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Posted on 11/18/2004 12:29:41 AM PST by risk
Snipers in need have friend in States
By Lisa Burgess, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Monday, May 17, 2004
ARLINGTON, Va. — Attention, deployed snipers: Your brothers-in-arms back home want to send you gear.
A group of police and military snipers has started “Adopt a Sniper” to donate equipment to deployed military members.
It’s the brainchild of Brian Sain, a police SWAT member for 15 years who works as a detective in the Port Arthur (Texas) Police Department.
Sain said he was inspired by the close-knit “sniper fraternity,” whose military and civilian police members are unusually interwoven. “A lot of SWAT [members] are former military, and a lot of them are reservists who are now going over” to Iraq and Afghanistan, Sain said. “And even if you’re not military, getting shot at is getting shot at, no matter where you are.”
Sain said he knows “what it’s like not to have the equipment you need.” In 1994, Sain said, “I watched a guy hold a baby out a door through my sniper scope. I couldn’t see [well enough to shoot the man]; it was dark and I didn’t have night-vision equipment.” As Sain watched helplessly, the man shot the baby in the back.
Sain said he is determined to make sure no deployed military sniper will ever be in that spot — unable to do his mission or worse yet, in danger, because he doesn’t have the right gear.
In the six months since he started, Sain estimates that he’s sent at least $10,000 worth of sniper supplies to troops overseas.
Sain’s rules for who gets the goods are simple: deployed American servicemembers with a sniper military occupational specialty, regardless of branch of service.
“If they need [anything], they don’t have to do nothing but e-mail me. It takes about two weeks for me to get it to them in the mail.”
E-mails requesting equipment have come from all over — Iraq, Afghanistan and places Sain won’t name for security reasons.
Gear requests range from long cotton-tipped swabs for cleaning weapons to ultra-high-tech electronics that only an expert could use. Among the most requested items are specialized batteries, “any and all kinds of Surefire” (a line of tactical flashlights), and S.T.R.I.K.E. (Soldier Tactical Retro Integrated Kit Enhanced) Commando Recon chest harnesses.
Almost all of the gear Sain ships has one thing in common, he said: It’s specific to the very specialized sniper community and thus often very hard for civilian family and friends to supply to deployed servicemembers.
“It’s easy for [snipers] to write home and say, ‘I want a can of shaving cream,’” Sain said. “But trying to explain a Gen 4 Molle gear to Mom is a lot harder. She’d gladly spend the money, but she doesn’t know where to get it.”
There is one problem with getting gear to military snipers: They move around a lot, especially special forces, Sain said.
In fact, he has “six huge boxes” of expensive gear, including spotting scopes and binoculars, packed and ready to ship at the request of a SEAL team whose last known address was Bahrain.
But the team appears to have moved on, and now the donation is “just waiting for a mailing label and a customs stamp,” Sain said.
So drop him a line, SEALs.
“You know who you are,” Sain said.
— For more information or to make a donation, go to www.adoptasniper.com or www.snipersonline.org. Military snipers requesting gear must send their name, rank, service, date of graduation from and location of their sniper school, direct overseas contact information, and contact information for their commanding officer. All requests are verified for authenticity.
ping
Sniper Fi!
They're not the only ones over there with "Friends In The States".....
Terrorists In Need Have Friends in the United States MSM
Yo, terrorist dudes! Having trouble getting name recognition for yourself? Apply today to the American MSM's "Adopt A Terrorist" Scholarship Program. Prominent American journalists (who must remain unnamed) will mentor you in the most effective techniques for getting your message out. Learn how to get the best possible exposure for your "photo ops" by inviting foreign journalists to set up their cameras ahead of time in the right place. Don't screw up your buddies' suicide bombings with poorly placed cameras that are looking into the sun .... they only get one chance to do this right, for pity's sake!
God Bless these guys. I bought a sniper bracelet and sent in a pledge.
This is an example of what makes America great, which the libs will never understand: selfless generosity combined with INDIVIDUAL initiative!!!!
Sounds like a damn good cause to me......No Libs need apply.....
The sad part is the supply account manager could purchase all this and more if they just had the information.
Carlos Hathcock bump.
The greatest sniper in modern warfare was a Finnish farmer named Simo Häyhä who fought in the three month Winter War.
On November 30, 1939, the Russian communist dictator Stalin ordered a massive invasion of Finland with 1,500,000 troops in what became known by the Finns as The Winter War. The Russians lost 1,000,000 men, while the Finns lost 25,000 men. Their fighting skill and excellent marksmanship decimated their enemy, as the Finnish soldier killed 40 Russians for every Finn who died on the battlefield.
A Russian general was quoted as saying, “We gained 22,000 miles of new territory. Just enough to bury our dead.”
Included in this telling of the tough Finnish fighters is Häyhä who was a member of the “suojeluskunta,” the Finnish equivalent of the National Guard or Militia, established for the country’s protection after Finland had gained independence from Russia on Dec. 6th, 1917.
After the Russians invaded, Häyhä signed on as a sniper.
Working in temperatures between -20 to -40 Celsius, and dressed completely in a white camouflage suit, Häyhä killed at least 505 Red Army soldiers by sniping them one by one.
Häyhä plied his deadly trade and marksmanship with iron sights, at ranges in excess of 600 yards.
Häyhä used a Mosin-Nagant M28 rifle because it suited his small frame (5 ft). He preferred to use iron sights rather than telescopic sights to present less of a target (sun reflecting from lenses gave the position away, and the sniper must raise their head higher with telescopic sights).
Häyhä's equipment for a day in the field was his warm winter uniform, white snowsuit, large mitts, 50 to 60 rounds of ammo, rifle, knife, a few hand-grenades, and some dry food and sugar cubes.
Besides his sniper kills, Häyhä is known to have made well over two hundred kills with a machine gun, a weapon he was very fond of. All Häyhä's kills were accomplished within three months, prior to his injuries caused by an enemy bullet.
Häyhä, at age 93 in 1999, when asked how he had become such a good shot, gave a short answer: “Practice.”
Bumped to group of patriots
Semper Fi
Earlier post of request
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1282700/posts
Thanks for the ping!
Thanks. I added this one so people could see that a Stars and Stripes magazine contributorhad found merit and confidence in the non-profit.
Great "Winter War" story in the follow up above.
Häyhä, at age 93 in 1999, when asked how he had become such a good shot, gave a short answer: “Practice.”
Wow........Stay safe !
I like the survival tip about bringing a few pineapples with you, too.
Experience.
One must have an exit plan.........Mine was the M86.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/pdm.htm
http://ndmic-cidnm.forces.gc.ca/landmine.asp?lang=e&LandmineID=126
Stay safe PM !
As psyop_man's tags usually sa, "If the enemy is in range, so are you."
ADAM - Area Denial Artillery Munition
What a world. With rumors about Chinese nanotechnology (somewhat spurred by Bill Joy's flights of fancy), one has to wonder if the world is regressing. I see a bright future for America, but should it turn dark, we can only hope for pockets of freedom. Won't they be defended by people trained by battle-scarred cold warriors who know how to use ADAMs and can make a head shot at 500 yards with iron sights?
Perhaps it's a false comfort, but I take solace in knowing that there are Cold War vets scattered across America ready and able to pass on their lore. Our troops are being trained by the best there are!
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