{"id":423,"date":"2025-05-23T18:45:06","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T18:45:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/littlecedarfarm.ca\/?p=423"},"modified":"2025-06-08T09:22:52","modified_gmt":"2025-06-08T09:22:52","slug":"obligatorisches-schiessen-or-as-jason-called-it-mandatory-cheese-shooting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/littlecedarfarm.ca\/?p=423","title":{"rendered":"Obligatorisches Schiessen, or as Jason translated it – Mandatory Cheese Shooting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I\u2019ll be the first to admit that I\u2019ve never paid much attention to the military history of Switzerland. Of course, everyone knows about famous Swiss neutrality. The country hasn\u2019t been involved in a war for centuries. So it felt a little incongruent to learn that military training is still mandatory here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almost all Swiss men are conscripted into service at age 18, where they complete basic training and then attend regular refresher courses well into their 30s or 40s. A logical part of that training? Proficiency with their service weapon<\/strong>\u2014which includes annual mandatory shooting practice<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, most of you who know me know my history with guns is limited\u2014mostly of the water or Nerf variety. Occasionally, I\u2019ve graduated to heavier artillery, like when a friend once lent me a pellet gun to shoot at a wasp nest. That\u2019s about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So when Yvan invited me to join him at the rifle range for their obligatory shooting day, I said yes… albeit a little hesitantly. I was genuinely curious. That\u2019s how I found myself piled into a local French chef\u2019s Renault hatchback with Celine, David, Yvan, and Gaetan, on our way to the range. Most of the plans were lost in translation, but I did catch one very important detail: after shooting, there would be a raclette party<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that<\/em> I was trained for. I may not know my way around a SIG assault rifle, but I\u2019m fully proficient with a raclette machine\u2014at least the Wal-Mart version we have back home. So the deal was: shoot, eat cheese, drink wine, party. Who wouldn\u2019t say yes?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

We arrived at the range, and it was… serious-looking. To be fair, this was the first rifle range I\u2019d ever visited\u2014well, technically the second, if you count the time I walked through the RCMP range we helped build back in Chilliwack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were all required to show ID, which made sense. That\u2019s when I realized I\u2019d given most of mine to Sheila for safekeeping. No passport, no driver\u2019s license\u2014just my Costco card. Apparently, that was good enough. I must\u2019ve looked sufficiently badass in my Costco photo, because next thing I knew, I was handed a weapon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My \u201cbasic training\u201d was exactly that: a very kind Swiss man who spoke zero English showed me the long pointy side where the shooty part comes out (technical terms), held up a diagram of a rifle sight, pointed toward a tiny row of black squares on the far wall, and nodded. Then he showed me the safety switch, smiled, and sent us upstairs to join the rest of the Swiss snipers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, for those of you familiar with the 80\/20 rule, don\u2019t be too horrified. Yes, this all sounds insane\u2014handing a total novice a weapon designed to hit a five-franc coin at 300 meters\u2014but let\u2019s just say some creative license was taken in the last paragraph. Mostly for entertainment. Mostly.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s what\u2019s not embellished: after a brief tutorial and being handed 18 rounds to fire at a tiny A10 target (with a 10 cm bullseye, 300 meters away, iron sights only\u2014no scope, no gadgets), I actually managed to hit the reasonable vicinity of the target 12 times. Not bad for someone who\u2019d never shot a real gun before. Probably not enough to qualify for my Obligatorisches Schiessen, but also not bad enough to embarrass myself\u2014or my friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was feeling pretty good… until I saw the scores of my compatriots, who were casually collecting their marksmanship medals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Adrenaline still pumping, I headed downstairs\u2014only to find out the best part of the day was still to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we were getting our scores and thanking the woman at the front desk, she turned around, opened what looked like a bank-grade safe, and pulled out a huge half-wheel of raclette cheese, which she handed to Yvan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was stunned. Turns out, if you bring five people to complete their obligatory shooting at this range, you get cheese. Incredible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At that moment, I was genuinely considering signing up for Swiss service. I began wondering what kind of military service might be required to earn free chocolate, or maybe fondue kits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yvan explained that he and his friends come here specifically for the cheese bonus. The range, struggling to attract shooters, had introduced the “free raclette” incentive. It worked. Yvan and his crew now make it a tradition: go shooting, earn cheese, and host a raclette potluck the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s genius.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And for me, it\u2019s now officially one of the most uniquely Swiss experiences of the trip so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ll be the first to admit that I\u2019ve never paid much attention to the military history of Switzerland. Of course, everyone knows about famous Swiss neutrality. The country hasn\u2019t been involved in a war for centuries. So it felt a little incongruent to learn that military training is still mandatory here. Almost all Swiss men […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":515,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adventure","category-friends-and-family"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/littlecedarfarm.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/266366c1-c044-4863-a8d3-7459ef4688e8.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/littlecedarfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/littlecedarfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/littlecedarfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/littlecedarfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/littlecedarfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=423"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/littlecedarfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":518,"href":"https:\/\/littlecedarfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423\/revisions\/518"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/littlecedarfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/littlecedarfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/littlecedarfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/littlecedarfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}