LTAC Pennsylvania Light Fighter Challenge VI - After Action Report

Event: PA Light Fighter Challenge VI

Event Date: 9/19/2026

Location: Long Shot Ammo & Arms, Fairmount City, Pennsylvania.

Finishing contestants: 44

Overview

I departed home at 1:30PM Friday to head to Long Shot and arrived Friday night a little late and got camp set up and introduced them to the usual characters.

Saturday morning had great weather which was a relief and we staged packs and gear. We got registered and were issued our entry bags (map, t-shirt, sticker/coupon bag) before getting split up into one of three groups to start the ruck.

After completing the hike for time, we took a rest and waited for our group of friends to finish the hike so we could do the challenges together. We started with the three shooting stages before moving to the rest of the challenges, each were manned by cadre who explained the task and a bit of the history behind it and the concept of a light fighter.

Closing ceremony took a while to complete the scoring as usual, but was nice to hang around, eat chili, and swap stories with the guys. This is always one of the best parts of LFC. This year the prize table was robust, which was great to see. Sponsors like Geissele, True North, Aimpoint, Gorilla Outfitters, all donated prizes. I won first in the Kim’s game which got me a prize from True North Concepts (Gripstop and holster bracket) and overall I placed 7th which got me some additional prizes from Geissele (Charging handle and SSA-e trigger) and another green PA Light Fighter tab to my collection.

Stages + level of prep I did within 6 months prior

1. Rucking 4/5

2. Shooting 4/5

3. Kim’s Game 1/5

4. First Aid 2/5

5. Fire Starting 3/5

6. Shovel throwing 0/5

7. Archery 3/5

8. Rappelling 0/5

9. Machine Gun 1/5

Stages

1. Rucking. This year was different in that they split the contestants into three groups, starting 5 minutes after each other. I was in the 3rd group. Overall, I struggled to jog for more than 2 minutes at a time and then slowed down, failure to keep a quick cadence. I think this was more so a lack of training endurance jogging over the leg pain I was going through. This year’s trail had a lot of varying terrain and seemed to span a big part of the property, which I really loved. The final hill at mile 7 was very hard. I finished the 7.98 miles at 2 hours 29 minutes (17th place)

2. Rifle 20 rds. For this stage, 3 targets were placed lining up towards the firing line. The middle target was a threat and the front and back were no-shoots. Shooter had to move laterally in a line from cone to cone firing 20 rounds, without hitting the no-shoots. Each round into the no-shoot counted as 5 misses. I scored 19/20 hits on target.

3. Rifle 30. Paper target at 80 yards. Three LTAC barricades in between. At start, shooter had to shoot 10 rounds from the first target, move to the 2nd and shoot 10 more, then low crawl to the third to shoot the final 10. I used my bipod for this stage. Zero misses.

4. Rifle 10. Steel target at 80 yards. Typically, in the past, this stage was a standing unsupported shot. It was a relief to see that this stage was a prone position shot. Once again, I used my bipod but other people used their ruck as support. Zero misses.

5. Kim’s Game. Memorization stage. Our group walked a trail in the woods together where objects were placed in the woods (Random things like a stapler, egg carton, Rubik’s cube, etc.) Upon returning to the start, the timer would start and we had to disassemble our rifle and the bolt carrier group, then list every object we could remember. I used the strategy of creating a story in my mind with all the items used. I wrote down 19/20 which was the high score overall.

6. First Aid. Under the clock we were to apply a makeshift tourniquet with provided bandanas and whatever we could find around us or in our kit as a windlass. I used my bipod. My buddy and I went together and he completed his a few seconds before me. Doing a DIY TQ was something I have never done before. My time was 0:58 and place 28th.

7. Fire-Starting. Standard challenge of burning a string for time using provided 2x4, wax fiber, and matches. Timer started when you started to process wood. I spent a lot of time processing the wood, which in turn resulted in a fast fire reaching the flame. One key strategy I did was to stick a large piece of wood into the dirt leading directly up to the string, which I then leaned the rest of my fire structure against. Building a small base for airflow beneath my fire was also key. My time was 7:21, which was not bad but would have been better if I spent less time processing wood, some of which I didn't even use. But better safe than sorry.

8. Spetznaz Shovel-Throwing. Pretty straightforward. Throw three shovels at a wooden board. Stuck hits for points. I got 1/3 hits. This was a new stage this year and I’ve never thrown a shovel in my life.

9. Archery. A new stage using a traditional bow which I liked more than the previous years (crossbow). Low crawl to the bow and make a shot at 5 yards on an archery target, then pick up a weighted dummy to carry back to start point. I got 2/3 hits.

10. Rappel. New stage this year which was pretty cool. Hook into a harness and done a basic rappel down a 15’ cliff. This was a pass/fail.

11. Machine gun. Simple pass/fail and was the “fun stage”. 10 rounds full auto in a M249 SAW on a stationary tripod. Very cool addition to this year’s challenge.

Scoring analysis

My final score was 26.042 points for 7th place. Third place finished with 21.942 points, meaning I was only 4.100 points away from the podium. First place finished with 13.100 points.

