Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: bj229r on January 16, 2006, 09:49:15 PM
-
http://www.washtimes.com/world/20060115-111618-6393r.htm
U.S. Army sniper nails record shot
By Toby Harnden
LONDON SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
January 16, 2006
RAMADI, Iraq -- Gazing through the telescopic sight of his M-24 rifle, Army Staff Sgt. Jim Gilliland, leader of Shadow sniper team, fixed his eye on the Iraqi insurgent who had just killed an American soldier.
His quarry stood nonchalantly in the fourth-floor bay window of a hospital in battle-torn Ramadi, still clasping a long-barreled Kalashnikov. Instinctively allowing for wind speed and bullet drop, Shadow's commander aimed 12 feet high.
A single shot hit the Iraqi in the chest and killed him instantly. It had been fired from a range of more than three-quarters of a mile, well beyond the capacity of the powerful Leupold sight, accurate to 3,300 feet.
"I believe it is the longest confirmed kill in Iraq with a 7.62mm rifle," said Sgt. Gilliland, 28, who hunted squirrels in Double Springs, Ala., from the age of 5 before progressing to deer -- and then to insurgents and terrorists.
"He was visible only from the waist up. It was a one-in-a-million shot. I could probably shoot a whole box of ammunition and never hit him again."
Later that day, Sgt. Gilliland found out that the American soldier who had been killed by the Iraqi was Staff Sgt. Jason Benford, 30, a good friend.
The insurgent was one of between 55 and 65 Sgt. Gilliland estimates that he has shot dead in less than five months, putting him within striking distance of sniper legends such as Carlos Hathcock, a Marine who recorded 93 confirmed kills in Vietnam.
One of his men,Spc. Aaron Arnold, 22, of Medway, Ohio, has chalked up a similar tally.
"It was elating, but only afterwards," said Sgt. Gilliland, recalling the Sept. 27 shot. "At the time, there was no high-fiving. You've got troops under fire, taking casualties, and you're not thinking about anything other than finding a target and putting it down. Every shot is for the betterment of our cause."
All told, the 10-strong Shadow sniper team, attached to Task Force 2-69, has killed just under 200 in the same period and emerged as the U.S. Army's secret weapon in Ramadi against the threat of hidden improvised explosive devices or roadside bombs.
Above the spot from which Sgt. Gilliland took his record shot, in a room at the top of a bombed-out observation post that is code-named Hotel and known jokingly to soldiers as the Ramadi Inn, are painted the words, "Kill Them All" and "Kill Like You Mean It."
On another wall are scrawled the words of Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican and a former prisoner of war in Vietnam:
"America is great not because of what she has done for herself, but because of what she has done for others."
The juxtaposition of macho slogans and noble political ideals encapsulates the dirty, dangerous and often callous job the sniper has to carry out as an integral part of a campaign ultimately being waged to help the Iraqi people.
With masterful understatement, Lt. Col. Robert Roggeman, the Task Force 2-69 commander, conceded: "The romantic in me is disappointed with the reception we've received in Ramadi," a city of 400,000 on the banks of the Euphrates, where graffiti boasts, with more than a degree of accuracy: "This is the graveyard of the Americans."
"We're the outsiders, the infidels," Col. Roggeman said. "Every time somebody goes out that main gate, he might not come back. It's still a running gunbattle."
Highly effective though they are, he worries about the burden his snipers have to bear. "It's a very godlike role. They have the power of life and death that, if not held in check, can run out of control. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
"Every shot has to be measured against the rules of engagement, positive identification and proportionality," Col. Roggeman said.
Sgt. Gilliland explains that his Shadow team operates at the "borderlines" of the rules of engagement, making snap judgments about whether a figure in the cross hairs is an insurgent or not.
"Hunters give their animals respect," he said, spitting out a mouthful of chewing tobacco. "If you have no respect for what you do, you're not going to be very good, or you're going to make a mistake. We try to give the benefit of the doubt.
"You've got to live with it. It's on your conscience," he said. "It's something you've got to carry away with you."
-
Obviously the man is related to Matthew Quigely.
Nice shot.
-
HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYY MAAAAAAAAAAAAAN NIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICE SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!
-
Nice shot..but seems like to much info to me.
-
*Distant bang*
Terrorist: ...uh....hey, what's that dot...coming this way, I think...wait a mi- *thwack*
Bystander: O.O
Sniper: Jackpot.
-
except at that kind of range it's more like:
insurgent drops
bystander :O
...
...
muffled boom.
-
Congrats to the Sniper:eek: :aok
-
someone should link this thread next time we hear moans about 800-1000yrds kills in AH.
fantastic work, and tragic that they must let him kill an american before dropping him.
