Ngati Tumatauenga
12-31-2004, 06:23 PM
I came across this on LightFighter.net.
Huwijah, Iraq
There has been a misconception that there are no real shooters here in AO West, and that there is alot of Israli corner clearing, and pointing and clicking on the part of the insurgence. On July 29th, the locals in Huwijah proved us wrong.
On an IO mission into the city, a soldier was shot in the back of the back of the head while pulling security outside his vehicle. The HMMV was parked in a city street, flanked by 2 and 3 story buildings for about 6 blocks. The other soldiers from his stick did not here the report, but the round entered his skull and penetrated his cheeck below the left orbit, leading me to believe it was a high-powered, hot load; most likley AP. I say this because the wound was relatively clean.
The previous week, a Terp. was hit (also a head shot) while riding in the back of a HMMV moving 35 MPH. In both cases, the victims were wearing MITCH Helmets, and IBA.
The point? After the msot recent incident, we deployed a sniper team during hours of darkness. Due to the urban setting, we did several feint drops, in order to help mask their true hide sight. The gunner and the spotter were the two most experienced in our unit. They sat in their hide with 4 hour commo windows, and did not raise above their cover for anything. Thirteen hours later, the team was told to break down and move to the PZ. No more than 1 minute after the spotter got up to pull back, they recieved 2 shots, once again with no report, which both hit the rooftop in betweent them. They could not fix the POO.
Whoever is there is trained, and disciplined. Our team got a reality check, and there is a finite gun game going on in that city. The fact that he missed his shots baffles me as much as the fact that he waited out these two scouts for as long as he did. How he detected them in the first place...
A dismount patrol a few days ago turned up a singal cardboard box that carried some 7.62 match grade ammo. Unfortunately, I did not get the specs from that find, but I did here it was not NATO.
I personally have survived IED, and RPG attacks, but the thought of a well trained sniper stocking the streets, puts a little skidmark in my shorts. Any other experience like this?
I've heard several anecdotes over the last year of highly professional insurgent shooters at work throughout Iraq. One in particular related to a Syrian SF team(s) sent to Fallujah some months ago in response to the effect USMC Scout/Snipers were having on insurgent activity in that city.
It just goes to show that there are other Armed Forces out there that train certain elements of their forces to a standard that can match western forces, man for man.
Something to think about.
Huwijah, Iraq
There has been a misconception that there are no real shooters here in AO West, and that there is alot of Israli corner clearing, and pointing and clicking on the part of the insurgence. On July 29th, the locals in Huwijah proved us wrong.
On an IO mission into the city, a soldier was shot in the back of the back of the head while pulling security outside his vehicle. The HMMV was parked in a city street, flanked by 2 and 3 story buildings for about 6 blocks. The other soldiers from his stick did not here the report, but the round entered his skull and penetrated his cheeck below the left orbit, leading me to believe it was a high-powered, hot load; most likley AP. I say this because the wound was relatively clean.
The previous week, a Terp. was hit (also a head shot) while riding in the back of a HMMV moving 35 MPH. In both cases, the victims were wearing MITCH Helmets, and IBA.
The point? After the msot recent incident, we deployed a sniper team during hours of darkness. Due to the urban setting, we did several feint drops, in order to help mask their true hide sight. The gunner and the spotter were the two most experienced in our unit. They sat in their hide with 4 hour commo windows, and did not raise above their cover for anything. Thirteen hours later, the team was told to break down and move to the PZ. No more than 1 minute after the spotter got up to pull back, they recieved 2 shots, once again with no report, which both hit the rooftop in betweent them. They could not fix the POO.
Whoever is there is trained, and disciplined. Our team got a reality check, and there is a finite gun game going on in that city. The fact that he missed his shots baffles me as much as the fact that he waited out these two scouts for as long as he did. How he detected them in the first place...
A dismount patrol a few days ago turned up a singal cardboard box that carried some 7.62 match grade ammo. Unfortunately, I did not get the specs from that find, but I did here it was not NATO.
I personally have survived IED, and RPG attacks, but the thought of a well trained sniper stocking the streets, puts a little skidmark in my shorts. Any other experience like this?
I've heard several anecdotes over the last year of highly professional insurgent shooters at work throughout Iraq. One in particular related to a Syrian SF team(s) sent to Fallujah some months ago in response to the effect USMC Scout/Snipers were having on insurgent activity in that city.
It just goes to show that there are other Armed Forces out there that train certain elements of their forces to a standard that can match western forces, man for man.
Something to think about.