BF2S Forums Iraqi Insurgent Snipers Gaining Skill, U.S. Snipers Getting Hosed.

Fucking amazing....  I would have to concur.  I'm curious though...  At the risk of sounding clueless, why are they so much more concerned about losing snipers as opposed to any other kind of soldier?  There are rarer types of soldiers with more advanced training....

Yea when I was in Kirkuk RAB in Iraq this past summer we had a big problem with enemy snipers shooting at us when we did our morning physical training. First off the base commander wouldnt change the time we did PT so the enemy snipers always knew when would be outside. Finally they made us wear our kevlars and body armour while outside. That sucks when its 130 degrees outside, but its worth it. I personally never saw anybody get shot by the snipers there but I know that a few guys were killed by them there. We had counter sniper units posted all around base there.

ATG wrote:

Iraqi snipers are rumored to be gaining skill.
I think it's more that U.S. commanders have their heads up their asses.
http://i16.tinypic.com/2ajrptt.jpg
One sniper in Iraq is rumored to have killed over 100 U.S. servicemen. His name is Juma and videos of his handywork are not hard to find on the internet via searching his name.

So what do the U.S. Snipers have to say?
You'd be suprised if you are a Bush supporter.

The following are real letters from real snipers deployed in Iraq, thanks to www.sofmag.com
http://www.sofmag.com/news/permalink1/2 … 25536.html
units and locations withheld ( XXX )

The problem we are having is that they just stopped using snipers all together with my unit. We are still in Iraq ( we were extended ) and I am in XXX We did operate in XXX under our own brigade and we did all kinds of sniper missions, ( but ) now that we are detached to another unit in XXX that unit feels it is too risky to use snipers. Basically what the deal is, they are afraid of us dying, they are afraid of what the media will say if we do get killed. They are so scared they will not let us operate. Now I came into the military to do a job, and I am willing to accept that risk---that's why I am a sniper. I know my job is extremely high risk, I don't need some stars and bars thinking they are doing us any favors by keeping us from doing missions.

Friends and family send us gear, or we spend like $70 bucks on gloves and gear. You have to call a hundred people before you can take a shot, but if they ( the insurgents ) see one of ours, they shoot him. Our Stryker Brigade lost a man last week to a sniper- if we had a counter-sniper team in place it may not have happened. New snipers assigned to our platoon often have not received any live fire training. We are making arrangments to hire a company to put the new guys through a basic sniper school since the actual army snipers schools are full up.

We have no decent night optics. Same can be said for thermal sights, laser range finders, wind direction finders, mil dot calculators, etc.
Misuse of snipers, especially by the Marine Corps is rampant. The Marine unit in our sector send their snipers out on combat patrol as infantry ( army is guilty of this as well ) and then have their snipers occupy the same positions over and over again. The enemy in our AO uses close quarters combat as their counter sniper technique, and it works! They scout snipers positions, then throw hand grenades and assault the position or lay an IED against the dismounted egress of the sniper hide.

The list of complaints could go on, but you get the idea.
Stuff like this is about the only thing that makes me what to jump on the cut and run bandwagon; if we are going to just discard these men like rusty tools then
lets get them home.








Extended firefight video PSD snipers in Iraq
Info about Americans killed by snipers in Iraq, WARNING, DOES CONTAIN SOME BLOOD

Its Juba, not Juma

I agree with you ATG, it has to be the unit commanders.  WHY wouldn't they have counter sniper teams in place?!?!?!  No live fire training for new snipers?!?!?  Not using snipers because the unit thinks it's too risky?  Good grief.  Isn't it more risky NOT to have a counter sniper in case your unit starts taking long range fire?  As one of the snipers said in his letter, "Now I came into the military to do a job, and I am willing to accept that risk---that's why I am a sniper."  Let him to his job and smoke some insurgents!  If there is a trustworthy organization that will purchase quality equipment for these guys, I'll donate.

