I love it when a plan comes together

Some Brits and Afghanis were saved from Taliban execution this weekend by British SAS and US Navy SEALs.

The soldiers moved into the darkness shooting dead the kidnappers with silenced weapons. Several were dispatched with a “double tap” the preferred method of killing - two bullets in the centre of the forehead.

The US special forces cleared and secured their target, killing seven kidnappers in the process but no hostages had been found.

For an instant commanders faced the dreadful possibility that the four aid workers had been moved. Seconds later, however, the tension was broken when the SAS team commander’s radio crackled into life, reporting that all four hostage were alive and well, before adding that a further four kidnappers had been killed.

Sounds stealthy.  I imagine the hostages felt a good deal of relief when they were set free and flown back home.  I'm glad to hear that they were all good to go.

82nd Airborne in Afghanistan

About 80 high resolution photos of the 82nd Airborne kicking ass in Afghanistan at theBrigade.  (***Graphic: blood)  There are about a half dozen photos of a Soldier carrying a suppressed Remington MSR with a Premier Reticles scope.  While I think it would be fun to shoot that rifle, I don't think I would want to carry it.  I've handled a suppressed one before, and it's a beast.  There's also a M110 sniper rifle in there, and I can't help but to laugh at the massive Trijicon ACOG on top of a M240 machine gun, with a huge reflex sight mounted on top of that.  It's like something from Doctor Seuss; the reflex is at least six inches above the bore, and closer to eight inches.

200 miles from nowhere

A sad but neat story about RAF Flight Sergeant Denis Copping who went Missing In Action in 1942 who apparently crashed his P-40 Kittyhawk in the Sahara, 200 miles from the nearest town.  It's deducted that his fate was wandering off into the desert until it claimed him, which is brutal.  There are excellent pictures of the aircraft at the link.

Found at Ace of Spades HQ

FNH MK20 combat sighting

On the US SOF thread at ARCOM, page 47, is a picture of some SOF dude with a MK20 just like I oogled at the Modern Day Marine Convention two years ago. I hope it's doing well as a combat weapon.

Whoa, dude!

If this Apache pilot had pulled this off it would have been way cool. From the caption, everybody came out of this alive, but I don't know how!


***ETA: I found the Apache video at this thread on ARFCOM, and this video was also on it:



I play inverted :(

Detroit or Afghanistan?

Tough call. Remember this video when you're whining about your commute home today:



There's a bunch more combat videos at MP.net.

Killing them soflty with M-4s....

Killing them softly. . . . .with M-4s.

OK, more likely it was with HK 416s and belt fed weapons, but it's my post title and I can call it whatever I want!

Anyhow, Navy SEALs have been knocking off badguys left and right, and they managed to save a damsel in distress this time to boot. Save some for the rest of the military, guys! Dayummm! Good job though.

When the sky is torn

The sound of the 30mm cannon of the A-10 being fired is almost supernatural. It sounds like the sky is being torn in two:



You hear the explosive rounds impacting first, followed by the demonic snarl of the gun's report.

The 20mm cannon on the front of a AH-1W SuperCobra sounds menacing as well; the first time I hear one I thought it was some great Norse war horn or something. And once while watching the stars over Ramadi while enjoying a tasty cigarette I saw a bright red thunderbolt looking monster grow in the sky. It scared me for a second because I had no earthly idea what it was until I heard that tearing sound, and then I heard the twin turbine engines from a F/A-18E SuperHornet. Would not want one of those shooting at me.

Check out this thread at Military Photos.net for some more cool war footage.

Just when you thought your day was difficult

At any given moment, some lunatic in a space suit could be calmly eating clam chowder through a straw in his helmet, not all that concerned that he couldn't possibly eject should his unarmed and unarmored glider take a missile shot fired in anger from a point over 70,000 feet below him. That such folks exist in the first place is even more amazing.

Ride the lightning

An amazing story about a Marine pilot forced to eject over something more frightening than enemy lines.

Found at Ace of Spades.

