From a friend on duty
3 Nov
A Marine's Eye-View of Iraq
All Hands:
Mel Lett sends a Sitrep from a Marine friend named Jordon in Iraq. I was
going to "clean it up" a bit, but then decided I would leave it as is. If
the language offends anyone on the All Hands, let me know and I will delete
you.
There is a full evaluation of the weapons available to our troops and the
enemy. I personally could never understand why DoD decided to go from a .30
caliber round to a .22 caliber. The most coveted round in combat these days
is the Browning Machine Gun (BMG), 50 caliber, and the weapons to fire it.
This round was developed in 1919, just after WW I, and technology has not
come up with a better round yet. Jordon says "thumbs, way ,way, up" for the
M-2 Browning Machine Gun. This weapon is 87 years old.
The M-14, a .308 caliber rifle, which was replaced by the M-16, the .223
caliber, in the middle of the Vietnam war, is being re-issued to Special
Operations troops. In my humble opinion, and the opinion of Sgt Maj Russ
Rockwell, the M-1 and the M-14 are the only weapons, issued to US troops,
where we had the enemy "outgunned."
The Model Colt 1911 A-1, the handgun most troops want to carry, was
developed in 1911. the Beretta that is issued now is a 9 mm or .35 caliber.
the 1911 A-1 is a .45 caliber round. This weapon is 95 years old.
In the final paragraphs of this Sitrep, this Marine says most troops in the
desert think the American press is against them. No one in the media
reports that our military has a 20-1 kill ratio, and no one in the media
ever reports on enemy losses.
Thanks and Semper Fi, Mel,
From: Mel LETT
To: Undisclosed-Recipient:;
Sent: Thursday, November 02, 2006 11:48 PM
Subject: Re: On the Scene Report from Iraq--a Follow-on Weapons Evaluation
----- Subject: FW: On the Scene Report from Iraq--a Follow-on Weapons
Evaluation
Just had this email from a guy who is still there ....No politics here, just
a Marine with a bird's eye view opinion:
1) The M-16 rifle : Thumbs down. Chronic jamming problems with the talcum
powder like sand over there. The sand is everywhere. Jordan says you feel
filthy 2 minutes after coming out of the shower. The M-4 carbine version
is more popular because it's lighter and shorter, but it has jamming
problems also. They like the ability to mount the various optical gunsights
and weapons lights on the picattiny 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 common over there and even
torso hits can't be reliably counted on to
put the enemy down.
Fun fact: Random autopsies on dead insurgents show a high level of opiate
use.
2) The M243 SAW (squad assault weapon): .223 cal. Drum fed light machine
gun. Big thumbs down. Universally considered a piece of shit. Chronic
jamming problems, most of which require partial disassembly (that's fun in
the middle of a firefight).
3) The M9 Beretta 9mm: Mixed bag. Good gun, performs well in desert
environment; but they all hate the 9mm cartridge. The use of handguns for
self-defense is actually fairly common. Same old story on the 9mm: Bad guys
hit multiple times and still in the fight.
4) Mossberg 12ga. Military shotgun: Works well, used frequently for
clearing houses to good effect.
5) The M240 Machine Gun: 7.62 Nato (.308) cal. belt fed machine gun,
developed to replace the old M-60 (what a beautiful weapon that was!!).
Thumbs up. Accurate, reliable, and the 7.62 round puts 'em down.
Originally developed as a vehicle mounted weapon, more and more are being
dismounted and taken into the field by infantry. The 7.62 round chews up
the structure over there.
6) The M2 .50 cal heavy machine gun: Thumbs way, way up. "Ma deuce" is
still worth her considerable weight in gold. The ultimate fight stopper,
puts their dicks in the dirt every time. The most coveted weapon
in-theater.
7) The .45 pistol: Thumbs up. Still the best pistol round out there.
Everybody authorized to carry a sidearm is trying to get their hands on one.
With few exceptions, can reliably be expected to put 'em down with a torso
hit. The special ops guys (who are doing most of the pistol work) use the
HK military model and supposedly love it. The old government model .45's
are being re-issued en masse.
