“
Unsurpassed courage under fire while conducting sniper operations in support of [redacted] during the siege of Fallujah. His display of unparalleled bravery and skill as a sniper contributed significantly to the success of this strategic victory over the insurgents while reducing the risk of harm to coalition troops,” reads the evaluation.
“During a seven month deployment to Iraq, IS2 Kyle recorded [redacted] enemy KIA [Killed in Action] as a sniper. His contributions to success over the insurgency in Iraq cannot be overstated!”
Over the course of his career as a Navy SEAL Team 3 sniper, Kyle had 160 confirmed kills. Kyle himself estimated that he had probably killed 255 insurgents.
7 comments:
I don't know the man's story, but it strikes me as odd that a sniper would ever be described as having "display[ed]" anything in battle. I thought the idea was to be undetected.
Whatever.
I'll chalk that, and the exclamation points, up to a casual style of writing I think inappropriate under the circumstances!
Watch the blood pressure, Meth, we can't lose you. ;^)
In the sort of asymmetrical warfare they were fighting, sniping was the most effective weapon. This what you get when the enemy cowers among civilians.
About the only thing better would be hard-to-detect drone killing. I suspect though that drones will go through a phase similar to observation balloons (first deployed in European land wars). The enemy will learn to detect and shoot down drones. Next will become a "fighter drones." Hard to say where this will end up.
Eric the Fruit Bat said...
I don't know the man's story, but it strikes me as odd that a sniper would ever be described as having "display[ed]" anything in battle. I thought the idea was to be undetected.
My understanding of it is that SEALs have to work up to becoming a sniper. It's not something you automatically get routed into because of your marksmanship prowess. Most likely he spent his early career on a team going on missions, that's what they're refering to.
Eric,
He was a sniper, but he was also a SEAL who during his four tours chose to, or found himself battling it out right in the thick of it on numerous occasions. At least that's how it was in the movie. If the movie was accurate, it was very impressive to see that uncommon bravery, and dedication. I also assumed a sniper stayed out of the close-in combat, but in the movie, he would come out of his hidden position to fight in the open when necessary to help out other solders or support the mission when being a sniper was not the most effective for the situation. It was the most surprising thing I saw about him in the movie. Being a good shot is one thing, but putting yourself in much more danger than you are expected to just out of duty to his fellow soldiers was amazing to me. If it's true, he was an incredible and authentic hero in the real sense of the word.
Well, I learned something new today, and without a movie spoiler.
Hooray!
Snipers are usually part of forward reconnaissance teams, as Seal Team 6 former member O'Neil has cited on a couple of occasions when asked. That means that they go forward first and as the battle catches up to them, they can easily become embroiled in the mess...their job is covering the grunts moving forward and those troops rely on their observation abilities. At times this requires giving up the cover and fighting in the open. Anyone who has been a sniper or LRRP team member or SEAL or Marine Corps equivalents, has my deepest respect. They without any doubt kept many of us alive by preventing ambushes.
Post a Comment