watch4bear
11-30-2005, 09:05 PM
This is from a friend who has a marine friend in Iraq(anoymous) November22,2005
The following is about weapons,equiptment ,tactics, I'm sure will facinate you they did me.
The M-16 rifle:Thumbs down.Chronic jamming problems with sand,which is like talcum powder.The sand is everywhere. You feel filthy two minutes after a shower. The M-4 carbine version is more popular because it's lighter and shorter,but it also has jamming problems. Marines like the ability to mount the various optical gunsights and weapons lightson the picatinny rails, but the weapon itself is not great in a desert environment. They all hate the 5.56mm (.223) round. Poor penetration on the cinderblock structure commonthere and even torso hits cannot be reliably counted on to put the enemy down. Random autopsies on dead insurgents shows a high level of opiate use.
The M243 SAW (squad assault weapon) .223 cal: Big Thumbs Down.Drum-fed light machine gun.Universally considered a piece of s*** Chronic jamming problems, most of which require partial disassembly. That's fun in the middle of a fire fight.
The M9 Beretta 9mm;mixed bag. Good gun, performs well in desert enviroment, but everyone hates the 9mm cartridge. The use of handguns for self defense is fairly common. Same old story on the 9mm: bad guy gets hit multiple times but are still in the fight.
Mossberg 12 ga. Military shotgun: works well and is frequntly used for clearing houses, to good effect.
The M240 Machine Gun:7.62 Nato(30 cal belt fed) Thumbs Up. Developed to replace the M-60--what a beatiful weapon that was--it is accurate,reliableand the 7.62 round puts'em down.Originally developed as a vehicle mounted weapon, more and more are being dismounted and taken into the feild by infantry.The 7.62 chews up the structure.
The M2 50cal heavy Machine Gun: Thumbs way up. "Ma deuce" is still worth her considerable weight in gold. The ultimate fight -stopper,puts their d*** in the dirt every time. The most coveted weapon in-theater.
The 45 pistol: Thumbs up. Still the best pistol round out there. Everybody authorized to carrya sidearm is trying to get thier hands on one.With few exceptions,it can reliablybe expected to put 'em down with a torso hit. The special-ops guys--who do most of the pistol work--use the HK military model and supposedly love it. The old goverment model .45s are being reissued en masse.
The M-14:Thumbs up. It is being reissued in bulk, mostly in a modified version to special ops guys. Modifications include lightweight Kevlar stocks and low power red dot or ACOG sights. Very reliable in the sandy environment, and people love the 7.62 round.
The Barrett .50 cal. sniper rifle: Thumbs way up.Spectacular range and accuracy and hits like a freight train.Used frequently to take out suicide bobmers--we actually stop a lot of them--and barricded enimies. Defintely here to stay.
The M24 sniper : Thumbs up. Mostly in 308 but some in 300 win mag. Heavily modified Rem.700s.Great Performance. Snipers have been using them heavily to great effect. Rumor has it that a marine sniper on his third tour in Anbar province has exceeded Carlos Hathcock's record for confimed kills with over 100.
The new body armor: Thumbs up. Relatively light at six pounds and can reliably be expected to soak up small shrapnel and even stop an AK-47 round.The bad news : hot as s*** to wear, almost unbearable in the summer, which averages over 120 degrees.Also, the enemy goes for head shots whenever possible. All the bull**** about the "old" body armor making our guys vulnerable to improvised-explosive devises was a non-starter. The IED explosions are enormous and body armor doesnt make any difference at all in most cases.
Night Vision and infrared equiptment:thumbs way up. Spectacular performance. Our guys see in the dark and own the night ,period. Very little enemy action after evening prayers. More and more of the enemy are being whacked at night during movement by our hunter killer teams.
I cant help but notice that most of the good fighting weapons and ordinance are 50 or more years old. With all our technology, its the wwII and viet nam era weapons everybody's wanting. The infantry fighting is frequent, up close and brutal. No quarter is given or shown.
Bad guy weapons:
Mostly AK47s The entire country is an arsenal. Works better in the desert than the M-16 and the Russian .308 round kills reliably. PKM belt fed light machine guns are also common and effective. Luckily the enemy shoots like s***. Undisciplined"spray and pray" type fire. However precision weapons are more and more common, especially sniper rifles. Fun fact: Captured enemy have apparently marveled at the marksmanship of our guys and how hard they fight. They are apparantly told in jihad school that the Americans rely soley on technology, and can be easily beaten in close quarters combat for their lack of toughness. Let's just say they know better now.
