Bulldog 2009 aka Kyle plays GI Joe for 2 days straight!

For those of you who didn't know, last weekend was my big airsoft event that I have been looking forward to for a very long time. It's called Bulldog and it's put on by these guys; OPLionClaws as a fundraiser for the Marines. It's also a big money maker for them I'm sure but regardless, they cut a check to the Marines for 5k at the end so they're all good in my book. Anyways, it all started after I went out to San Antonio Airsoft to hang with my new bud Julian. He's been showin me the ropes of airsoft for a while now and for the past couple months he's been getting me all hyped up for what basically amounts to the biggest airsoft event in Texas each year. It ain't cheap (180$ a head) and it ain't close (Ft. Hood Tx.) but man it was worth it! So the really cool thing about Bulldog that makes it so much better than any other airsoft game is that Ft. Hood lets us use their MOUT (Military Operations on Urban Terrain) site and it looks basically like a little Baghdad but it's HUGE! Like 10 acres.
And you have two teams fighting against eachother; The Freedom Fighters:















And the Marines/Russians:













Now again, airsoft is a little different from paintball in that the goal is not to just eliminate everyone but to complete objectives. For example, the first "evolution", (that's GI Joe lingo for game by the way) had both teams trying to unlock as many padlocks as they could find. The padlocks were in certain buildings but no one knew which ones so it was kinda like a treasure hunt...while being shot at...and shooting at others. GREAT FUN!
So at first, Julian and I were hoping that we could play with the Freedom Fighters as all of the dedicated San Antonio Airsofters were playing on the FF side. But because I registered a bit late and because the teams were ridiculously imbalanced this year, I had to go Russian so Julian switched sides. AND, one of Julian's customers/buds decided he wanted to come to! So Billy Coleman age 35ish, professional cool cat joined us to help fight for the Motherland. We had an absolute blast!
So here's a quick rundown of how it went, followed by pics from last years Bulldog just to give you an idea of what it's like. Recent pics are comin, we just don't have any yet!

Fri. 4:30pm-Van drives me out to SAAirsoft to drop me off. Julian and fam are SWAMPED with random customers. Good for business, not good for schedule.
6:30pm-Billy's drivin, J's freshly shaven and showered and rockin the shotgun seat. We hit the road, just 2 hrs. behind schedule...right on time!
10:28pm We pull in to the Ft. Hood Visitor's Center that closes at 10:30pm to get directions as none of us know where to go. We spend a good 10 minutes talking with the very nice but not so helpful MP that didn't even know there was an Airsoft event on base this weekend. A decision is made about the most likely location of our campsite and we roll out.
11:30pm We've made a full circle around Ft. Hood (no small feat mind you, nearly 60miles of driving) and we find our campsite!!!

Sat.12:45am Tents up, air mattress inflated without pump, we all pass out.
7:00am Roll out and start gearing up
8:00am Get yelled at for not being registered properly nor having guns checked properly
8:15am Get yelled at for not being in formation on time by Russian Commander Igor Doberov aka Scary Russian (really, he is Russian...but not really scary...except when he's angry) See for yourself; He's the one with the blue Barret on and the huge smile on his face. Don't let the smile fool you though, he's one tough Motherlander!













8:45am Evolution 1 begins!
12:00pm Evolution 1 ends!
1:00pm Evolution 2 begins!
2:00pm Evolution 2 ends!
4:00pm Evolution 3 begins!
5:00pm Evolution 3 ends!
7:00pm Evolution 4 begins! This one's a night game...but we didn't go to that one. Not sorry we missed it in the least. We were all dead tired and not too psyched about runnin through dark buildings without flashlights.

Sun. 9:00am THE LAST EVOLUTION BEGINS!
12:00pm Game over! YAY!
2:00pm Camp is packed, we hit the road.
3:00pm Bike racers are using our exit road so all 250 of us have to turn our caravan around, go back the way we came, then out the other exit. LAME...but funny!

Mon. 11:00am Wake up and can't move legs. Literally have to lift them with my arms to get in and out of the car for the next 4 days. I'm still feelin the pain! BUT IT WAS ALL WORTH IT!!!
So here's J last year as an FF.













And here's a few action shots, just so you get an idea of what it was like. OH, and one thing you don't really get a taste of with the pics is how LOUD it was. Some Okies were nice enough to give us some simulation grenades and simulation artillery rounds. You know how loud professional fireworks are when you're right up next to them? Same stuff, just going off in the street 20 feet away from us. LOOOOUUUUD!




















































And here's my personal fave from last year. You just never know where those sneaky little turds might be hiding! Pun intended...