8) The M-14: Thumbs up. They are being re-issued 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 they love the 7.62 round.
9) The Barrett .50 cal sniper rifle: Thumbs way up. Spectacular range and
accuracy and hits like a freight train. Used frequently to take out vehicle
suicide bombers ( we actually stop a lot of them) and barricaded enemy.
Definitely here to stay.
10) The M24 sniper rifle: Thumbs up. Mostly in .308 but some in 300 win
mag. Heavily modified Remington 700's. Great performance. Snipers have
been used heavily to great effect. Rumor has it that a marine sniper on his
third tour in Anbar province has actually exceeded Carlos Hathcock's record
for confirmed kills with OVER 100.
11) The new body armor: Thumbs up. Relatively light at approx. 6 lbs.and
can reliably be expected to soak up small shrapnel and even will stop an
AK-47 round. The bad news: Hot as shit to wear, almost unbearable in the
summer heat (which averages over 120 degrees). Also, the enemy now goes
for head shots whenever possible. All the bullshit about the "old" body
armor making our guys vulnerable to the IED's was a non-starter. The IED
explosions are enormous and body armor doesn't make any difference at all in
most cases.
12) Night Vision and Infrared Equipment: 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 enemy being
whacked at night during movement by our hunter-killer teams. We've all seen
the videos.
13) Lights: Thumbs up. Most of the weapon mounted and personal lights are
Surefire's, and the troops love 'em. Invaluable for night urban
operations.
Jordan carried a $34 Surefire G2 on a neck lanyard and loved it. I cant
help but notice that most of the good fighting weapons and ordnance are 50
or more years old!!!!!!!!! With all our technology,it's the WWII and
Vietnam era weapons that everybody wants!!!! The infantry fighting is
frequent, up close and brutal. No quarter is given or shown.
Bad guy weapons:
1) Mostly AK47's . The entire country is an arsenal. Works better in the
desert than the M16 and the .308 Russian round kills reliably. PKM belt fed
light machine guns are also common and effective. Luckily, the enemy
mostly shoots like shit. Undisciplined "spray and pray" type fire.
However, they are seeing more and more precision weapons, especially sniper
rifles. (Iran, again)
Fun fact: Captured enemy have apparently marveled at the marksmanship of
our guys and how hard they fight. They are apparently told in Jihad school
that the Americans rely solely on technology, and can be easily beaten in
close quarters combat for their lack of toughness. Let's just say they
know better now.
2) The RPG: Probably the infantry weapon most feared by our guys. Simple,
reliable and as common as dogshit. 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.
3) The IED: The biggest killer of all. Can be anything from old Soviet
anti-armor mines to jury rigged artillery shells. A lot found in Jordan's
area were in abandoned cars. The enemy would take 2 or 3 155mm artillery
shells and wire them together. 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 IED's are supplied by Iran, who is also
providing terrorists
(Hezbollah types) to train the insurgents in their use and tactics. That's
why the attacks have been so deadly lately. Their concealment methods are
ingenious, the latest being shape charges in Styrofoam containers spray
painted to look like the cinderblocks that litter all
Iraqi roads. We find about 40% before they detonate, and the bomb disposal
guys are unsung heroes of this war.
4) Mortars and rockets: Very prevalent. The soviet era 122mm rockets
(with an 18km range) are becoming more prevalent. One of Jordan's NCO's
lost a leg to one. These weapons cause a lot of damage "inside the wire".
Jordan's base was hit almost daily his entire time there by mortar and
rocket fire, often at night to disrupt sleep patterns and
cause fatigue (It did). More of a psychological weapon than anything else.
The enemy mortar teams would jump out of vehicles, fire a few rounds, and
then haul ass in a matter of seconds.
5) Bad guy technology: Simple yet effective. Most communication is by
cell and satellite phones, and also by email on laptops. They use handheld
GPS units for navigation and "Googleearth" for overhead views of our
positions. Their weapons are good, if not fancy, and prevalent. Their
explosives and bomb technology is TOP OF THE LINE. Night vision is rare.
They are very careless with their equipment and the captured GPS units and
laptops are treasure troves of Intel when captured.
