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Why the Marines have failed to adopt a new sniper rifle in the past 14 years
Washington Post ^ | 6-13-15 | Thomas Gibbons-Neff

Posted on 06/13/2015 4:58:11 PM PDT by Second Amendment First

It was the summer of 2011 in southern Helmand province, Afghanistan, and mission after mission, Sgt. Ben McCullar of Third Battalion, Second Marines, would insert with his eight-man sniper team into the berms and dunes north of the volatile town of Musa Qala.

Sometimes they would fire at a group of enemy fighters, sometimes the enemy would fire at them first, but almost immediately, McCullar explained, their team would be pinned down by machine guns that outranged almost all of their sniper rifles.

“They’d set up at the max range of their [machine guns] and start firing at us,” McCullar said. “We’d take it until we could call in [close air support] or artillery.”

The story of McCullar and his snipers is not an isolated one. For 14 years, Marine snipers have suffered setbacks in combat that, they say, have been caused by outdated equipment and the inability of the Marine Corps to provide a sniper rifle that can perform at the needed range.

They trace the problem to the relatively small Marine sniper community that doesn’t advocate effectively for itself because it is made up of junior service members and has a high turnover rate.Additionally, snipers say that the Marine Corps’ weapons procurement process is part of an entrenched bureaucracy resistant to change.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: banglist
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To: Second Amendment First

TOO MUCH FEDERAL Givernment effects every one BADLY from rich to poor 24/7/365... black, white, mulatto, latin, asian, eye rollers, sodomists, bully’s, wimp’s, man, women, the confused, religious, atheist, smart, dumb.. or almost dead..

Even the SUPER-Equal with license to commit crime are effected..

The absolute LAST THING the federal givernment needs is MORE MONEY..
The patriotic thing is to HIDE EVERY SHECKLE you have.. from being taxed.. liened, penalty-ied, attached, stolen, permited, licensed, or purloined in some other fashion....

MONEY is drug to the feds.. and their HIGH as Moonbats on it..
And will PimP Lady Liberty as a whore to get MORE..
Uncle Sam is an ADDICT...


21 posted on 06/13/2015 5:56:14 PM PDT by hosepipe (This propaganda has been edited (specifically) to include some fully orbed hyperbole..)
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To: ansel12

I can only tell you that, if I did my job as a 2LT, the spotting round was out in a few minutes. Obviously, if Arty had other business, it took longer. But, if I couldn’t get Bn 4.2’s, I went to the 105’s, and then the 155’s.

Then point is, tubes were our ‘snipers’ and they were always available on short notice.

ARA wasn’t bad and there were still some A4D’s around when I was there. ‘Fast Movers’ were always welcomed with nervousness.


22 posted on 06/13/2015 6:00:52 PM PDT by x1stcav (Why does Eleanor Clift always look like her private parts are causing her acute pain?)
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To: x1stcav

One of my contributions to speed, was to, just as the digging was almost finished, to go grab the 200, or 220 pound (at the time) spade, off of the whatever it was called, and carry it back to connect it in the hole, that also freed up another man to do something else, while two guys handled the other spade.


23 posted on 06/13/2015 6:09:08 PM PDT by ansel12
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To: rey

My CO in Turkey was a US Army Artillery branch mustang. He was given his commission as LT for valor during the VietNam war. That dude was a freakin war god.

The only thing I could compare him to is LT. Spears in “Band of Brothers”. I don’t have the words to explain how incredible he was.


24 posted on 06/13/2015 6:09:16 PM PDT by Tailback
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To: Tailback

If I’m in my cups and somebody asks a stupid question such as ‘Who are You’ I respond that I am Samuel Whittemore, Ronald Spears, and Frank Slade.

Spears is one of my favorite people and when I grow up, I want to be just like him.

(Unfortunately, I’m more like Slade.)


25 posted on 06/13/2015 6:15:11 PM PDT by x1stcav (Why does Eleanor Clift always look like her private parts are causing her acute pain?)
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To: lostboy61

I prefer the Cheytac M200 .408.