The RPG: Probably the infantry weapon most feared by our guys. Simple, reliable and as common as dogs***. The enemy responded to our up-armored Humvees by aiming at the windshields, often at point blank range. Still killing a lot of our guys.
The improvised-explosive device: The biggest killer of all. Can be anything from old Soviet anti-armor mines to jerry-rigged artillery rounds. A lot found in xxxxxxxs area were in abandoned cars.The enemy would take 2or3 155mm artillery shells and wire them togather. Most were detonated by cell phone, and the explosions are enormous. You're not safe in any vehicle, even an m1 tank. Driving is by far the most dangerous thing our guys do over there. Lately, they are much more sophisticated"shape charges" (Iranian) specifically designed to penetrate armor. Fact: Most of the ready-made IEDs are supplied by Iran, the country which is also providing terrorists,Hezbollah types, to train the insurgents in their use and tactics. Thats why the attacks have been so deadly letely. Thier concealment methods are ingenious, the latest being shape charges in styrofoam containers spray painted to look like the cinder blocks that litter all Iraqi roads. We find about 40% before they detonate. The bomb-disposal guys are unsung heroes of this war.
Mortars and rockets: Very prevelent. The Soviet-era 122mm rockets, with a range of 18 kilometers, are becoming more prevelent.One of xxxxxxs NCOs lost a leg to one. These weapons cause a lot damage"inside the wire" xxxxxxxs base was hit almost daily his entire time there by mortars and rocket fire, often at night to disrupt sleep patterns and cause fatigue(it worked). More of a psycological weapon than anything else. The enemy mortar teams would jump out of vehicles, fire a few rounds and then haul *** in amatter of seaconds.
Bad guy technology is simple yet effective. Most communication is by cell and satellite phones and also by emails and laptops. They use GPS units for navigation and "google Earth" for overhead views of our positions. Thier weapons are good , if not fancy and prevelent. Their explosives and bomb technology is top of the line . Night vision is rare.
They are very careless with thier equiptment, however, and the captured GPS units and laptops are intelligence treasure troves when captured.
The following is about weapons,equiptment ,tactics, I'm sure will facinate you they did me.
The M-16 rifle:Thumbs down.Chronic jamming problems with sand,which is like talcum powder.The sand is everywhere. You feel filthy two minutes after a shower. The M-4 carbine version is more popular because it's lighter and shorter,but it also has jamming problems. Marines like the ability to mount the various optical gunsights and weapons lightson the picatinny rails, but the weapon itself is not great in a desert environment. They all hate the 5.56mm (.223) round. Poor penetration on the cinderblock structure commonthere and even torso hits cannot be reliably counted on to put the enemy down. Random autopsies on dead insurgents shows a high level of opiate use.
The M243 SAW (squad assault weapon) .223 cal: Big Thumbs Down.Drum-fed light machine gun.Universally considered a piece of s*** Chronic jamming problems, most of which require partial disassembly. That's fun in the middle of a fire fight.
The M9 Beretta 9mm;mixed bag. Good gun, performs well in desert enviroment, but everyone hates the 9mm cartridge. The use of handguns for self defense is fairly common. Same old story on the 9mm: bad guy gets hit multiple times but are still in the fight.
Mossberg 12 ga. Military shotgun: works well and is frequntly used for clearing houses, to good effect.
The M240 Machine Gun:7.62 Nato(30 cal belt fed) Thumbs Up. Developed to replace the M-60--what a beatiful weapon that was--it is accurate,reliableand the 7.62 round puts'em down.Originally developed as a vehicle mounted weapon, more and more are being dismounted and taken into the feild by infantry.The 7.62 chews up the structure.
The M2 50cal heavy Machine Gun: Thumbs way up. "Ma deuce" is still worth her considerable weight in gold. The ultimate fight -stopper,puts their d*** in the dirt every time. The most coveted weapon in-theater.
The 45 pistol: Thumbs up. Still the best pistol round out there. Everybody authorized to carrya sidearm is trying to get thier hands on one.With few exceptions,it can reliablybe expected to put 'em down with a torso hit. The special-ops guys--who do most of the pistol work--use the HK military model and supposedly love it. The old goverment model .45s are being reissued en masse.
