Starting An Airsoft Team

So you want to form an airsoft team, huh? Here are some questions to think through as you start the process.

1. Do you need a team?
Many people get into airsoft, fall in love with the sport, and then quickly realize that they want (or need) an airsoft team. Now if you are a back-woods, skirmisher, forming an official team might not be vital. If you've got a bunch of peeps you hang out with and play airsoft with, maybe the best bet is to get together, pick teams, and go from there. But if you decide you want a team, here are some other things to consider.

2. What's your style?
My team has a motto - "Silence to Violence". We like to run small, quiet, and stealthy, and then once it's go-time, we unload. We also tend toward milsim events. We will play a "run and gun" day, but we prefer ops with objectives and administrators. That being said, we can't take people onto our team who are really loud or who are scared to get into the fray. I've played with airsofters who don't want to get in range of the opposing force and while each person can have his own preference, our team is looking for action. Now that said, we are also geared toward winning ops, not just slinging a lot of plastic. So if we are commissioned to cover a location, to set an ambush, or whatever - if that's what the CO said to do, we will do it until told otherwise. If we can end the day saying we played a role in winning the ops, we are happy. Again, some airsofters run for the battle as soon as it starts. If there's plastic getting shot, they need to be there. For us - it's hit and miss. Maybe we engage, maybe we don't. We always ask if it helps us accomplish our objective before we pull the trigger or move toward a firefight.

3. What are your team expectations?
For the Immortals, we have a few. First, when you get to an op, you are ready to play hard and play the entire day. We don't sit out or sit down much. Secondly, no one 'adds' anyone to the roster. We invite people to run with us and then we all decide if the person is going to be invited on to the team. Thirdly, we will maintain connections off of the field even more than we do on the field. We are a brotherhood and that runs deeper than just airsoft. Lastly, we are in this for the long-haul. I always tell my guys that one day, I want to be known at the 'old guys' on the field that no one messes with because we are such a force to be reckoned with (even if we are members of AARP).

4. Trial periods are vital.
One of the first ops I went to, I ran solo because I didn't really know anyone. At the next op, I asked two guys if they wanted to buddy up for the day. They said yes but within fifteen minutes, they split off to do their own thing. Now we weren't a "team" that had really established unity, but that is a reason for a test period. You may want to sign on a guy who seems great in the parking lot but just won't pull the trigger on the field. Or you may have a guy who seems nice enough, but on the field you discover he is a total complainer or someone who wants to be Rambo. Don't give people the green light until you find out what they are made of, and that only comes through time. In this pic you'll see four of us. We had another guy run with us that day. He did well and we'd like him to run again with us sometime, but for now, he's just hanging with us from game to game - he's not a team member.

5. Training and leadership are vital.
If you are going to be effective as a team, you need to train and run together. That means you have to get out in woods/desert and shoot, move and communicate. You also should eventually pick a team leader. I run as TL for our team. It's not that I am always making the right decisions, but just like on the football field someone has to call the plays, at an op someone has to give orders to a team.

So there are few ideas about forming an airsoft team. If you've got questions, feel free to email me at CQBRadio@gmail.com.

Take care, and keep on firin',
Carp