As with any skill, practice makes perfect…or at least better. Same goes for being a Range Officer. The RO seminar is just the first step, it’s sort of like your learner’s permit for driving. To become a skilled RO, it takes practice.
The goal of the RO seminar is to get you familiar with the rules, the range commands, and the many, many other things that you should watch for when you monitor competitors through the course of fire. Will you be a rules expert with keen vision to observe all things by the end of class? No, but you should have a very good appreciation for the rules knowledge and skills of experienced ROs who make the job look easy. Think of it this way, most folks in our sport who want to excel and gain higher classifications practice shooting. Well, to become a skilled RO it also takes practice.
Yeah, I know that holding the timer can be intimidating and/or scary. But after you do it a bit, you realize it isn’t a big deal. Most of the time, everything goes as planned. Competitor shoots the stage and doesn’t earn any penalties and is easy to officiate. But, it is when things go awry that you learn more.
Yes, it can be stressful when things go wrong or you have to apply a penalty or that dreaded DQ. But don’t freak out and stay calm. Remember when you RO, you are part of a team. The immediate team on the stage is the timer RO, scorekeeper RO, and sometimes a third or fourth RO at major matches. Get together and discuss what everyone saw to confirm the call. Sometimes only one RO was in a position to see what happened, and that is fine. Still have the one who saw it tell the other ROs and they can help confirm the call per the rules. If the crew can’t come to a consensus, or the competitor disagrees, call the Range Master. The RM is there to clarify rules, ensure the correct call was made, and further discuss things with the competitor if needed.
Don’t be upset if you stop a competitor for something you thought was a DQ, but turns out to not be or if the RM scores a target hit differently. These are all learning opportunities. It doesn’t matter if you are a RO, CRO, RM or even a RMI we are all still learning the rules. The rulebook is rather long and has many parts that sometimes need to be used together to get a complete rules picture. Are mistakes made by range officials at matches, yes it can happen. Do we hope that the mistakes are caught before the final scores are posted so we can fix them? Yes! This is why it is important to call the RM if you are ever questioning if the correct call was made.
How do you get practice as a RO? Local matches are great places to hone your range commands, get comfortable with the timer and tablet, and scoring targets. You don’t need to RO the entire squad, but do a few shooters each stage. If the entire squad shares the RO duties, then everyone can still focus on shooting — the reason we are all involved with this sport!
Once you are comfortable working local matches, up your game and work your section or state match. Contact the match director early if you are interested in working. And after you work a major match, make sure to log your work on your NROI Work Record. Entering the section or state match on your NROI Work Record, gives you a “RO resume” that is viewable by match directors for larger majors like Area and Nationals matches. If you want to work an Area match, I also recommend reaching out the the MD months before the match, like as soon as you hear when and where it will be. For Nationals, the staff application usually opens in January on the USPSA website for all nationals for that year. Watch for the announcement and don’t wait to submit your application because we accept staff as the applications come in until we are full (doesn’t take long).
The take home message of this post is: Congrats on your new RO certification! But now you need to go out and use it! Doing the job is the best way to become a great RO!