The M-14:Thumbs up. It is being reissued in bulk, mostly in a modified version to special ops guys. Modifications include lightweight Kevlar stocks and low power red dot or ACOG sights. Very reliable in the sandy environment, and people love the 7.62 round.
The Barrett .50 cal. sniper rifle: Thumbs way up.Spectacular range and accuracy and hits like a freight train.Used frequently to take out suicide bobmers--we actually stop a lot of them--and barricded enimies. Defintely here to stay.
The M24 sniper : Thumbs up. Mostly in 308 but some in 300 win mag. Heavily modified Rem.700s.Great Performance. Snipers have been using them heavily to great effect. Rumor has it that a marine sniper on his third tour in Anbar province has exceeded Carlos Hathcock's record for confimed kills with over 100.
The new body armor: Thumbs up. Relatively light at six pounds and can reliably be expected to soak up small shrapnel and even stop an AK-47 round.The bad news : hot as s*** to wear, almost unbearable in the summer, which averages over 120 degrees.Also, the enemy goes for head shots whenever possible. All the bull**** about the "old" body armor making our guys vulnerable to improvised-explosive devises was a non-starter. The IED explosions are enormous and body armor doesnt make any difference at all in most cases.
Night Vision and infrared equiptment:thumbs way up. Spectacular performance. Our guys see in the dark and own the night ,period. Very little enemy action after evening prayers. More and more of the enemy are being whacked at night during movement by our hunter killer teams.
I cant help but notice that most of the good fighting weapons and ordinance are 50 or more years old. With all our technology, its the wwII and viet nam era weapons everybody's wanting. The infantry fighting is frequent, up close and brutal. No quarter is given or shown.
Bad guy weapons:
Mostly AK47s The entire country is an arsenal. Works better in the desert than the M-16 and the Russian .308 round kills reliably. PKM belt fed light machine guns are also common and effective. Luckily the enemy shoots like s***. Undisciplined"spray and pray" type fire. However precision weapons are more and more common, especially sniper rifles. Fun fact: Captured enemy have apparently marveled at the marksmanship of our guys and how hard they fight. They are apparantly told in jihad school that the Americans rely soley on technology, and can be easily beaten in close quarters combat for their lack of toughness. Let's just say they know better now.
The RPG: Probably the infantry weapon most feared by our guys. Simple, reliable and as common as dogs***. The enemy responded to our up-armored Humvees by aiming at the windshields, often at point blank range. Still killing a lot of our guys.
The improvised-explosive device: The biggest killer of all. Can be anything from old Soviet anti-armor mines to jerry-rigged artillery rounds. A lot found in xxxxxxxs area were in abandoned cars.The enemy would take 2or3 155mm artillery shells and wire them togather. Most were detonated by cell phone, and the explosions are enormous. You're not safe in any vehicle, even an m1 tank. Driving is by far the most dangerous thing our guys do over there. Lately, they are much more sophisticated"shape charges" (Iranian) specifically designed to penetrate armor. Fact: Most of the ready-made IEDs are supplied by Iran, the country which is also providing terrorists,Hezbollah types, to train the insurgents in their use and tactics. Thats why the attacks have been so deadly letely. Thier concealment methods are ingenious, the latest being shape charges in styrofoam containers spray painted to look like the cinder blocks that litter all Iraqi roads. We find about 40% before they detonate. The bomb-disposal guys are unsung heroes of this war.
Mortars and rockets: Very prevelent. The Soviet-era 122mm rockets, with a range of 18 kilometers, are becoming more prevelent.One of xxxxxxs NCOs lost a leg to one. These weapons cause a lot damage"inside the wire" xxxxxxxs base was hit almost daily his entire time there by mortars and rocket fire, often at night to disrupt sleep patterns and cause fatigue(it worked). More of a psycological weapon than anything else. The enemy mortar teams would jump out of vehicles, fire a few rounds and then haul *** in amatter of seaconds.
Bad guy technology is simple yet effective. Most communication is by cell and satellite phones and also by emails and laptops. They use GPS units for navigation and "google Earth" for overhead views of our positions. Thier weapons are good , if not fancy and prevelent. Their explosives and bomb technology is top of the line . Night vision is rare.
They are very careless with thier equiptment, however, and the captured GPS units and laptops are intelligence treasure troves when captured.