In Part One (”Against Recon1: A Moron’s Story”), I bored you to tears with one of several battles from when Recon 1 invited us to join their team holiday “practice”. Mostly, they just “practiced” slapping my squad around like Bobby does Whitney. But without doubt, it was one of the most enjoyable slapdowns we’ve had in a long time. (You have to pay extra for that in Vegas you know!)

Recon 1’s commander, Ted “the Hun” Pelech, invited Team:Tango Alpha to join them for a mil-sim get together Saturday, July 5th. As a team, we had deliberately not scheduled a practice or event for that weekend because of the holiday, and for the first time, my team actually listened to me, and scheduled other things. Who knew they could listen? More importantly, that they had actual lives beyond paintball? Pffff! As if!

It Takes More Than Two to Tango

Besides myself, only one regular member, Keith “Bones” Andrew, made it, as well as honorary reservist Daniel “Vox” Amos and his buddy, Charleton “Meat” (short for “Meat Shield”). Recon 1 members (Doc, Chris, Rebel, Specter, Willy from NC Tactical and occasionally Hudboy, as well as others) were assigned to our squad and we went up against the Redneck Rangers (a division of Recon1) in the 90 acre woods behind The Hun’s house in Kannapolis. I would have felt bad about the general slapping we took, but my squad was a collection of guys that had never really played together for any length of time, didn’t know the terrain, each other, or the opposition. We spent as much time wandering around the woods as we did shooting. It was like Ray Charles leading Stevie Wonder.

It’s Not the Heat, It’s the Stupidity 

The 90 acres of woods behind his house was the battleground that Ted has mapped out and placed Dead Zone tents and props throughout. The games the Hun set up were more mil-sim in nature with limited ammo, specific missions and restrictions. I loved it. They had a real world feel and the medic cards, restrictions and simulation aspects helped me get a feel for the upcoming Fulda Gap scenario. The only down side to the day was the humidity. It was like breathing underwater, it was so humid. You were sweating out by the gallon and your mask wasn’t as much fogging up as it was filling up!  

This is also not our typical team profile in that I didn’t really interview Ted as much as be his guest for the day. (Thanks for the ice cream cone, by the way.) Also, Recon 1 has as many as 60 members throughout the southeast, so I can only base this article on the 25 or so that showed up for this get together. Normally in a “profile” I have set interview questions so that I can get a standard overview of the team. Well, forget all that! In good Team:Tango tradition, this will be a “non-profile”!

 Uncle Hun

First and foremost, whatever good stuff you may have heard about The Hun… is true. This is, without doubt, the nicest guy I have ever met. No kidding. Ever. From the first moment, I felt like we were welcome, without reservation, to his home. He treats everyone with respect, courtesy and generally looks to make sure everyone is having a great time. I want to grow up to be him! He is extremely knowledgeable about the sport and knows all the local players. While he shares my personal point of view that this is “just a game”, he goes after it with a real zeal. The inside of his garage looks like a paintball laboratory. When my tank sprang a leak during chrono, he just disappears with it into his lab and 30 seconds later has repaired my tank. Some of the guys I know would charge you for the parts, labor and space it took up their worktable. Plus tax. Not the Hun. He just handles your problem and smiles.

His family was just as nice and welcoming, taking our orders for lunch (Ted provided ALL the food for the event!). Let me repeat that: Taking our orders for lunch!!! I’ll just run that idea past MY wife and see how she responds. “Hey honey, I just invited 30 guys over, can you take their lunch order and special cook their meals individually?” That slamming sound you hear is the door hitting me in the ass. Twice.

Stupid Wingman Tricks

Let me give another example of how cool the Hun is. And how stupid I are. He and I were in a Dead Zone tent together, recovering from a couple of fatal shots. The oldest cliche in the book, I was cleaning my gun (how many bad stories start like that?), my rag brushed against my trigger and I accidentally shot him point blank right in the chest! I was mortified! This guy, who I had already come to respect, invites me to his house, feeds me, welcomes me in, and I gut shoot him from 12 inches away.

Luckily, I hit a grenade pouch on his tactical vest and Ted just shrugged and after I apologized 20 times, he said, “Does it look like it bothers me?” Oh god, I just shot a friggin saint! Now I really AM going to hell. But seriously, most of the guys I have met in this sport would have thrown a major hissy fit and gone off on your ass (me included). Not Ted. Just shrugged it off and kept cleaning his mask. This is a class act. He treats the 12 year old newbie with the same respect he treats the 10 year veteran. And he talks WITH you. Not AT you. Okay, now add to the fact that he REALLY knows tactics and how to play the game and I will tell you flat out, I will follow this man where ever he wants to lead.

The Team

His team, Recon 1, seems to take their tone and personality from his lead. Recon 1 is a great bunch of guys of all ages (ok, ok, The Hun and I were the oldest guys there and I hate that he is prettier than me!). The skill sets ranged from FNGs to Rambo. Seems I was always gunning against Rambo though. Our main opposition team was The Redneck Rangers, a division of Recon 1, essentially a team within a team. These were a bunch of good ole boys who first looked at us like “who the hell are these yahoos?” But within minutes, we were laughing, swapping war stories and comparing who we knew in the sport. The Rangers are relatively a new unit, having only been officially together for a few months, but don’t let that fool you. These guys are fast, tough, aggressive, and not afraid to crawl through some mud to light up your life. I still have orange hair to prove it.

Recon 1, as a team, seemed like very down to earth guys looking to have a good time playing some serious paintball. Some of the guys I met whose names I have seen all over the local forums include The Wop and Hudboy. We had some great conversations and it was nice to put some faces to the call signs. I still don’t know their real names, but what’s in a name?!

 I didn’t ask specifically, but the impressions I got from The Hun and Recon 1 was that while they “get” that this is just a game, they play it to win and with a real military flare. They don’t have that hardcore (re: egotistical, Navy-Seal Wannabe) vibe that some teams extrude. It seems that some are former military and just enjoy the camaraderie of the sport as much as the competition.

And boy do they compete! Don’t even think that Willy likes to lose. And he will tell you so. He is a good strategist and knows how to play. We discussed his reopening NC Tactical Paintball in Winston-Salem for some scenarios and possible future plans. What The Redneck Rangers may lack in experience as a team, they make up for in energy and tactics. I can’t say much for their singing, but when you’re winning, you can get away with being off key!

All in all, I would say that Recon 1 is as friendly as they are dangerous and if you get a chance, (they tend to play on the “bad boy” side of any scenario, often teamed with Rogue Cell in an “Axis of Evil”) play with them. You sure as hell don’t want to play against them. You can learn more about Recon 1 at: http://www.nctacticalpaintball.com/R1.html and http://www.nctacticalpaintball.com/recon1forum/index.php. Tell them I said hello and that I owe the Rangers a hair color dye job!