My First Experience With Airsoft

The first time I ever saw an Airsoft gun was during a 2004 deployment to a speck of rock called Okinawa. I remember seeing a Marine from 1st Platoon stroll through the barracks fresh from "lib-oh" (liberty) with a clear 6mm, spring action, Beretta Airsoft pistol packed in his waistband. This is my first memory of an Airsoft gun. I can recall a Platoon wide feeling of inadequacy that 1st Platoon was armed and my platoon, 2nd, was not. It didn't take long for an arms race to begin since 1st and 2nd Platoons were natural enemies. Every Marine from the two units began to stockpile clear spring pistols in fear that a doomsday scenario would erupt at any moment. A cold war had effectively begun.

Weeks passed and tensions were high. Every Marine on the second deck of the barracks packed some sort of spring action pistol; a shot hadn't been fired, but everyone knew it would come. The latter well that separated the floor, and the two platoons, became an ad hoc DMZ. Marines would eyeball each other on the stairs, to and from chow, at work, but no one had the guts to pull the trigger and unleash 170fps of 6mm plastic death. No one could go to the rec. room, vending machine, or laundry room without feeling watched.

Then it happened.

I was in my room playing some Need for Speed on Xbox when a roar erupted from the hallway. This wasn't just the standard drunken commotion either; this was sober, adrenaline fueled, Marines doing battle with low FPS spring action guns.

I hesitated to open the door since my room was the first line of defense between 1st and 2nd. When I finally poked my head out I saw that the two platoons had dug themselves in and were ambushing anyone who crossed enemy lines. 1st platoon locked down the rec. room, which had the pool table and vending machines, while 2nd had a solid hold on the latter well and laundry room. As a member of 2nd it became our goal to liberate the rec room and reestablish our superiority over the deck.

2nd took the initiative and began to launch full-scale assaults on 1st Platoon's wing. Both sides quickly adapted to the limits of the weaponry, and began to attack in Napoleonic fashion by firing in consecutive volleys. To this day I have not seen anyone charge a spring pistol faster then Marines jacked on caffeine, adrenaline, rage, and PTSD.

The battle raged on, lines faltered and regrouped, no progress was made on either side. Suddenly, a Marine cloaked in a hooded trench coat came stomping up the stairs in black jungle boots and joined the fight. Naturally, both platoons opened up on the assumingly innocent bystander, but the figure stood astute as translucent bb's bounced off his thick jacket.

The unidentified target then pulled from his coat two silver, not clear, semi automatic, not spring, DEAGLES, and proceeded to lay waste to everyone around him. It was one of the Comm guys from HQ platoon unleashing POG-ish rage on anyone in his path. It seemed appropriate since he came off as one of those "trench coat mafia" types.

Regardless, neither side made any headway and things more or less went back to "normal" for the next week or so. There were a few skirmishes here and there, but nothing like the first day, which brought everyone out. After awhile I began to feel comfortable playing pool or buying chips in the once hotly contested rec room. Another week allowed me to walk the hallways somewhat confident I wouldn't be ambushed.

Over time I built a complacency that was fostered by the fact that it seemed everyone had Airsoft out of their system. One Sunday I decided to do laundry without a sidearm, and as soon as the door shut behind me four Marines from 1st Platoon stormed in to the room. Three of them had Airsoft spring guns while the fourth was armed with a broom.

They came after me with a blood vengeance in their eyes. The three with Airsoft guns provided suppressive fire while the fourth assaulted with the broomstick handle. All I could think to myself was "complacency kills" as I dropped my load of laundry, dodged the broom man, and barreled through the three gunmen.

I ran to my room wondering where the rest of 2nd platoon was when four Marines from 1st were deep in our territory. No help came as I scrambled for my door, bb's flew all around me, I could hear their shouts getting closer. I charged in to my room and tried to shut the door behind me, but the broom man managed to wedge his weapon in between the doorframe. The gunmen blindly shot in to the room. Airsoft bb's ricocheted off windows, glass, and the T.V. I pushed against the door with all my weight as I screamed for my hung over roommate to wake up and help.

He groggily shuffled over to the door and helped to some extent as I turned and leveraged my weight against the broom which snapped the handle in half. The door slammed shut and muffled out the four assaulter?s jeers.

This would not do, I could not misrepresent 2nd and allow 1st to think they could get away with unprovoked assault.

Quickly, I opened up my wall locker and removed my Kevlar, Goggles, Flak Jacket, and Isomat; I donned the gear, unrolled the Isomat for a shield, and prepared to do battle. I bent over and picked up the broomstick handle to use as a baton, and readied myself to explode through the door onto my enemies.

My half drunken roommate flung the door open and I charged towards the assailants with a scream. They immediately broke ranks and began to run for 1st Platoon's wing. A couple of the gunmen tried to shoot while they ran, but the Airsoft bbs harmlessly deflected off the Isomat. They had nowhere to run in the confined space of the hallway. I chased each one down with my homemade baton and employed newly learned riot control tactics. The four Marines from 1st dispersed like buckshot and left me in total control of the second deck.

High on life, I ran back to my room and immediately dialed home with my VoIP phone. I barely gave my parents time to say hello before I started filling their ears with stories of conquest and this thing called Airsoft. My parents cut me off mid-sentence as soon as I mentioned Airsoft and informed me that they were going to make a small investment in Airsoft guns to resell.

I was astonished to hear that one of my dad's employees from his glass shop was heavy in to the sport and had convinced my parents to buy AEGs from a place called Redwolf and resell them to the local community; Airsoft Pacific.

Needless to say I was excited to hear this news, but didn't imagine that my parents small investment into Airsoft would have grown into the company it is today: Airsoft Outlet Northwest.