Continued on Iraq-2
3 Nov
A Marine's Eye-View of Iraq
All Hands:
Mel Lett sends a Sitrep from a Marine friend named Jordon in Iraq. I was
going to "clean it up" a bit, but then decided I would leave it as is. If
the language offends anyone on the All Hands, let me know and I will delete
you.
There is a full evaluation of the weapons available to our troops and the
enemy. I personally could never understand why DoD decided to go from a .30
caliber round to a .22 caliber. The most coveted round in combat these days
is the Browning Machine Gun (BMG), 50 caliber, and the weapons to fire it.
This round was developed in 1919, just after WW I, and technology has not
come up with a better round yet. Jordon says "thumbs, way ,way, up" for the
M-2 Browning Machine Gun. This weapon is 87 years old.
The M-14, a .308 caliber rifle, which was replaced by the M-16, the .223
caliber, in the middle of the Vietnam war, is being re-issued to Special
Operations troops. In my humble opinion, and the opinion of Sgt Maj Russ
Rockwell, the M-1 and the M-14 are the only weapons, issued to US troops,
where we had the enemy "outgunned."
The Model Colt 1911 A-1, the handgun most troops want to carry, was
developed in 1911. the Beretta that is issued now is a 9 mm or .35 caliber.
the 1911 A-1 is a .45 caliber round. This weapon is 95 years old.
In the final paragraphs of this Sitrep, this Marine says most troops in the
desert think the American press is against them. No one in the media
reports that our military has a 20-1 kill ratio, and no one in the media
ever reports on enemy losses.
Thanks and Semper Fi, Mel,
From: Mel LETT
To: Undisclosed-Recipient:;
Sent: Thursday, November 02, 2006 11:48 PM
Subject: Re: On the Scene Report from Iraq--a Follow-on Weapons Evaluation
----- Subject: FW: On the Scene Report from Iraq--a Follow-on Weapons
Evaluation
Just had this email from a guy who is still there ....No politics here, just
a Marine with a bird's eye view opinion:
1) The M-16 rifle : Thumbs down. Chronic jamming problems with the talcum
powder like sand over there. The sand is everywhere. Jordan says you feel
filthy 2 minutes after coming out of the shower. The M-4 carbine version
is more popular because it's lighter and shorter, but it has jamming
problems also. They like the ability to mount the various optical gunsights
and weapons lights on the picattiny 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 common over there and even
torso hits can't be reliably counted on to
put the enemy down.
Fun fact: Random autopsies on dead insurgents show a high level of opiate
use.
2) The M243 SAW (squad assault weapon): .223 cal. Drum fed light machine
gun. Big thumbs down. Universally considered a piece of shit. Chronic
jamming problems, most of which require partial disassembly (that's fun in
the middle of a firefight).
3) The M9 Beretta 9mm: Mixed bag. Good gun, performs well in desert
environment; but they all hate the 9mm cartridge. The use of handguns for
self-defense is actually fairly common. Same old story on the 9mm: Bad guys
hit multiple times and still in the fight.
4) Mossberg 12ga. Military shotgun: Works well, used frequently for
clearing houses to good effect.
5) The M240 Machine Gun: 7.62 Nato (.308) cal. belt fed machine gun,
developed to replace the old M-60 (what a beautiful weapon that was!!).
Thumbs up. Accurate, reliable, and the 7.62 round puts 'em down.
Originally developed as a vehicle mounted weapon, more and more are being
dismounted and taken into the field by infantry. The 7.62 round chews up
the structure over there.
6) The M2 .50 cal heavy machine gun: Thumbs way, way up. "Ma deuce" is
still worth her considerable weight in gold. The ultimate fight stopper,
puts their dicks in the dirt every time. The most coveted weapon
in-theater.
7) The .45 pistol: Thumbs up. Still the best pistol round out there.
Everybody authorized to carry a sidearm is trying to get their hands on one.
With few exceptions, can reliably be expected to put 'em down with a torso
hit. The special ops guys (who are doing most of the pistol work) use the
HK military model and supposedly love it. The old government model .45's
are being re-issued en masse.