Combat shotguns

A look at the Mossberg 590, the Benelli 1014, and various other shotguns (I see a pistol gripped Mossberg 835 in there. What do you see?) as used by military forces in pictures. There are some scantily clad women sprinkled in there as well, just letting you know. Funny, I just saw Kate Mara in the movie Shooter this weekend. Weird.

And one of those high resolution pics -- #17 from the film Dead Presidents -- seems. . . .familiar to me. Where have we seen that one before?

Valley of the Jolly Green Giants

A MilitaryPhotos thread on US Air Force Pararescue and Special Operations. Those boys get it done!

Years ago I looked into Pararescue, because it's a cool job with lots of medical and specialized training, but I was far too broken physically to get in. I do appreciate those who made it, though!

Happy Veteran's Day!

Today is a day to give thanks to our Veterans. Too bad there are people who have to be reminded to be respectful sometimes:



Y'all have a great day!

Happy Birthday, Marines!!

Errrrrr!

"Help! Help! I need you!"

Troops in contact in Afghanistan calling for gun runs from an A-10 pilot. You can hear the seriousness in their voices, the chatter of machine guns in the background, and the pilot's ground proximity warning system telling him "Altitude, altitude". . . "Pull up! Pull up" as he's walking 30mm rounds from the GAU-8 Avenger gun in the nose onto the target while calmly plummeting straight towards the ground. Simply awesome.




The video doesn't include the aftermath, or whether the fires effectively stopped the fight or not, but it does give you an idea of how much caution goes into using such a weapon system on the ground. Nobody wants HE rounds hitting the wrong target.

M14 in service photos

Check out this picture thread from theBrigade showing off the M14 Service Rifle throughout its history. My fav is the two suppressed rifles with early nightvision scopes held by two Vietnam war era Soldiers wearing indigenous sandals. That's just sick!

Semper Fidelis

On Thursday, President Obama will award the Medal of Honor to retired Marine Sgt. Dakota Meyer.

Yuuuuuuut!!!

Marines are still putting the smack down on our enemies.

With ten plus years of war for our country, I expected more of our warriors to receive the nation's highest medals. They earned it; pay up.

Marine Corps Snipers

A photo gallery of USMC Snipers. Super cool, but a head's up: do know that intermingled within the gallery are safe for work pictures of scantily clad women (nothing you can't see in an old Sears catalog, though in better resolution).


***ETA: Link fixed. Sleep deprivation and all that!

Come hell or high water. . . .

. . . .the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier will be guarded by the most dedicated Soldiers.

That's true dedication.

Bringing sexy back

I always loved the Woodland camo BDUs in my Marine Corps days; it was only at the very end of my active service that the new digital MARPAT uniforms were coming about, and they were extremely hard to get a hold of.

I think the Marine Corps did it right with the new uniforms. Wearing them is like wearing pajamas in comparison to the BDU, and I've been told that the IR signature of the MARPAT wearer is reduced. Technology rocks.

Over at KitUp!, there's an article about Marine Special Operations (MARSOC) adopting the Crye Precision uniform (the folks that made Multicam), and the pattern depicted is Woodland. In comments, many people have elevated blood pressure over it considering that their tax dollars went to buying MARPAT for the Marines, which works excellent, and now there are Marines wearing $200 pants in Woodland. I think the thing to consider here is that these guys are MARSOC, and are probably trying to blend in with the Afghanistan military on top of blending in with the terrain. That, and Woodland works very well as a camouflage even today, and I wouldn't think twice about wearing it in greenish environments.

Woodland is good stuff.

Looking at the Marine on the right in the picture, I notice that he has the new Leupold Mark 8 riflescope, which I got to fondle at the Modern Day Marine Convention last year (advertising helps!). Here's a picture of my buddy holding the Mark 8, if you want a closer look, and go here for sticker-shock if you want to buy one. Looking closely, the Mark 8 is mounted in a reversed one piece scope mount and base, probably a quick detach type such as Bobro, GG&G, or Larue tactical, with it attached to the forearm vice the receiver. That will no doubt make some people cringe, as a forearm is not as robust of a mounting platform as the receiver, but that Marine looks like he's doing fine with it.