U.S. Marines targeting enemies with snipers

Knight-Ridder Newspapers ^ | 4/27/04 | Carol Rosenberg

[saquin]

FALLUJAH, Iraq - U.S. Marines awaiting orders to attack here are using a not-so-secret weapon to winnow down enemy fighters that commanders consider more effective than a 500-pound bomb: Sniper teams that target anyone suspected of being an insurgent.

In the past three weeks, two sniper teams attached to the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment have shot down 90 people who have strayed into their sights. The two teams are part of the 100 Marine sharpshooters deployed by three battalions around the city. One sniper secreted away in another corner of Fallujah has "26 confirmed kills," military officers here report.

"Every time we get to kill somebody, he is no longer shooting at the Marines," said Sgt. Dennis Elchlinger, 31, of Encampment, Wyo., who is one of only 500 scout-snipers in the Marine Corps.

Elchlinger admits he doesn't really know whether his team's victims are foreign fighters or local citizens brandishing weapons in a bid to drive out the American occupiers.

"They don't wear a uniform," Elchlinger said. "It's hard to tell the nationality of someone with a towel on his face."

The role of the snipers here has been a stealthy one amid a cease-fire that U.S. officials say has been repeatedly broken by Arab insurgents. The snipers were deployed in early April, as guerrilla ambushes claimed more than 50 Marine lives in the bloodiest fighting since U.S. troops entered Iraq last year. Not since the Vietnam War have American forces deployed so many sharpshooters.

Day and night, the sniper teams stalk their prey, well beyond the bases from which Marines control about a quarter of the city. From rooftops, in fields and around alleyways, the sharpshooters are an offensive force - at a time when most Marines are under orders to fire only when attacked.

A sniper team consists of four men, each of whom carries a sniper rifle, an M16 and a pistol, as well as extra ammo and a host of other equipment. They set up sniper nests from which they track suspected enemy fighters with special long-range scopes, thermal imaging devices and computerized equipment. If the team agrees a person has "hostile intent" - such as carrying a weapon or rocket-propelled grenade - a designated sharpshooter cuts him down with a special bolt-action rifle, killing him with a single shot up to 1,000 yards away.

"They've become the enemy's worst nightmare. We have something they can't counter," boasts Marine Lt. Col. Brennan Byrne, the 1st Battalion's commander.

"It's better to send a well-aimed bullet down than a 500-pound bomb," said Lt. Col. Austin "Sparky" Renforth, who's in charge of all Marine operations in Fallujah and has ordered airstrikes to bail out Marines suddenly pinned down by insurgent gunmen.

"We didn't come for full-scale warfare. We brought soccer balls and Frisbees, wanted to make friends with these people. Once you drop a couple guys - call it information ops or psych ops - you get the message to the whole area."

In fact, commanders boast that in on-again, off-again negotiations with Fallujah's civic leaders, the Arabs asked first that the Marines withdraw their snipers. Refugees fleeing Fallujah complained that the sharpshooters target civilians.

The snipers say they target only people with "hostile intent" and are given wide latitude to determine that. While an infantryman is under orders to fire only if a person is leveling a weapon, sharpshooters may fire at people whose behavior suggests they are part of the insurgency.

There's no shortage of targets.

"Seems there's more enemy here to me. Everyone was walking freely with AK-47s," said Cpl. Oscar Reyes, comparing his assignment in Fallujah to one of a year ago, when he was posted near Saddam Hussein's former Republican Palace in Baghdad, picking off enemies who came near U.S. forces.

That mission lasted three days. Already, Reyes has been in Fallujah 21 days and counts eight confirmed kills and another five probable kills in that time.

Besides sharpshooting, the snipers have also called in airstrikes on mortar positions and used their long-range rifles to detonate a dead rebel with an explosive vest at a safe distance.

They don't think their efforts will forestall the need eventually for the Marines to launch a full-scale assault. "These guys are bunkered down in their houses. You got to get them out of the house to do the job," said 1st Lt. Timothy Murray, 26, of Aliso Viejo, Calif., who commands a scout-sniper platoon of 20.

Elchlinger is typical of members of the elite unit. Slightly older than the average infantryman, he started out hunting - elk - long before he found himself in Iraq.

But his team leader, Reyes, is 23, and a product of a big city, Los Angeles. He had never hunted before becoming a Marine.

Now, he said, "I'm a hunter of gunmen."

[Pukin Dog]

Take some, baby.

[Shooter 2.5]

To the bang list. Don't forget the *

[Southack]

"They don't wear a uniform," Elchlinger said. "It's hard to tell the nationality of someone with a towel on his face."

BWAA HA Ha! You can't make this stuff up!

[glorgau]

I thought that sniper's name and home towns weren't supposed to be revealed. Some goofy fanatic could head back that way.

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

Extremely encouraging. Very foolish to pick up any weapon in Fallujah. I wish they'd rig a Humvee with explosives, pretend to crash it or something and then detonate it when a crowd gathers to trash it and dance on it. Make it look like the crowd caused something to explode.

[in the Arena]

"I'm a hunter of gunmen."

