Posted on 01/02/2010 7:54:24 PM PST by Free ThinkerNY
The army's best shot watched in delight down the sights of his L96A1 rifle as the launcher bobbed along for 20 yards behind the wall... and paused.
The point of the rocket dipped and aimed towards him. The enemy's face bobbed up into the crosshair. And Steve squeezed the trigger.
He saw the face wobble with the impact. Half of it blew away. The grenade launcher fell back over the wall and disappeared... but only briefly.
Seconds later it was back up, bobbing along the wall. Steve watched it until it stopped, and fired again as a second Taliban face appeared. "Looked like someone bounced a football off his head, the way it snapped backwards," says the L Cpl. Throughout that day Steve shot dead another five insurgents from the snipers' nest he shared with fellow crackshot Frank "The Yank" Ward.
Steve, 29, says it's their "job to kill people and there's no other way of saying it".
And award-winning writer Sam Kiley, who followed their exploits, believes the pair epitomise the desire of the British Army to get the job done. "Afghanistan is in many ways a sniper's war," he says. "Most insurgent attacks are conducted by up to a dozen men who can tie up a whole company.
"If a sniper can kill or injure two or three, he drives down the ability of the Taliban to suck energy out of the British."
In their snipers' nest on the roof of forward operating base Gibraltar, Steve and Frank used a bizarre decoy to draw the Taliban from cover... a blow-sex doll in uniform.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsoftheworld.co.uk ...
Seconds later it was back up, bobbing along the wall. Steve watched it until it stopped, and fired again as a second Taliban face appeared. "Looked like someone bounced a football off his head, the way it snapped backwards,"
What we call here, "slow learners"
Thanks for the article. There was a show on the History channel the other week on snipers. Some famous sniper from Vietnam had this same attitude. He said he’s asked once-in-awhile if any of the enemy faces come back to haunt him at night.
He replies “Only one. And I do have nightmares of him. I took a shot - but missed. After it missed he looked right at me through the crosshairs - then jumped into the jungle. I have always wondered how many of our boys he went on to kill or what kind of damage he did.”
Those Taliban are suckers for blow-sex.
What’s that british assault rifle called that’s basically a bullpup version of the m16 shooting about a 20 caliber bullet? Maybe a 19 caliber.
Great story, but I hope the identity of these snipers is being protected by the press.
sniff....I love a happy ending...but I also note the author couldn’t avoid getting in a political dig at the end...God Bless the Brits...and save the Queen...
It’s great when you love your job.
Yup. Couldn’t have happened to a bigger loser. I’m glad we have such soldiers on our side. As one of the US Army cadences goes, such soldiers “aim with the hand, shoot with the mind, and kill with a heart of arctic ice.” May this soldier help make these Taliban jihadists an endangered species.
No doubt hoping it's one of their 72 virgins.
I saw that show too, and it was incredible what some of those guys could do with a rifle!
He says: “They were getting to play the most dangerous and exhilarating game man has ever invented. And their determination “has meant that they have managed to survive the poor political decisions that have taken them to Helmand under- equipped and under-manned.
“This has been their desperate glory.”
And if it takes a round, a patch will suffice.LOL.
Ex-garbage guy. Or maybe I shouldn’t say “ex”. Outstanding.
I’d like to suggest a vendor if the boys want to change up decoys:
This is a story that warms the cockles of my heart!
I'd call that a Jolly Good start. :)
Protected by the press or from it? :)
Feel story of the year.
Feel good.
correction.
I think the Limeys have their own version of Barret’s sniper rifle...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Marines_snipers_displaying_their_L115A1_rifles.jpg
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