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 know that bad feeling. I gave some people a break on a moving job and they stole a piece of junk that wasn’t worth anything. I still want my piece of junk back because it was mine and they had no right to it.
Now we're going to hijack this thread.
“Laser ruler” is my generic name for it. The device is made by the Robert Bosch Tool Corporation, 1800 West Central Road, Mt. Prospect, IL 60056-2230, (1-877-267-24990), www.boschtools.com. Its official proper part number and name are: “DLR 130 Distance Measurer.” I bought mine for $99.95 at the Home Depot.
The device is really great for measuring the dimensions of rooms, which is what I used it for in doing a survey of my house required by my homeowners insurer. They wanted the total liveable square footage of the house, the carpeted area, the ceramic tiled area, the parquet tiled area, the areas of the deck and porch, and the ceiling area that was wooden instead of drywall, all of which required a lot of measuring. To get each measurement to 1/16” all I had to do was place the base of the instrument, which is about the size of a pack of cigarettes, against the surface I was measuring from, aim the laser pointer at the surface I was measuring to, and press a button to get a measurement that was good up to a distance of 130 feet. This was particularly helpful with the cathedral ceiling in my great room because I could measure from the base of each exposed beam to where it ended at the apex of the ceiling.
Similar, much cheaper, devices are made that use ultrasound. However, you never know how wide the beam is and whether you're getting an accurate measurement or if the sound is bouncing off part of an obstacle on the way to your actual target.
All in all, a great device every homeowner should have in his tool kit.
I forgot where it is, but the gunrange hosts a “Mathew Quigley Match”. The bucket is a steel plate outline.
Say 3 P-47’s roll on you. Each with eight .50’s. I don’t know the rate, or the burst time, but you must receive on, or near you a couple of thousand .50’s. Maybe, 200 hit you, one way or another. That’s got to hurt.
It used to be 72 virgins. Are they running out?
Bet the Barrett was topped with a Leupold.
I rounded off. I've been helping my g/daugter with home work and she has problems such as:
Round to the nearest thousand and multiply 997 times 416 - then multiply the actual numbers, find the difference.
I have seen those but thought maybe you had found an affordable device that could reach 500 to 1000 yards.
At a maximum of range of 130 feet I can’t see how I would find it useful,
I mean, I can tell how far a target is and my rifles are zeroed to 300 yards anyway.
At 100 feet it isn’t likely I am going to miss as my moa’s are 1.5 scoped and 3 iron sights, at 300yrds.
Do you use the laser ruler out to those distances?
For shooting bullets it's not good at all. For getting internal dimensions of buildings in insurance reviews, it's fantastic.
Oh I agree and did look up their product line. I think I would go for some of the more expensive models that go to 1500 feet, as I have had rare occassion for that application.
But when you are laying fiber optics it helps to be accurate, so you can over estimate the required material and labor.
Fiber is sold on a put, so you can only order exactly what you order, unlike Cat6 which comes by the box.
Congratulations, between us we’ve really hijacked this thread.
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