8) The M-14: Thumbs up. They are being re-issued 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 they love the 7.62 round.
9) The Barrett .50 cal sniper rifle: Thumbs way up. Spectacular range and
accuracy and hits like a freight train. Used frequently to take out vehicle
suicide bombers ( we actually stop a lot of them) and barricaded enemy.
Definitely here to stay.
10) The M24 sniper rifle: Thumbs up. Mostly in .308 but some in 300 win
mag. Heavily modified Remington 700's. Great performance. Snipers have
been used heavily to great effect. Rumor has it that a marine sniper on his
third tour in Anbar province has actually exceeded Carlos Hathcock's record
for confirmed kills with OVER 100.
11) The new body armor: Thumbs up. Relatively light at approx. 6 lbs.and
can reliably be expected to soak up small shrapnel and even will stop an
AK-47 round. The bad news: Hot as shit to wear, almost unbearable in the
summer heat (which averages over 120 degrees). Also, the enemy now goes
for head shots whenever possible. All the bullshit about the "old" body
armor making our guys vulnerable to the IED's was a non-starter. The IED
explosions are enormous and body armor doesn't make any difference at all in
most cases.
12) Night Vision and Infrared Equipment: 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 enemy being
whacked at night during movement by our hunter-killer teams. We've all seen
the videos.
13) Lights: Thumbs up. Most of the weapon mounted and personal lights are
Surefire's, and the troops love 'em. Invaluable for night urban
operations.
Jordan carried a $34 Surefire G2 on a neck lanyard and loved it. I cant
help but notice that most of the good fighting weapons and ordnance are 50
or more years old!!!!!!!!! With all our technology,it's the WWII and
Vietnam era weapons that everybody wants!!!! The infantry fighting is
frequent, up close and brutal. No quarter is given or shown.
Bad guy weapons:
1) Mostly AK47's . The entire country is an arsenal. Works better in the
desert than the M16 and the .308 Russian round kills reliably. PKM belt fed
light machine guns are also common and effective. Luckily, the enemy
mostly shoots like shit. Undisciplined "spray and pray" type fire.
However, they are seeing more and more precision weapons, especially sniper
rifles. (Iran, again)
Fun fact: Captured enemy have apparently marveled at the marksmanship of
our guys and how hard they fight. They are apparently told in Jihad school
that the Americans rely solely on technology, and can be easily beaten in
close quarters combat for their lack of toughness. Let's just say they
know better now.
2) The RPG: Probably the infantry weapon most feared by our guys. Simple,
reliable and as common as dogshit. 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.
3) The IED: The biggest killer of all. Can be anything from old Soviet
anti-armor mines to jury rigged artillery shells. A lot found in Jordan's
area were in abandoned cars. The enemy would take 2 or 3 155mm artillery
shells and wire them together. 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 IED's are supplied by Iran, who is also
providing terrorists
(Hezbollah types) to train the insurgents in their use and tactics. That's
why the attacks have been so deadly lately. Their concealment methods are
ingenious, the latest being shape charges in Styrofoam containers spray
painted to look like the cinderblocks that litter all
Iraqi roads. We find about 40% before they detonate, and the bomb disposal
guys are unsung heroes of this war.
4) Mortars and rockets: Very prevalent. The soviet era 122mm rockets
(with an 18km range) are becoming more prevalent. One of Jordan's NCO's
lost a leg to one. These weapons cause a lot of damage "inside the wire".
Jordan's base was hit almost daily his entire time there by mortar and
rocket fire, often at night to disrupt sleep patterns and
cause fatigue (It did). More of a psychological weapon than anything else.
The enemy mortar teams would jump out of vehicles, fire a few rounds, and
then haul ass in a matter of seconds.
5) Bad guy technology: Simple yet effective. Most communication is by
cell and satellite phones, and also by email on laptops. They use handheld
GPS units for navigation and "Googleearth" for overhead views of our
positions. Their weapons are good, if not fancy, and prevalent. Their
explosives and bomb technology is TOP OF THE LINE. Night vision is rare.
They are very careless with their equipment and the captured GPS units and
laptops are treasure troves of Intel when captured.
Continued on Iraq-2