Myerchin.
Posted on 11/13/2006 3:23:12 PM PST by tje
Marine Corps Rules for Gun Fighting
The Marine Corps Birthday makes me nostalgic for the good ol’…well, maybe good is too strong a word. In fact, I can't say that I miss being on active duty; but I do miss being with my fellow Marines.
Thinking about my friends who are getting shot at by ungrateful Iraqis reminded me of this list, an old Corps favorite, on how to act in a gun fight:
1. Bring a gun. Preferably, bring at least two guns. Bring all of your friends who have guns.
2. Anything worth shooting is worth shooting twice. Ammo is cheap. Life is expensive.
3. Only hits count. The only thing worse than a miss is a slow miss.
4. If your shooting stance is good, you're probably not moving fast enough nor using cover correctly.
5. Move away from your attacker. Distance is your friend. (Lateral and diagonal movement are preferred.)
6. If you can choose what to bring to a gunfight, bring a long gun and a friend with a long gun.
7. In ten years nobody will remember the details of caliber, stance, or tactics. They will only remember who lived.
8. If you are not shooting, you should be communicating, reloading, and running.
9. Accuracy is relative: most combat shooting standards will be more dependent on "pucker factor" than the inherent accuracy of the gun.
10. Someday someone may kill you with your own gun, but they should have to beat you to death with it because it is empty.
11. Always cheat; always win. The only unfair fight is the one you lose.
12. Have a plan.
13. Have a back-up plan, because the first one won't work.
14. Use cover or concealment as much as possible.
15. Flank your adversary when possible. Protect yours.
16. Don't drop your guard.
17. Always tactical load and threat scan 360 degrees.
18. Watch their hands. Hands kill. In God we trust. Everyone else, keep your hands where I can see them.
19. Decide to be aggressive ENOUGH, quickly ENOUGH.
20. The faster you finish the fight, the less shot you will get.
21. Be polite. Be professional. But, have a plan to kill everyone you meet.
22. Be courteous to everyone, friendly to no one.
23. Your number one option for personal security is a lifelong commitment to avoidance, deterrence, and de-escalation.
24. Do not attend a gunfight with a handgun, the caliber of which does not start with a "4."
Navy Rules for Gun fighting:
1. Go to Sea
2. Send the Marines
3. Drink Coffee
If this is a dup, I didn't find it..
Point and "click".
Good ones..Clint Smith of Thunder Ranch used to repeat these for his classes..He may still do so..
I've never been in the military. I particularly like 13 and 23, good advice in life. 23, especially during a road rage. I insisted the wife drive an F350 because it's a monster that instills second thoughts. And 13 because Murphy rules.
And if it's a dupe, I'm glad you reposted, because I wouldn't have seen it otherwise.
*snicker
They are good ones... The one that seems to be missing is; Keep shooting until the threat is gone.. or words to that effect.
bttt
The science started from the decks and fighting tops of wooden ships. One of the duties of Marines in previous centuries was to shoot the personnel on opposing ships. The marksman was on a moving, rolling deck or up in a mast. He had to hit a target that was on a moving, rolling platform while figuring in elevation and windage. You can imagine that anyone who could overcome these obstacles and put a shot in a man-sized target was pretty good.
Rule # 25: Get court marshaled for doing your duty.
Rule #26: Court Marshals hurt less than getting shot.
I don't know about gunfights, but I can tell you what to bring along on Shore Patrol when you're a 125-lb LTJG. A very, very large Marine. And a 300-lb Samoan Boatswain's Mate. It's amazing what it does for one's command authority...
shouldn't "Shoot first..." be in there somwhere ?
Your son has my respect.. and you get it for raising him...
lol
It's a time-honored repost. And a pretty worthwhile one, or it always seemed that way to me.
- Tracer rounds can be seen from both ends - and identify your position.
- If the enemy is in range, so are you.
- Smoking after dark, is REALLY unhealthy.