BTTT

[null and void]

Bait?

[Ken H]

They could dress up Vince and Larry in uniforms as bait.

[Migraine]

One sniper secreted away in another corner of Fallujah has "26 confirmed kills,"

I am so jealous! I was wondering when this would start in earnest. Very clean. No arrest, no trial, just send 'em to hell with a message to all the other badass perpetrators.

In my Walter Mittyish dreams, I get to be that sniper. Nothing would be more gratifying to me.

[Migraine]

I wish they'd rig a Humvee with explosives, pretend to crash it or something and then detonate it when a crowd gathers to trash it and dance on it. Make it look like the crowd caused something to explode.

That is one hell of an idea! Then sniper their asses if they survive the explosion. Yes, you'd get some boys, but it might teach the other boys not to try and play men's games.

[Bismarck]

Don't mess with the MARINES!

[kellynla]

From Marine Corps News Service
Sep 3 2003

The Scout Sniper Basic Course recently moved from its previous location at 3rd Marine Regiment to MCB Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay's Regimental Schools, in order to more efficiently train devil dogs of the 3rd Marine Division.

The school will now receive its funding from the base, and is also allowing other branches of the Armed Forces to attend the 10-week-long course.

"The Marine Corps has the best sniper program in the world," said Gunnery Sgt. Richard Tisdale, staff noncommissioned officer in charge of the Scout Sniper School. "A sniper needs to be trained as best as possible because they must be combat ready at all times," he explained.

"Due to the nature of the sniper's mission, they must be trained mentally and physically to operate independently forward of friendly positions on the battlefield."

The Scout Sniper School has now integrated Marines from the entire 3rd Marine Division as well as soldiers from the Army's 25th Infantry Division aboard Schofield Barracks, and Navy Seals from Navy Seal Delivery Team 1 located at Ford Island.

Previously, the school only trained Marines with the regiment.

"We are learning how to properly employ snipers, how to use the weapons, use camouflage and stalking techniques," said Army Spc. Joshua Garrison, a sniper with Headquarters Co., 1st Bn., 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. "Soldiers can learn as much as they want from their unit, but to become sniper qualified, they have to attend this school.

"This school goes further in depth than what units teach about basic marksmanship, weapons, camouflage and reconnaissance techniques," said Garrison.

The course is broken down into three phases. The first involves land navigation and marksmanship. During this phase, trainees fire sniper ammunition on long distance and unknown distance qualification courses.

The second phase covers stalking techniques, field skills and call for fire rehearsals. The last encompasses everything from communication to surveillance performance.

"When many people think of a sniper, they think of a person who randomly shoots people," said Tisdale. "A sniper selects his target and fires upon it. Marksmanship makes up only 10 percent of being a sniper.

"We train our snipers to be patient and wait for the perfect opportunity to fire upon the target when it will best support the mission," Tisdale continued. "They could lay in a dormant position for days at a time before actually pulling the trigger and engaging on the target."

Soldiers and other service members are paired up with Marines, so they can cross train one another, and at the same time, keep the Marines on their toes with the competition of training with another branch of the Armed Forces.

The Marine sniper course is taught twice a year, and the range can be used for sustained training by any requesting sniper units throughout the rest of the year.

"I think it is a great experience," said Garrison. "You get to see how the other services operate, and they get to see how you operate as well."

Semper Fi,
Kelly

"One shot, one kill."

[The KG9 Kid]

"... I thought that sniper's name and home towns weren't supposed to be revealed. Some goofy fanatic could head back that way."

I do believe that they would detect anyone from Al-Qaeda trying to snoop around Encampment, Wyoming.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Anybody who dances on burning Humvees should be fair sniper game, whether they are armed or not.

[Alia]

BRAVO US SNIPERS, MARINES!! thank YOU!

[Euro-American Scum]

"They've become the enemy's worst nightmare. We have something they can't counter," boasts Marine Lt. Col. Brennan Byrne, the 1st Battalion's commander.

Somewhere, Carlos Hathcock is smiling.

[river rat]

I'd like a "legal finding"...

With so many Marines close at hand, and so many wannabe Jihadists going to Iraq to kill a Marine ----

The Jihadists can hardly resist the opportunity to make their bones and kill a Marine... and thus expose themselves to suicide my Marine sniper....

Could our snipers be accused of "shooting over a baited field"?????

</ sarcasm>

Good hunting and God's speed, young men....
Semper Fi

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

Yes, you'd get some boys, but it might teach the other boys not to try and play men's games.

These are boys who will pick up a weapon and kill a soldier. Our problem is we are thinking of boys from OUR perspective -- boys here in the United States generally are not that hardened by that age. However, go to the inner city and look at the "boys" there. They'll kill you just as quickly. Got to quit thinking about this "boy" thing. That is one reason we are having horrific problems in the public schools -- we are thinking of them as "boys" when some are actually acting like grown criminals and no one has the will to punish them (well, I do, but they won't let me).

[Travis McGee]

"Every time we get to kill somebody, he is no longer shooting at the Marines."

It works for me!