 30 on 30 SPPL tournament. It was some of the hardest paintball I have ever played. The swing base was on the other side of a valley, I was suckin for air at that altitude, 6,400 ft. above sea level. We won by 10 points. After the SPPL game we had dinner and when the sun went down we played with night vision scopes.

Saturday consisted of
rotating between six
different sessions:
   • Sniper Mission
   • Obstacle Course
   • Machine Gun Shoot
   • Down Pilot Mission
   • Pistol Shoot
   • Assault Course

Each session was so very
different and we learned so
many different aspects of
the paintball game. The
high point was getting my
Elite patch from Jayson on
the sniper course while
using his auto mag sniper
gun.

Sunday was an all out scenario game on the Elite Mountain Field. They had tanks, artillery, Hellocopter insertions and gunners, a Training Compound and much more. We were China and our general was Dennis Tippmann Jr. I had a blast during this game. My body was finally adjusting to the physical activity and the altitude. This is the type of play I am used to back home so I was very comfortable getting into the scenario. It was awesome playing along side Greg Hastings, Jayson Orvis, and Dennis Tippman Jr. They are all really down to earth guys and when it comes down to it they love to play paintball just as much as I do.

At the closing ceremony they gave away prizes and thanked all the great people that made the Elite Weekend so incredible. It really was amazing to see how hard the Spec Ops staff, volunteers, and paintball greats worked to give us the paintball time of our lives. The slogan for the Elite Weekend is “Live the Dream”. I think it is safe to say I truly lived the dream!