- Do NOT kick a corpse to verify it's dead -- shoot it again.
- Do not trigger the ambush until you have ascertained how many have fallen into your ambush -- and you are convinced you can win.
- Do not kill the first enemy emerging from cover. Wait to see how many are behind him before engaging.
- The only version of an encounter that will ever be reported, will be given by the survivor.
I'm sure there are more recent grunts in the forum that can add some "rules" that are unique to Afghanistan/Iraq.
Semper Fi
Heh! Us BM's are a weird group.
He's a good kid (young man 27) and a joy growing up. The Marines can take full credit for his shooting.
He requalified last week with rife and pistol and shot at the top end of expert in booth.
I respect pistol shooters. It is an art. Friend of mine is getting kind of elderly, but he still goes down to the range once a month to pick off bottle caps at 25 yards with his old 38, off-hand. He thinks a combat stance is not dignified.
I sharpened a lot of those knives. And a few Marines' Ka-Bars, too.
If you throw it in a really high arc,not only will you induce prayer in everyone nearby but blasphemy as well.
Ouch!
I remember piling out of a deuce and a half when a guy ahead of me fell out of the truck. Course he'd locked and loaded and had his finger on the trigger.. 20 rounds straight up.. We all gave him a wide berth from then on....
In the past, Force Recon did a lot of shooting, but with the advent of Marine Spec Ops they've stepped it up quite a bit.
The one I threw, judging by the sound, was either a dud, or the adrenaline enabled me to throw it 200 yards. I had my head down so I don't know.
I can remember walking point with my selector on "safe" but my thumb on the selector and my finger on the trigger so I could flip it to "fire" in a split second. When I first got there, one night we were moving to an ambush site and we paused for a minute or so because we thought we heard movement in front of us. One guy flipped his rifle to "fire" which made a click sound. The squad leader chewed him up and down the next morning. We were brainwashed in safety.
About thirty years ago an Indiana Guard soldier told me his story of being near a fellow who somehow set off the full magazine with the M-16 butt on the ground,muzle towards his chin.Closed casket services.
Good point.. but keep your finger off the trigger when we're all piling out the truck....
There are some out there who think that the first rule of a gun fight is to negotiate. Unfortunately, some of them have an R after there name.
There was an MP on our post who committed suicide that way.. put the muzzle under his chin and pulled the trigger in full auto...
I was very aware of the concussion when that puppy went off.. pretty astounding actually...
They also have a big L on their foreheads....
Sent on to my Father-in-Law who IS a Marine and is the ONLY one who wished me a "Happy Veteran's Day" this past weekend. (Even though I'm only Army, LOL!)
Semer Fi, Baby! Lock & Load! :)
I am not a Marine(or a vet),but I am an avid shooter/collector/re-loader.I have the UTMOST RESPECT for our FIGHTING FORCES(obviously,Im NOT A DemonRat)!!!!!!!!!!
Actually there is a step before #2 for the Navy it should read
1. Go to sea.
2 Watch Porn (very important step)
3. Send the Marines
4. Drink coffee
That's what I was expecting, and what I heard each time one of our platoon threw one before me. But somehow mine seemed quite far away. Perhaps I crouched low enough behind the wall to have both ears on the ground.
It was pretty "interesting" to be throwing a grenade with a sargeant right next to you, prepared to do whatever was necessary to save both of our lives in case I screwed up.
Prior to the exercise the training sargeant gave the whole platoon a pep talk and assured everyone that they would not be asked to do anything that they weren't comfortable with.
We actually had one soldier who had anxiety about being able to throw the grenade without freezing up. This soldier and another sargeant went off by themselves for about twenty minutes, and later the soldier completed the training.
Like with the live fire training, this was one of the days when the training staff went out of their way not to rattle anybody. Who wants to be around a nervous soldier throwing grenades?
The Marines have their "few good men".....NAVY CORPSMAN!
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