Terrifying account: Army medic Chantelle Taylor pictured in Afghanistan where she was caught in a Taliban ambush'Suddenly, overwhelmed by a fear that I am about to be shot in the face, I experience a massive rush of blood to the head'
Posted on 12/05/2011 2:19:41 PM PST by Iron Munro
A female Army medic has told of the dramatic moment she gunned down a Taliban fighter after being caught in an ambush, saying: ‘It was him or me.’
Chantelle Taylor, who became the first woman soldier known to have killed in combat, said the man was only 50 feet away and firing ‘drug-crazed bursts from his AK-47’.
The 32-year-old, then serving as a sergeant in the Royal Army Medical Corps in Afghanistan, was ‘overwhelmed by fear’ during the firefight but It was the first time Miss Taylor had ever fired her standard issue SA80 assault rifle at another person.
Speaking about being forced to choose between his life or her own, she said: ‘Faced with the choice of him or me, I chose me.’ Officially, female soldiers in the Army are not allowed to fight on the front line in battle.
But Miss Taylor is one of many women who have served in Afghanistan and Iraq as medics, drivers and artillery support troops.
The young medic, who now works as a security consultant, even once taught Prince William to apply a tourniquet. Describing her first and only ‘kill’ in a book about her experiences in Afghanistan, Miss Taylor said the attack happened as a patrol was ambushed by 20 heavily-armed insurgents in the Taliban stronghold of Marjah, Helmand, in July 2008. ‘As we turn on to one of the tracks that leads to a canal, I can see villagers running – and they are running away,’ she writes. ‘Boom! Boom! Two deafening explosions are followed by small arms fire and heavy machine guns. The first explosion rocks the vehicle, smashing my head against the front of the wagon.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Terrifying account: Army medic Chantelle Taylor pictured in Afghanistan where she was caught in a Taliban ambush'Suddenly, overwhelmed by a fear that I am about to be shot in the face, I experience a massive rush of blood to the head'
“Keep pulling the trigger until he stops twitching, or your gun stops making noise - whichever comes first”....
Reminds me a joke of the different families confronted by a mugger.
“...firing ‘drug-crazed bursts from his AK-47’.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AK-47’s on drugs are some nasty! Hoo Wee.
Glad she made the right call and took him out.
I think she made the right decision, then again; I’m biased. Given a choice between a random squirrel in a random tree, and any Al Quaeda soldier, I’ll chose the squirrel every time.
You see, Squirrels don’t use children to blow innocent people up.
God bless her for her commitment to saving lives and helping
to protect her guys. At our house, we have nothing but the highest respect and love for medics and corpsmen. My cousin is alive because a Navy corpsman performed open chest surgery on my cousin in firefight conditions, at the Battle of Fallujah.
‘Instinctively and purposefully I engage him, firing seven shots, which would later become quite the joke within my regiment. Apparently I was wasting ammunition.’
Trigger time
;~}
Hooah!!!
And they kidded her for wasting ammo?
Guys? They don’t pay you to bring ammo back.
.45 ACP, accept NO substitutes!
Looks like a hero to me!
....only thing I wish she did before he went “lights out” was show him it was a woman who punched his ticket. *smiles*
I could think of literally fifty humorous and or sarcastic things to say right now, and I’m not faulting anyone for doing so, but I am glad she is alive to tell the story. Excellent outcome...
How was the “GROUPING”????
Only if you missed. As I've told my wife and daughter, "When in doubt, empty the magazine".
“Keep pulling the trigger until he stops twitching, or your gun stops making noise - whichever comes first”....
2.) Reload, repeat!
Unfortunately, I’m guessing there’s some sensitivity training in her near future, brought to you by the PC Army.
Tell’em to stick it, Sgt...you’re the hero.
Those SA-80 rifles use the 5.56mm NATO ball which are designed to maim and not kill so it isn’t surprising to hear it took seven shots. It’s dumbed down ammo!
If she had used American-made .223 rounds that had hollow point bullets with more powder behind them it might have taken only one or two rounds.
Good for her.
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