Posted on 07/29/2006 12:58:46 PM PDT by traumer
RAMADI, Iraq – He was 5 when he first fired an M-16, his father holding him to brace against the recoil. At 17 he enlisted in the Marine Corps, spurred by the memory of Sept. 11.
Now, 21-year-old Galen Wilson has 20 confirmed kills in four months in Iraq – and another 40 shots that probably killed insurgents. One afternoon the lance corporal downed a man hauling a grenade launcher 5½ football fields away.
Wilson is the designated marksman in a company of Marines based in downtown Ramadi, watching over what Marines call the most dangerous neighborhood in the most dangerous city in the world.
Here, Sunni Arab insurgents are intent on toppling the local government protected by Marines.
Wilson, 5-foot-6 with a soft face, is married and has two children and speaks in a deep, steady monotone.
After two tours in Iraq, his commanders in the 3rd Battalion, 8th Regiment call him a particularly mature Marine, always collected and given to an occasional wry grin.
His composure is regularly tested. Swaths of central and southern Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad, are dominated by insurgents who regularly attack the provincial government headquarters that Marines protect.
During a large-scale attack on Easter Sunday, Wilson says, he spotted six gunmen on a rooftop about 400 yards away. In about 8 seconds he squeezed off five rounds – hitting five gunmen in the head. The sixth man dived off a 3-story building just as Wilson got him in his sights, and counts as a probable death.
“You could tell he didn't know where it was coming from. He just wanted to get away,” Wilson said. Later that day, he said, he killed another insurgent.
Wilson says his skill helps save American troops and Iraqi civilians.
“It doesn't bother me. Obviously, me being a devout Catholic, it's a conflict of interest. Then again, God supported David when he killed Goliath,” Wilson said. “I believe God supports what we do and I've never killed anyone who wasn't carrying a weapon.”
He was raised in a desolate part of the Rocky Mountains outside Colorado Springs, “surrounded by national parks on three sides,” he says. He regularly hunted before moving to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., as a teenager. His brother also serves in the military.
Guns have long been part of Wilson's life. His father was a sniper in the Navy SEALS. He remembers first firing a sniper rifle at age 6. By the time he enlisted he had already fired a .50-caliber machine gun.
“My father owned a weapons dealership, so I've been around exotic firearms all my life,” said Wilson, who remembers practicing on pine cones and cans. “My dad would help me hold (an M-16), with the butt on his shoulder, and walk me through the steps of shooting.”
Technically, Wilson is not a sniper – he's an infantryman who also patrols through the span of destroyed buildings that make up downtown Ramadi. But as his unit's designated marksman, he has a sniper rifle. In the heat of day or after midnight, he spends hours on rooftop posts, peering out onto rows of abandoned houses from behind piles of sandbags and bulletproof glass cracked by gunfire.
Sometimes individual gunmen attack, other times dozens. Once Wilson shot an insurgent who was “turkey peeking” – Marine slang for stealing glances at U.S. positions from behind a corner. Later, the distance was measured at 514 meters – 557 yards.
“I didn't doubt myself, if I was going to hit him. Maybe if I would have I would have missed,” Wilson said.
The key to accuracy is composure and experience, Wilson says. “The hardest part is looking, quickly adjusting the distance (on a scope), and then getting a steady position for a shot before he gets a shot off. For me, it's toning everything out in my head. It's like hearing classical music playing in my head.”
Though Wilson firmly supports the war, he used to wonder how his actions would be received back home.
“At first you definitely double-guess telling your wife, mom, and your friends that you've killed 20 people,” Wilson said. “But over time you realize that if they support you ... maybe it'll make them feel that much safer at home.”
He acknowledges that brutal acts of war linger in the mind.
“Some people, before they're about to kill someone, they think that – 'Hey, I'm about to kill someone.' That thought doesn't occur to me. It may sound cold, but they're just a target. Afterward, it's real. You think, 'Hey, I just killed someone,'” says Wilson.
Insurgents “have killed good Marines I've served with. That's how I sleep at night,” he says. “Though I've killed over 20 people, how many lives would those 20 people have taken?”
Wilson plans to leave the Marines after his contract expires next year and is thinking of joining a SWAT Team in Florida – possibly as a sniper.
I think if it is a "Corps" sniper rifle ALL of the ammo for that weapon is hand loaded at CL by the guy that last qualified that particulr weapon.
".....not that difficult....."
4 of the 5 jihaddis must have been extremely sluggish.....8 seconds is a very long time
One shot, one kill. The Marines are about the only government agency that doesn't waste government property or taxpayer's money. Semper Fi!!
Actually, starting from the first shot, he had eight seconds thereafter to get off four rounds. Possible. That he scored in each case? Phenomenal.
LOL!! The first five headed quickly to allah, the sixth man dove off a 3 story building. Marines, no better friends, no worse enemies. Dhimmi had 3 stories to ponder the meaning of that.
"(Slightly off topic, but I wonder why after 4 years and 2 tours in Iraq that this Marine is still only a Lance Corporal. Maybe promotion in infantry MOS's is slower?)"
I'm no expert, though I do have a son in the Marines who will be going back to Iraq in March. Most likely he has been perfecting his skill so that he hasn't had time to study for the corporal's exam. Or, perhaps he is one of those Marines who indulges in liquid fun and got into some trouble and has lost a stripe. Either of those a very plausible explanations.
(I have not served. My tagline honors my son and my cousin.)
Im glad he recognizes the conflict - and that tells me he is mature - and its reassuring theyve all had guns.....but on some level I worry about this kids ability to reintegrate into home life on his return and pray todays choices and obligations dont haunt him in his autumn years God willing
May God watch over him and deliver him home safely
.....presumably after introducing many more demons to Gods wrath
Promotion is slower in the Corps than in other services, but he ought to have made Corporal by now- all other things being equal. Your speculation seems plausible.
they were slugs.....even the 6th one who took 8 seconds to un-ass the roof.
At least they're good slugs now.....talking to their dream harem of 72 virgins about that great al-Q training, LOL.
Good Point. When reading the story, I worried that our enemies will locate him when he returns and target him or his family. We need to pray for him. And, while I believe he is justified in his job, we need to pray that he can adjust properly after he is done with the military duty.
Oh Great, let's just plaster his face and name all over the place and get a good price on his head like Hathcock.
The rifle that Marine's holding, firing a 5.56 mm round, can not maintain the reported accuracy much beyond 250 yards because of the inherent lightness of the bullet no matter how many refinements added on. I suspect he has a selection of weaponry from his unit's armory that can pull off the feats in the article - the Knight's SR-25 (flat-top reinforced M-16 in .308 caliber) and the Barrett 50 mm automatic, whose magazine happens to hold five rounds.
bump
I agree. The .223 ain't long range. It's a close action assault weapon. If he's sniping, he's doing it with a heavy caliber weapon.
John Kerry says he too used to crawl through the woods stalking deer.
Same here. That's actually the first thing I noticed.
I hope that we don't see some FReeper who might know either him or his family start ranting because he/she knows that this is accurate personal information being released by the enemedia.
If this happens, we oughta get some FReepers to keep watch. I wouldn't put it past some of the press to try making a Marine uncomfortable while serving in Iraq. Knowing that their wife was just outed, say?
If the press knowingly released accurate information that could be used to endanger this Marine's family, they must be made to pay. That is just wrong.
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