-
Originally posted by B@tfinkV
someone should link this thread next time we hear moans about 800-1000yrds kills in AH.
Errmmm theres a big difference between a sniper in a fix/supported position taking careful aim and weapons mounted on an unstable aircraft wing with aircraft and said aircrafts target whizzing around the sky.
-
....of course there are also a lot MORE of those bullets involved vs. this one.
-
I think his point is that even the .30 cal rounds have enough energy at > 3/4 of a mile, about "1.3" in AH range, to kill a man.
Or punch a hole in aluminum skins less than a 1/4 inch think.
-
Originally posted by Chairboy
....of course there are also a lot MORE of those bullets involved vs. this one.
stats:
wobblywing*dispersion*bigsky*realtimeleadcalculations = hastobeonelucky shot
-
Originally posted by Vulcan
...... unstable aircraft wing ......
speak for yourself, my aim is pretty steady when im having a good day.
and you forget that some planes have nose guns, which are alot more stable and acurate over long range. (longest kill i ever made in AH was 920yrds pilot kill *boom* from a P38 using just the 50cals, the target was a gently banking 110)
and why does everyone think that it being a 'lucky' shot makes it gamey and unrealistic?
this sniper made a lucky shot, but the target was still eliminated.
can post flm of said kill if required.
-
Originally posted by Toad
I think his point is that even the .30 cal rounds have enough energy at > 3/4 of a mile, about "1.3" in AH range, to kill a man.
Or punch a hole in aluminum skins less than a 1/4 inch think.
aluminum aircraft skin is considerably thinner than 1/4" try .050 - .062. that is thinner than 1/16".
-
Which is why I said "less than". Some parts, however, were that thick.
Either way, a .30 will go right on thru at 1,000+ and a .50... fugeddaboudit.
-
Originally posted by B@tfinkV
someone should link this thread next time we hear moans about 800-1000yrds kills in AH.
Um, one has nothing to do with the other.
Way to stay on topic. :aok
fantastic work, and tragic that they must let him kill an american before dropping him.
Ignorant.
-
Originally posted by Morpheus
Ignorant.
He's got a point. Depending on what the ROE is they might not be able to engage potential hostiles until they commit a hostile act. Also worth noting the article said the guy was shot through a hospital window. US forces cannot regularly engage hospitals unless they are engaged from said hospitals.
-
Key phrase I am refering to is "let him kill an american". Some of the ROE's are screwed up IMHO. Especially when the other side has none. It goes deeper than just this side vs the other side, yes I'm well aware of that. But no one is letting anyone kill americans before they engage.
-
I think he's just purse slinging at batfink. the rules of engagement are restrictive for our forces.
-
Wow, that whole groups of guys will probably drink for free for the rest of their lives. As they deserve. Maybe one of them can jump over to that 3 shot deer hunter thread and show him what's for.
-
aiming 121 feet above him..thats soem serious bullet drop..that means hes reall far away..
wow
funny i think 300 yds is far..I need to find a 600yd range
-
Originally posted by GreenCloud
aiming 121 feet above him..thats soem serious bullet drop..that means hes reall far away..
wow
funny i think 300 yds is far..I need to find a 600yd range
was it 121 feet or 12 feet?
-
Greencloud mistyped or misread, it was 12 feet. Still, some serious drop, and him being really far away was kind of the point for the whole article.
:skepticalbutwillingtogivebene fitofthedoubt:
-
jesus..if i really meant 121 feet ..thats waould be a 2 mile shot with a 50 cal; )
-
Originally posted by B@tfinkV
speak for yourself, my aim is pretty steady when im having a good day.
and you forget that some planes have nose guns, which are alot more stable and acurate over long range. (longest kill i ever made in AH was 920yrds pilot kill *boom* from a P38 using just the 50cals, the target was a gently banking 110)
and why does everyone think that it being a 'lucky' shot makes it gamey and unrealistic?
this sniper made a lucky shot, but the target was still eliminated.
can post flm of said kill if required.
If this Iraqi could screem "BS, Cheater!" in the Iraq test buffer I'm sure he would...I remeber reading about tim mcveigh making a simlar shot in the gulf war, but they probably wrote a lot of crazy stuff about him
-
Originally posted by storch
aluminum aircraft skin is considerably thinner than 1/4" try .050 - .062. that is thinner than 1/16".
don't act like a know it all storch if you do not know it.
Average skin thickness of a 17's main wing panels is .032, trailing edges are .020. Same for the otbd panels.
Average skin thickness on the 190 wing is approximately .040. It is also layered in some spots.
Toad was spot on in his observation, as the thunderbolt has almost a 1/4" of skin in spots.