The shovel stage was perhaps the biggest single scoring opportunity. I scored 1/3 hits for 6.67 points. One additional hit would have significantly improved my overall score, and going 3/3 would have eliminated those points entirely (and gotten me 2nd place). The medical stage was another significant source of points, where I scored 5.00. Fire starting accounted for another 6.00 points, and the ruck contributed 4.00.

To get 1st place I would have needed to cut out 12.942 points. The margin between 2nd and 1st place was really high (6.65 points). So, while doing the math on how I could've gotten 2nd place was a close call, 1st place would have required a lot more (ex. 3/3 shovel hits + top finishers in med + 15 min quicker ruck)

The main lesson takeaway is that going from 95% shooting accuracy to 100% would increase success marginally, but doing those smaller, simpler tasks at a high level, and with a bit of luck garners greater chances at victory. However, that being said, getting above 90% shooting accuracy is a STANDARD that must be met to place top 10. Not a single top 10 placer got more than 3.00 points between the three shooting challenges.

So, in conclusion, the roadmap to a successful Light Fighter is: be able to ruck FAST, shoot accurately, and have a solid fire-starting strategy and agility.

Lessons Learned

● Rucking could have greatly improved if I kept up a consistent fast pace to shave down my time. I think that in the future, I will prioritize cardio/jogging a bit more.

● Having BOTH the tomahawk and the sheath knife together was extremely beneficial for the fire-starting. 80% of my work was with the axe as I could quickly split large pieces of wood, then the finer-tuned pieces, I split with the knife.

● KIT. I used my Miltec assault pack (which is smaller than my larger Kifaru pack), FHF Apex Belt, and FHF bino harness. My overall kit worked well. Some of it was overkill as there was no need for quick magazine or other item access, however “train/compete how you fight” is the mantra. This Kit setup has proven that it is effective, although realistically 1 additional magazine placement would be important.

● Various body functions were improved by medical aid. And I had a hotspot on the side of my foot ahead of time, that I added moleskin to. Lastly, as usual I keep medical lubricant in single use packs on my kit for inner leg use to prevent chafing. These things were super important and essential to have ready to go. Moleskin was NOT in my FA kit, and I got it from someone else, so that will certainly be getting added.

● Shooting challenges. I scored very high because my gun is set up for mid- to long-range precision shots. I took my time with my shots and had proper support.

● At the makeshift tourniquet stage, I could have scored MUCH higher if I was quicker there. I should have prioritized just getting the blood circ cut off ASAP instead of a perfectly near TQ hold. I've never done that before and getting it on felt foreign and was a learning process.

● The rappelling I've never done before and would love to get into that a few times in the next year.

Operational Takeaways

1. There were some preambles to the stages that I loved to see (Warriors’ Path ruck, the Kim’s game origin), but not all had them. I think at the first light fighter challenge, each stage had a written callback to light fighter warrior culture that related to each skill that was being tested. At ax-throwing, I asked Dante about Russian military history of the shovel. He had a good answer on the fly, but it was only because I asked him about it, no other participants got the history lesson that we got as far as I know. I think that EVERY stage should have either a written or oral (or both) callback to light fighter warriors of the past.

2. Going through some of the property that I hadn't seen before and looking at the parcel map, I’m further convinced that the property could support a sniper match. There are some clear areas that could support some 200-500 yard shots, in addition of course to the 1000 yard range. Would take some careful planning to determine safe lines of fire and how they would interact with each other + competitor lanes of travel. LTAC has a unique opportunity to create a novel sniper challenge that is different from the national circuit of other matches that are happening right now that would include much more than just marksmanship (observation, target ID, land nav, evasion, etc.)

3. I would like to see the shooting portion expanded to include a hit factor scoring stage for either rifle, pistol or both. However, I understand that LFC is designed for the entry-level shooter so shooting for time introduces a safety element to account for.

4. It would be good to see a precision shooting stage at long(ish)-range. A simple .308 bolt gun, you get three rounds to hit steel at 300 yards.

5. I had an idea that the Kim’s game or a similar-type challenge could be done at distance (200 yards) and that a contestant would have to observe a hillside with an optic for a time and record items like flag, chair, vehicle, cooler, target, etc.

6. Moving from stage to stage with a group in patrolling order was fun. Perhaps a version of light fighter could include incorporating land nav into that (a list of grid coordinates would lead to the stages instead of a map).

7. Shovel-throwing scoring was weighted crazy high (10 points for shovel throwing, 3 points for archery). Not sure if there was a reason for that.

8. This year, there was some physical build-up that was very valuable (the registration swag bags, the LTAC + Geiselle banners). It was good to see this for a few reasons. 1. Participants felt instant value with their registration, which set the tone early. 2. Legitimizes the event with physical media. 3. Participants bringing that stuff (stickers + T-shirts) home with them will have a reference point in the future to remember/talk about Light Fighter. Basically “free” advertising.

Would have also been good to see copies of the Light Fighter magazine on site for people to check out (maybe there was and I missed it).

9. I would like to see multiple challenges clustered together which I feel like was mostly achieved this year. Of course, all 3 shooting challenges were together, but also ax-throwing and archery were next to each other. Clustering directly next to each other reduces bottleneck. This year our group did not experience that issue.

10. Reducing the ruck from 8 miles to 6 miles might be beneficial to cut down on overall time and allow additional challenges. Having 10 challenges this year was a huge improvement from previous years.