1. Originally Posted by Jaime from Top Shot
Hey guys!
Sorry I haven't posted up in a while. I've been traveling home from Afghanistan (I am back home now) and trying to get my body back on schedule with the Western Hemisphere.
Thanks very much for all the continued support. I was especially proud of my showing with the 1911, and the Razorcat Race Gun. Not too shabby with the compound bow, and the tomahawk, either!
All of the drama between George and I is a little bit rediculous, and a little out of proportion, I think. All of us on the Red Team got along great 95% of the time, and were always respectful and friendly with each other. Me and Gunny, and Me and Chris Reed especially got along well. The editors have to cram 72 hours into 43 mintues of air time, and they cut it to create the atmosphere that they want to portray. At one point the producers told us that we were making them sick because we were all getting along so well, and not trash talking enough.
None of the competition or contestant interaction is scrpited. The only things that were scripted were some of the promo stuff we did for History (that I haven't seen aired yet).
Although nothing was scripted, sometimes during our interviews they would try to steer you towards something that they wanted you to say. For example: there were many interviews where they tried to get me to talk trash about George, and tried to steer me towards saying that he was singling me out, and picking on me, and that I was sick of it, etc.
I never wanted to say those things because - #1: I didn't want to sound like I was whining and crying, #2: I guess I'm incredibly naive because George and I got along pretty well 90% of the time. There was no way I could have known about him talking so much crap behind closed doors... I actually went so far as to defend George a few times when they (the producers) were trying to get me to call him out.
I didn't dislike George, and tried to be his friend, and we still keep in touch a little bit through FaceBook. George does have the skills to pay the bills when it comes to long range shooting, and there is A TON that I would like to learn from him. He definitely knows what he's doing and what he's talking about. His career field is Military Police, and he is qualified as a USAF Security Forces Counter-Sniper.
*BUT* he has attended the Army Sniper School (Bravo-4), and the USMC Scout Sniper Course, in addition to several Law Enforcement SWAT Sniper / Counter-Sniper courses. He has won numerous sniper competitons in the U.S. including the all-military "Top Sniper" competition in 2009. To win that competition he (and his spotter) made an 1800 yard shot on the first attempt. There are not many people in the whole world that could hit a man-sized target at 1800 yards with 1 shot.
I really tried as hard as I could to stay above the drama, and I wanted to represent THE ENTIRE US Navy with honor and integrity. It wasn't my goal to make friends, but I certainly didn't want to make enemies either. I was having fun, trying to shoot well, trying to be a stand-up guy, and make the most out of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.