Posted on 10/05/2003 7:28:55 AM PDT by knighthawk
The United States military has deployed five teams of 10 airborne snipers to defend Iraq's northern oil pipelines from acts of sabotage by forces loyal to ousted president Saddam Hussein.
Sergeant Brian Stinson said final modifications were being made to Blackhawk UH-60 helicopters, before snipers from the elite Tiger Force could begin patrols along the crucial oil supply lines.
"There is so much area to cover that it requires precision fire, we're on call for 24-hours a day and can be airborne within 30 minutes," he said.
Protection of Iraq's northern pipelines, which stretch 500 kilometres to Turkey and almost to Syria, are a major headache for the American troops, who have devised a series of initiatives to combat sabotage.
This includes the creation of local protection units made-up of the fledgling Iraqi police forces.
Local tribes have also been hired to protect supplies with mixed success.
Armed with 50-calibre M107s, 308 bolt actions and 308 semi-automatics, the Tiger Force deployment also marks the return of airborne snipers in the regular US Army for the first time since the Indochinese wars of the 1960s and 70s.
The 308 bolt is for "personal targets" that limit collateral damage among civilians, with a medium range of almost one kilometre.
Sergeant Stinson said the 50-calibre is for longer range work, capable of killing a person from 2.5 kilometres, and the concussion alone from a round that passes within a close enough distance can kill.
The Tiger Force first won fame in the Vietnam War where it was established by Colonel David Hackworth, the highest decorated US soldier in that conflict.
"It's the same system we used in Vietnam and we've brought it out of retirement," Sergeant Stinson said.
Helicopter pilots from the 101st Airborne Division have trained specifically for ferrying snipers along the pipelines.
Pilots fly at night without light and must keep the Blackhawk in the air and position the helicopter behind, between valleys and hills, which muffles the sound of the rotors while remaining mostly out of view.
However, at the same time, the sniper's sights remain on the target allowing for "precision fire".
"We can hit a target before it knows we're there," Sergeant Stinson, a sniper with the 101st Airborne, said.
Iraq's main pipeline runs from oil-rich Kirkuk north to the Dohuk province and then on westward to the Turkish Mediterranean terminal of Ceyhan.
/sarcasm. Reporters don't know rifles from shotguns, and print the nuttiest stuff.
Right. I thought TC was kidding when he said I was safer behind him than I was holding the target when he was shooting his .50!!
I have personally used all four of these tools in EOD work..........had I the task of guarding a pipeline with regards to mirage, wind and shamal like conditions there again. Soft skin targets operating at night for the most part. I'd take the AW or the Long Bow in 338 Lapua Mag.
Stay Safe !
Squantos, you are one cool cookie!!!
Grizzly .50
Well, more like *Carlos Hathcock, One of the very best.* He wasn't much either for bragging, nor for overstatment.
Simo Häyhä: The best of the XX Century: [515 in less than 4 months,during conditions when there were only about 4 hours of sunlight daily]
Simo Häyhä: back when he was about his task, circa 1940, equipped with his preferred tool, a Model 28-30 Finnish reworked Mosin-Nagant rifle, as used in Olymoic rifle competition of the period- in which he had previously been a competitor.
Simo Häyhä in 1978, a little older, but still the same guy- and still with his same old rifle. Beware the man with one rifle, who probably knows how to use it well...even a paper-target punching rifle with no telescopic sights!
Come on guys.....have you forgotten?
HEART ATTACK!
I can assure you, that if one of these babies whiz past your ear - you WILL mess your pants or die of fright.
You never hear the shot....until after the round (moving faster than sound) "cracks" past your position..
Semper Fi
The concussion of a tank's main gun muzzle blast can indeed shatter helmet liners and the old solid one-piece tankers CVC helmet; I've done that myself when outside the vehicle and too close to the muzzle [the idea for the guy on ground security with a .45 *Greasegun* was to stay where the driver could see him, and thereby not get run over] with an M48A3's 90mm gun and around M60A1s on gunnery ranges; the blast from the short tubed M551 Sheridan was even worse. And you most certainly do not want to be in the vicinity of forward of the muzzle of a tank's main gun when discarding sabot or canister rounds let go.
As to the possibility of a close one from a .50, I'm aware of a crew that let fly with the .50 in the commander's cupe at a fella at around 75 meters and missed him, [no boresight on the commander's optics suspected] though he was unconscious when the crew dismounted to collect his weapons and documents for S2 as well as any souveniers available. To their surprised he was untouched and alive but unhit. Whether that was from concussion from the .50 rounds or shock and panic as .50 tracers went flying by his face this deponent knoweth and sayeth not. But I would not care to try being on the receiving end to find out.
-archy-/-
Fired directly down the tank's cannon barrel, though an open breech block, and killing the crew by multiple ricochet or into the onboard ammo racks..
</ sarcasm>
Semper Fi
Yep. He was one shooter who really did pull off that *down the other guy's telescopic sight* shot. And he very much knew what he was doing. As did Soviet sniper Liudmila Pavlichenko, then 26 when she racked up in excess of 300 hits with her scoped AVT Tokarev semiauto rifle, most notably at the fighting around Sevastopol.
Seen here inspecting a British Home Guardsman's Pattern 14 Enfield while on a good-will tour visiting allies. She was the first citizen of the Soviet Union to be invited to enter the White House, and was presented with a M1911A1 .45 Colt autopistol by the union representatives who worked at the Colt Hartford factory.
Thanks to all snipers. May God bless your eyes, your hands, and your hearts.
Stay Safe !
That's one way of doing it. There's another.
Of course, there's nothing wrong with a mix of technology and methodologies....
Stay Safe !
Beats the heck out of the Motorola Talkabout and Cobra FRS radios used by US troops in Bosnia and Iraq for lack of a workable PRR like the Brits have.
I've been using the Sierra 168 gr Match Kings, but I bought a box of those 'environmentally friendly' copper solids from barnes. Same bullet weight and design, so I'm expecting good results from it. I'm trying to find a range that has something longer than 500 yards but there aren't many of those in Illinois.
I'm going to try to hit the range in the next week or so. I'll let you know how the preliminary loads work.
The only problem with the Barnes bullet is their cost. The Match King is like 20 bucks a hundred but the Barnes are 60 bucks.
Oh well, if they hit as hard as they claim they'll be worth it when deer season opens next month.
I picked up one of those Ishapore SMLE rifles in 308 and have 'sporterized' it just a bit The whole thing from soup to nuts set me back less than 300 bucks. I'm going to see if I can bag a whitetail with it. I don't even think they were ever fired. They're available on the net for about 120 bucks or so.
Now, I'm saving for a .50 cal. DPMS makes a pretty nice looking one, but any advice is appreciated. my budget for the rifle is 5 grand and under a g for the scope.
Regards,
L
How much you know about the 1940 fight at Kolla in Karelia known as* Killer Hill*, the Finnish version of the Alamo? Except that the Finns won their fight.
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