That's a fine son you have there, Recon Dad.
May God bless him and keep him him safe.
Posted on 04/23/2010 5:19:25 PM PDT by SandRat
FORT POLK, La., April 23, 2010 – It was April 2007 and the early-morning sky was clear as Army sniper Sgt. 1st Class Brandon McGuire and his spotter scanned for insurgents near Forward Operating Base Iskandaryia in Iraq.
"We were observing a stretch of road that had recently been cleared of IEDs [improvised explosive devices]," said McGuire, now the first sergeant of Alpha Troop, 1st Battalion (Airborne), 509th Infantry Regiment that’s based here.
"The area had also seen a lot of mortar activity,” McGuire recalled. “We had several soldiers killed and severely wounded along that stretch of road by IEDs and mortars."
As the two soldiers gazed across the expanse between their hiding place - an abandoned shed - and their target area, they noticed a man in local garb sauntering up and down through a series of canals. When he dug into a canal bank and uncovered a mortar tube, McGuire knew this was a target.
"We called the battalion tactical operations center and reported what we had," said McGuire, who hails from Olathe, Kan. "We were granted permission to engage the target."
However, engaging the target was easier said than done.
"We measured the distance at 1,310 meters," McGuire said. "There was a crosswind of 8-10 knots and a sand storm was heading our way. We didn't have a lot of time."
Yet time was needed. Snipers are trained to make a triangle from a target's chin to his chest, and then aim for that mark. But McGuire's target was moving up and down through canals, making it difficult for the Army marksman to get a clear shot. And, it was necessary to make calculations for windage.
But, McGuire caught a break - there were some children flying kites not far from the target. "We were able to use the kites to help estimate the wind speed at the target," McGuire said. "We watched for almost two hours before the target presented himself in such a way that I was able to get a clear shot."
McGuire said he didn't think he would hit his target with the first shot.
"I was hoping I would get close enough to make an adjustment and hit him with the second shot," McGuire said. "I knew that when I fired there would be a brown out for a couple of seconds - the dust would block my vision - so I was depending on my spotter to let me know where the first round hit."
McGuire took a breath and then squeezed the trigger of his Barrett .50 caliber sniper weapon system. After the dust cleared, McGuire prepared for a second shot, but was unable to find the target.
"I asked my spotter, 'Where is he?'" McGuire recalled. The spotter replied: “I think you got him."
McGuire said that for a couple of seconds there was disbelief on his part. Then it was back to work scanning the sector for targets.
The shot was so effective that no one knew about it, other than McGuire, his spotter - and the target.
"Even the kids flying the kites were oblivious to what happened," McGuire said. "They just kept flying their kites."
McGuire had removed an insurgent who had helped kill and wound American soldiers.
"No one knew who shot him," McGuire said. "Not even the local elders.
The U.S. soldiers in the area gained an immediate benefit with the death of the insurgent, McGuire said.
"We'd had so many soldiers killed and who had lost legs,” he said. “After the shot the daily mortar attacks and IEDs ceased in that area."
McGuire said "the million-dollar shot," as it became known among members of his unit, was a big deal to coalition forces in the area.
"Everyone was congratulating me," he said. "But to me, it seemed like another day in Iraq."
McGuire recently returned from a trip to California to film a segment of an upcoming History Channel special entitled "Sniper: The Deadliest Mission." The two-hour documentary is scheduled to air this fall.
"I spent a couple of hours in an interview, then shot the rest of the day with another sniper," McGuire said. "It was a lot of fun."
McGuire attributes the success of the improbable shot to tactical patience.
"It took us two hours to get the shot picture I needed on the target because of the terrain," he said. "We waited, then finally got the shot. Hitting a human target is not like a deer or something.
"With an animal, you can kind of predict what their movements are going to be, but with a human, you don't know what they are going to do."
I wondered about that. My qualifying day was no wind, sunny and really nice. The guy who was supposed to be scoring was also supposed to be the one handing me the magazines. He forgot one and tossed it into the sand. The M-16 never hiccupped and I shot really well.
The long range standard targets are clay birds on a dirt berm at a lasered 65-70 yards with pistols. The fun thing is you forget all the misses. LOL.
