The one time that I played at Operation Paintball in Graham was my last time. The employees, to be polite, were less than professional. They were talking crap about players, their equipment, different PB fields, PB shops, and to top it off the store owner who's PB shop is frequented by the staff and "team."

You know it's bad when the employees who are not working but playing, intentially shoot hot and allow other employees and friends to shoot hot. When the issue is brought to their (ref's) attention, they ignore the genuine safety concern, make excuses for the player (saying, "he works here, he knows the rules" or "he's using a different type of paint -- double shelled," etc.,) and not chrono their markers even when people continue to raise the issue. Then they talk crap amongst each other, calling other players whiners. (I saw it happen and I overheard the conversations.)

The funny thing is I wrote a review for the field (on another website/forum) and brought up my concerns and of course the manager replied with a standard, customer service-type, PC answer.

Last week, I went to the local PB shop (because it was too late to head over to the shop I usually frequent in Tacoma,) for some o-rings and happened to bump into the owner/manager of OP. He was talking about how he was working the weekend and wanted the shop employee to work for him. She refused, said she didn't like working there, how she hated all the newbs, etc. I casually got into the conversation and mentioned our little excursion. He told me that he fired a bunch of people, tried to ensure me that things are different, and that I should come out again. The shop employee added to the conversation about how a manager (same guy who responded to my review) was shooting hot the last time she worked at the field. Nice.

In all fairness, the field itself was nice. The staff on the other hand is the field's downfall.

OP is BYOP or you can purchase field paint; whether you buy paint from them or bring your own, it ends up being a wash, the same price. One field fee is included with half a case, two with a full case.

Air is not included in the field fee. It is an additional $10.

Pros:
- Good variety of fields (they have five but we only played four, their Jungle field was overgrown)
- Good variety of games

Cons:
- Turn around time between games
- Staff, specifically the refs
- Unchecked use of profanities (there was ALOT of crap talking through out the day, not good for a field that is suppose to be "family-friendly")    

Good review! Thanks for telling us where NOT go play. Sounds like a good way to get hurt with people shooting hot.

Ok I have played @ Operation a bunch. To be honest I think I have played there more than any other field. The previous review given is pretty accurate. The fields at operation are top notch. They have a speedball(not my bag baby), an urban course, a hamburger hill, and a sniper course(thick brush). The only thing that I ever had a problem with was the staff. Everyone in the shack where you rent is pretty nice. They are good at having someone manning the air tanks but the refs are the big downfall. They can't get a game going in under 20 minutes. They DO allow their friends to shoot hot and ignore the saftey rules. ( I mentioned it to a ref once and got the same answer that that other guy got which was, "He works here he knows the rules" Well if thats true then that means he is INTENTIALLY shooting hot and should have been immediately fired!! I have also witness team stacking, paint wiping, and alot of profanity. The paint wiping wouldnt be such a problem if the refs did anything but stand on the net the entire games. Long story short...Operation Paintball has great fields!!! It is a great place to take large private groups. But if you are looking for a fair walk on game I recommend Forest Fire in Lake Stevens.

good reviews guys, im from tacoma but have lived in central oregon for the last 6 years. was thinking about getting some friends together and heading up there for some games. atleast now i know a lil better of where not to go.



chomelian out.

Hye if you are looking for a big game in Oregon you should go to HonorBound 07 in Ontario Oregon!!! Heres the link!! There's gonna be alot of A5OGers down there! http://www.genesispaintball.org/HonorBound/index.php

im going to be going to TAW gheist recon this weekend and TAW underworld in october as a birthday present from my wife. decided to not go to honourbound this year. have too many things going on in september. thx for the suggestion though. ill probably go to honourbound next year though.

So you went to Honorbound last year?? How was it? Whats the field like? Was it organized? I am coming all the way from Seattle to go, so I wanna make sure I am not gonna be wasting my time.

i didnt go last year though a lot of my friends went. this year is supposed to be crazy. simulated blowing up of a bridge as an objective. i know the firefights are going to be crazy as well. ull get a chance to meet a lot of awesome people out there.it will be loads of fun. would like to go just cant make it this year.

Iv played there twice and I dont want to go back!!! The refs redid the teams every game and the refs wernt very helpful I got called out twice just because I had a little splatter. The feilds are small like 100yd by 60yd and the feild always seems overgrown.

down!!!

That sounds horrible, sorry to hear that. The refs and other staff at a field are very important so to hear about them acting like that is just sad.

However "unchecked use of profanities" pretty much describes my life.