its all insurgent propaganda, snipers arent the the threat, IED's are.  juba doesnt exist.  black propaganda, apparently working.  when i was there, our snipers had a blast.  we had counter sniper teams taking up posts in appartment buildings in baghdad waiting for cocklickers to launch rockets and mortars and boom there goes their head.....at least on OIF II, but ill be the first to admit that the situation is probably different.  its just I dont see haji snipers as ever becoming as serious a threat as IED's or even rocket/mortar attacks

Last edited by GunSlinger OIF II (2006-12-26 09:26:09)

ATG wrote:

Really?
It honestly hadn't occured to me he was a creation, with all the footage online.


Insurgent>me this time.

While I havent watched any of the videos there is a high possibility that is footage from multiple snipers.

that extended firefight video at the bottom of your original post was strange... were they just randomly shootin at that bus and other vehicles just driving by?  Thats what it looked like to me... for all i know it may have been a no go zone or something but dang thats gotta help to win over the hearts of the iraqi citizens...

yeah i know they were blackwater mercenaries ive seen movies about then before... now im not sayin they shouldnt have been shootin or anything dont get me wrong im not cryin bloody murder... but if you watch that movie looks like they are just shootin at anything driving anywhere near them... seems kinda sketchy to be shootin at a bus and cars but i wasnt there so who am i to know what was goin on... i hate crap footage like that just leaves so many questions

edit:   is that a fruit wrinkle tree in your sig?

Last edited by SuperSlowYo (2006-12-26 19:40:36)

Some of my good friends are Scout Snipers in the Marine Corps, and during our tour they were dropping bodies almost every night

also
A true shot through the window killed an insurgent sniper. A Marine sniper from 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment shot him through the window at a distance near Habbaniyah, Iraq June 16. Sgt. Kevin Homestead, a 26-year-old squad leader for K Company, was spotting for the sniper section leader when he noticed the insurgent was videotaping a convoy with a scoped rifle by his side. Only after killing the shooter and the driver who was spotting, did they discover the M-40A1. The rifle was lost when it was taken from four Marines assigned to 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment after they were killed nearly two years before in Ramadi.

My unit 3/5

Edit: The guy is a myth just like the Checnian sniper team around Baghdad

Last edited by SgtHeihn (2006-12-30 13:48:33)

GunSlinger OIF II wrote:

its all insurgent propaganda, snipers arent the the threat, IED's are.  juba doesnt exist.  black propaganda, apparently working.  when i was there, our snipers had a blast.  we had counter sniper teams taking up posts in appartment buildings in baghdad waiting for cocklickers to launch rockets and mortars and boom there goes their head.....at least on OIF II, but ill be the first to admit that the situation is probably different.  its just I dont see haji snipers as ever becoming as serious a threat as IED's or even rocket/mortar attacks

I heard this too. That juba is fictional. But I'm not the guy getting shot at either.
Canada has a pretty good sniper unit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_APOLLO

SgtHeihn wrote:

Some of my good friends are Scout Snipers in the Marine Corps, and during our tour they were dropping bodies almost every night

also
A true shot through the window killed an insurgent sniper. A Marine sniper from 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment shot him through the window at a distance near Habbaniyah, Iraq June 16. Sgt. Kevin Homestead, a 26-year-old squad leader for K Company, was spotting for the sniper section leader when he noticed the insurgent was videotaping a convoy with a scoped rifle by his side. Only after killing the shooter and the driver who was spotting, did they discover the M-40A1. The rifle was lost when it was taken from four Marines assigned to 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment after they were killed nearly two years before in Ramadi.

My unit 3/5

Edit: The guy is a myth just like the Checnian sniper team around Baghdad

Huh I know there was a Chechnyan (sp?) sniper in west fallujah that was pretty bad. Doubt he was a myth because people were dying. May not be chechnyan though.

ATG wrote:

Wow, way to resurrect a old topic.

His sig is pretty funny though.