26 posted on 06/13/2015 6:30:17 PM PDT by SVTCobra03 (You can never have enough friends, horsepower or ammunition.)
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To: x1stcav
should put some of those friggin lawyers on the line and see how much lag time gets cut from the process...
27 posted on 06/13/2015 6:34:15 PM PDT by Chode (Stand UP and Be Counted, or line up and be numbered - *DTOM* -w- NO Pity for the LAZY)
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To: Chode

No sh!t.


28 posted on 06/13/2015 6:35:57 PM PDT by x1stcav (Why does Eleanor Clift always look like her private parts are causing her acute pain?)
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To: hosepipe
Affects.
29 posted on 06/13/2015 6:38:09 PM PDT by arthurus (It's true!)
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To: ansel12

There is no way in hell you could get any 155 to do a hipshot fire mission: you must be thinking of the M101A1 105mm howitzer. The old M114 had to be laboriously pumped up on its firing platform and the spades installed at the end of the trails. It was called “the Pig” for a reason. The later M198 took 12 minutes of frantic and dangerous flailing to be ready to fire With the M101A1 and plenty of practice, we could pull off the road, spread trails, pick out the alternate aiming point and have a round in the air in 30 seconds.

That round usually wasn’t real close but an FO could adjust fast and we’d six guns firing for effect on target in about a minute and a half.


30 posted on 06/13/2015 6:40:59 PM PDT by Chainmail (A simple rule of life: if you can be blamed, you're responsible.)
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To: Chainmail

No, I’m talking about the 155, and I don’t think that it took us 12 minutes.


31 posted on 06/13/2015 6:48:28 PM PDT by ansel12
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To: Second Amendment First

Remington 700


32 posted on 06/13/2015 6:48:58 PM PDT by ForYourChildren (Christian Education [ RomanRoadsMedia.com - Classical Christian Approach to Homeschool ])
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To: Second Amendment First

Gays, females and LBGT folks don’t want to be snipers?


33 posted on 06/13/2015 6:52:15 PM PDT by yetidog
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To: Chode

Good idea.

L


34 posted on 06/13/2015 6:52:47 PM PDT by Lurker (Violence is rarely the answer. But when it is it is the only answer.)
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To: ansel12
I was an 81mm mortar FO. Generally speaking, we could get the first rounds out in about 90 seconds after I called the FDC with the fire mission. Obviously, the tubes were already laid in.

The arty FO team with our company said it usually took about 5 minutes for them to get rounds out, usually 105's. Not sure if 155's took longer. Obviously, 175's, 8 inchers and the New Jersey took a bit longer. Nowadays, with computers instead of the old whiz-wheel, calculations should be about instantaneous!

Fast movers usually took 10-15 minutes, if we were lucky, unless someone was coming back from up North with ordnance left. We had Spads (A-1 Skyraiders), A-4, F-4, an occasional Cobra and one night Spooky saved our bacon.

35 posted on 06/13/2015 6:55:07 PM PDT by BwanaNdege
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To: rey

When I was in I had the M-24. I could hit accurately out to about 700 meters or so. You could buy something at Cabelas tomorrow morning that would outperform what I used back in the early 80s.

There’s no excuse for this. None.

Semper Fi,

L


36 posted on 06/13/2015 6:55:55 PM PDT by Lurker (Violence is rarely the answer. But when it is it is the only answer.)
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To: x1stcav

“... go up through the JAG types...”

AKA, the political officer.


37 posted on 06/13/2015 6:59:41 PM PDT by RetiredTexasVet (Government sponsored organized crime (other than Chicago) ... government worker unions!)
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To: RetiredTexasVet

Yeah, no sh!t.


38 posted on 06/13/2015 7:01:09 PM PDT by x1stcav (Why does Eleanor Clift always look like her private parts are causing her acute pain?)
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To: Lurker
-ANG-LAWLICO...
39 posted on 06/13/2015 7:02:06 PM PDT by Chode (Stand UP and Be Counted, or line up and be numbered - *DTOM* -w- NO Pity for the LAZY)
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To: al baby

Obamarifles ?


40 posted on 06/13/2015 7:04:02 PM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks ("If he were working for the other side, what would he be doing differently ?")
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