Fighting around Fallujah a Marine sniper's 'dream'

LA Times via Omaha World-Herald ^ | April 17th, 2004 | Unknown @ LA TIMES

[Hat-Trick]

FALLUJAH, Iraq - Taking a short breather Friday, the 21-year-old Marine corporal explained what it was like to practice his lethal skill in the battle for this city.

"It's a sniper's dream," he said. "You can go anywhere, and there are so many ways to fire at the enemy without him knowing where you are."

The role of snipers has become a significant tactic for Marines in this "Sunni Triangle" city. Marine experts say Fallujah is among the most "target-rich" battlefields for snipers since the World War II battle for Stalingrad, during which German and Russian snipers dueled for months.

In negotiations aimed at ending the standoff in the city, the insurgents have demanded that the Marines pull back their snipers.

A shaky truce exists between the Marines who surround the city and the fighters within the circle.

But the cease-fire allows the Marines to carry out defensive operations within the city, which, among other things, they define as allowing fire on insurgents who display weapons, break the curfew or move their forces toward U.S. troops.

[lonevoice]

Good post...LOL!

[Prince Charles]

Marine snipers, whose motto is "one shot, one kill," fire from rooftops in crowded urban areas of Fallujah, as well as exploring the city by foot. It sometimes takes hours to set up a shot, as the sniper hides in the distance, waiting for the opportune moment.

Good hunting son.

[river rat]

"I'm kinda partial to the .50 version, 'reach out, reach out and touch someone'"

A "shooter" close to the family, mentioned that several shooters in Afghanistan, along the eastern border with Pakistan - preferred the .50 BMG for "work".

NOT because of the range or target involved -- but because "It left a hell of a mess for the target's friends to clean up"......"sent an ugly message"....

In another case -- on a narrow mountain road - the .50 BMG would be used to "disable the pickup", and then shoot the passengers as they bailed out...

Semper Fi

[curmudgeonII]

But...Gee whiz...The snipers might hurt somebody if they're not very careful.

[blackie]

"Target Rich Environment" ~ Bump!

We are winning ~ the bad guys are losing ~ trolls, terrorists, democrats and the mainstream media are sad ~ very sad!

~~ Bush/Cheney 2004 ~~

[Flyer]

Have ya read this yet?

[pragmatic_asian]

We did pull the snipers out. Unfortunately for the terrorists, the Marine snipers are still withing their effective kill range.

[humblegunner]

I wish I were there.. I've got a new rifle to break in. :-(

[TASMANIANRED]

If they are wearing a black mask and carring an rpg shoot it.

[Liberty Valance]

Enemies at the gate bump!

[Kewz1]

"The terrorists don't know where the snipers are, uhh sure we pulled em out just like you asked."

That's exactly what I was thinking!

[Jewels1091]

Ok, this is a bragging moment...the top sniper is from...ready? NEBRASKA!!! He said the competetion was firce, he went up against officers from other countries from all over the world. But he said those guys haven't been hunting since they were 5 so that helped. He said most of the snipers are from the midwestern states (hunting states & RED states) and that they always compete among themselves...you know that state pride thing!

[Hun in the sun]

U are a Doctor?

Shame one you.

Hun

[IDontLikeToPayTaxes]

thanks for that. I believe the war against "radical islam" is the perfect application for ole Billy!

I think he called his gattling gun either "Painless" or "ol' Painless"

[spodefly]

Jihadist head = pink mist BUMP.

[Hun in the sun]

"One of my former students did some sniper work in Iraq...he's airborne. This is the weapon he used...he was telling my class about one shot he took one day...his spotter started laughing..."what are you laughing at...is he still on the roof?"..."uh...well, half of him still is."

Deja vu...

My father was a student in 1943, when a hero
told the class how to kill Russians.

Hun

[MindBender26]

Upgraded M-14.

Don't know if it was the "official" upgrade or just one that the armorers worked on. Had a bedded stock, great trigger, stock relieved up front, good scope. We shot known ranges to landmarks in the target area.

Spotting scope was something we got from the Squids (Navy guys) at Go Di Hah.

We configured a home-made silencer for it. Wasn't that good, but was much better than nothing. As far as bullet crack, he loved to shoot when resupply birds were working in the area. Lots of helo noise.

If I remember, he would also turn off gas cylinder. That would make it manually operated, but that was fine for this application.

We tried to get NM ammo, but could not. He liked to de-link M-60 belts for ammo. Thought it was better than conventional 7.62 ball. No idea if it was, but he thought so, so we went with it.

We also recovered a high powered automatic electric 40mm grenade launcher from a downed Cobra. Worked great. Mounted it on a modified Ma Duce tripod. It shot the same projectile as a M-79 chunker, but threw it about 2 klicks. Great for H&I and Slopes in the wire/treeline. We also laid it into known targets, then shot it at those targets if anything was seen there later. A short burst would drop 10-30 rounds in target area, so worked well.

Only problem was, it was somewhat wind sensitive at max range and time of flight was until sometime Tuesday! If they heard us shoot it at them, they could have a quick PAVN Commanders Call and staff meeting to decide which way to run, publish written orders and di di the area before projo got there! :~)

[TexasCowboy]

"Thank you, all you Southern and Texas boys, for learning to shoot so well from your dads and grampas. We are raising another generation to follow you."

We teach our youngsters about "target rich environments".

[MindBender26]

You may find that he is and was an American before he became a physician.

[MindBender26]

I love their other motto: "DOn't Run. You'll Only Die Tired."