Sniper shot that took out an insurgent killer from three quarters of a mile

The Sunday Telegraph (UK) ^ | 1/1/2006 | Toby Harnden

[1066AD]

Sniper shot that took out an insurgent killer from three quarters of a mile Toby Harnden in Ramadi (Filed: 01/01/2006)

Gazing through the telescopic sight of his M24 rifle, 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-barrelled Kalashnikov. Instinctively allowing for wind speed and bullet drop, Shadow's commander aimed 12 feet high.

Click to enlarge A single shot hit the Iraqi in the chest and killed him instantly. It had been fired from a range of 1,250 metres, well beyond the capacity of the powerful Leupold sight, accurate to 1,000 metres.

"I believe it is the longest confirmed kill in Iraq with a 7.62mm rifle," said Staff Sgt Gilliland, 28, who hunted squirrels in Double Springs, Alabama from the age of five before progressing to deer - and then people.

"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, Staff Sgt Gilliland found out that the dead soldier was Staff Sgt Jason Benford, 30, a good friend.

The insurgent was one of between 55 and 65 he estimates that he has shot dead in less than five months, putting him within striking distance of sniper legends such as Carlos Hathcock, who recorded 93 confirmed kills in Vietnam. One of his men, Specialist Aaron Arnold, 22, of Medway, Ohio, has chalked up a similar tally.

"It was elating, but only afterwards," said Staff Sgt Gilliland, recalling the September 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 US Army's secret weapon in Ramadi against the threat of the hidden Improvised Explosive Device (IED) or roadside bomb - the insurgency's deadliest tactic.

Above the spot from which Staff Sgt Gilliland took his record shot, in a room at the top of a bombed-out observation post which is code-named Hotel and known jokingly to soldiers as the Ramadi Inn, are daubed "Kill Them All" and "Kill Like you Mean it".

On another wall are scrawled the words of Senator John McCain: "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 rhetoric 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 town 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," he said. "Every time somebody goes out that main gate he might not come back. It's still a running gun battle."

Highly effective though they are, he worries about the burden his snipers have to bear. "It's a very God-like 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 [ROE], positive identification and proportionality."

Staff Sgt Gilliland explains that his Shadow team operates at the "borderlines" of the ROE, making snap judgements about whether a figure in the crosshairs 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. It's something you've got to carry away with you. And if you shoot somebody just walking down the street, then that's probably going to haunt you."

Although killing with a single shot carries an enormous cachet within the sniper world, their most successful engagements have involved the shooting a up to 10 members of a single IED team.

"The one-shot-one-kill thing is one of beauty but killing all the bad dudes is even more attractive," said Staff Sgt Gilliland, whose motto is "Move fast, shoot straight and leave the rest to the counsellors in 10 years" and signs off his e-mails with "silent souls make.308 holes".

Whether Shadow team's work will ultimately make a difference in Iraq is open to question. No matter how many insurgents they shoot, there seems no shortage of recruits to plant bombs.

Col John Gronski, the overall United States commander in Ramadi, said there could not be a military solution. "You could spend years putting snipers out and killing IED emplacers and at the political level it would make no difference."

As they prepare to leave Iraq, however, Staff Sgt Gilliland and his men hope that they have bought a little more time for the country's politicians to fix peace and stability in their sights.

[1066AD]

Best Shot In Iraq

[T-Bird45]

fyi, previously posted:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1549952/posts?q=1&&page=1

[1066AD]

Hmm, I did a search.
Oh well, Happy New Year !

[hiredhand]

Great shot....however...about that link to the graphic. The weapon he used is NOT the weapon in either photo. :-)

[anonsquared]

I just had a thought...
You know how they now have game hunting via the Internet? Why doesn't the U.S. Army set up rifles in all the Iraq hot spots and let us taxpayers help them out by picking off insurgents over the Internet every time one of them is dumb enough to get in range? The Army could keep moving the rifles around to keep them guessing.

[skr]

Not everyone catches a post the first time around. This one is worth repeating.

[ThePythonicCow]

US Army M24 (USA)

Caliber: 7.62x51mm NATO (.308 win)
Operation: Bolt Action
Feed: 5-Round internal magazine
Weight: 5.49 kg empty without telescope
Length: 1092mm
Sights: 10x42 Leupold Ultra M3A telescope sight (Mil-Dots), plus detachable emergency iron sights.
Barrel: 610mm.
Stock: HS Precision - adjustable length.
Max Effective Range: 800 meters
Expected Accuracy: 1 MOA with M118 (Ammo is limiting factor)

By the mid-1980s, the US Army's M21 Sniper Rifles, built on the M14 actions, were wearing out, and suitable replacement parts were scarce. The new wworld's political situation moved the focus of the NATO and the US Army troubles from the Europe to the Middle West. The flat, open desert terrains produced the need for the rifle with effective range ot to 1000 meters. The US Army set the specifications for bolt-action, stainless steel barrel rifle with Kevlar-graphite stock. After final shoot-off between Steyr SSG rifle and Remington model 700BDL, the latest was standartized in 1987 as a US Army's Model 24 sniper rifle. The M24 has a 24" (609mm) stainless-steel barrel, with a bore specially cut for the M118 7.62mm NATO Match Grade ammunition. The barrel was rifled with a special Remington- developed rifling, called 5R. It had five lands and grooves that make one turn in 11 1/4" (286mm), and the edges of the lands were sligthly rounded to reduce friction. The stock was a composite of Kevlar and graphite. The buttplate is ajustable through a range of 2.7" (69mm) to accomodate all shooters. The Leupold-Stewens M3 Ultra telescopic sight is a fixed 10X scope. It has range-finding reticle and built-in compensator for bullet drop.

[Nateman]

Of course it makes a difference. Every one of these scum given a dirt nap will never, ever, trouble anybody again. Happy hunting!

[BipolarBob]

My first thought exactly. No names please on these reports.