Pretty much the same thing a couple of years later, just before I got out (woulda been worse, but I was a short-timer) it rained and my eyeglasses got all gooed up and I actually was a Non-Qual.
It was (1974-1978) 28-32 years ago for me (my how time flies) from boot camp to the final time I qualified with the rifle (M16A1 for me).
I always shot Sharpshooter, except my very last time I shot a Marksman (toilet seat). So my old khaki uniform shirt and green uniform coats now forever have a "toilet seat" on them.
I wore glasses myself, and had the problems associated with wearing glasses myself.
Just goes to show how these things could have worked out in real life I guess...
The book the movie SHOOTER was based on! Yeah, awesome. Two points similar in book and movie. The guy really went to war because they killed his dog. I say, right on.
That's a fine son you have there, Recon Dad.
May God bless him and keep him him safe.
Ok, that would explain how the P-47s could take out a tank from the air.
Steel core .50 cal ammo and of course a bunch of them hitting about the same area at pretty much the same time (the top rear of the tank where the engine compartment is being the preferred aiming point) could result in a "mobility kill" or even lighting off the fuel and setting the tank on fire.
I could go postal if I continued to think much more about all of this..................
PS - in 1966, we qualified with M-14......I still want one, even tho I couldn't afford to feed it. Great piece of work, that weapon.
Well, any .308 or 7.62x51 NATo is fun to shoot. Some people have bought Century Arms civilian versions of the FN-FAL or CETME or G3, though not everyone likes them nearly as well as the American M14 / M1A civilian rifle, and you do have to feed them 7.62x51 and not .308 ammo (due to minor differences in cartridge dimensions and/or SAMMI chamber pressure issues - I forget which).
I got me an Enfield 2A Ishapore bolt action some years back and had a scope mount put on it. I like shooting the 7.62x51 rifles - even the bolt action Enfield - way more than shooting the 5.56 AR clone I own.
I love your pictures on your Profile page. Nice country out there.
Please take care and Semper Fi!
I love a story with a happy ending
Thanks....lovin' the desert.................out back yard quail should be delivering us some chicks within two weeks. Stand by for pics, if I can get 'em.
The Elmer Keith Memorial Pistol Shoot...steel plates from 12”x18” down to 4” diameter, at 140 yards, open sights. plus a 30”x30” at 525 yds.
10th Annual edition this year, where I live.
I have a 2A as well - the Gibbs Quest III. Jungle No. 5 profile, electroless nickel plated action, synthetic stock. Bushnell 3-9x40 Mini.
Accurate, maneuverable, and a lot of fun!
Gives you that nice warm fuzzy feeling deep down inside, the one that’s called satisfaction, huh?
Greasing/wasting/firing up bad guys indeed gives that feeling ‘Fo Shor!
Carlos Hathcock would be proud.
We’re very proud. Please don’t share the pic he’s still over seas, thanks.
Son. Please don’t share the pic, he’s still over seas, thanks.
44 years ago - I’m guessing that you were firing the M-14. I was fortunate to fire the M-1. Even with that, I always got messed up firing in the standing position. I just couldn’t break 40(out of 50).
A Tiger I’s hull armor was impervious to nearly all American tank fire, and even the 25mm armor on the turret top and rear decking would defeat a .50-caliber round. On paper, .50-caliber machine gun fire would do nothing but rattle the Tiger crew’s eardrums. But there were cooling fan gratings and air intakes on the rear deck, and thin armor on the underside, that might allow a P-47’s sheer volume of fire with its eight Browning M2 guns to score a lucky hit and disable a Tiger’s engine.
“A glance back to the intersection showed the third tank backing to the north about a hundred yards into an orchard. He could wait his turn, I thought."
Hell Hawks: The Untold Story of the American Fliers Who Savaged Hitler’s Wehrmacht, has been called the best book ever written about the P-47 Thunderbolt and the war on the European continent. The book is available from co-author Dorr at robert.f.dorr@cox.net
The top and bottom armour was 25 mm (1 in) thick;
Right ON! God bless our soldiers. I am grateful for this Army sniper and his excellent skills.
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