Two good days for Marines.

[clifp]

As much as cat lover as I am I must say my cats are never this happy to see me.

Dogs greeting Marine coming home from Iraq

And back to the mission at hand...

Marine Makes Insurgents Pay the Price

November 18, 2008
Marine Corps News|by Cpl. James M. Mercure


FARAH PROVINCE, Afghanistan — In the city of Shewan, approximately 250 insurgents ambushed 30 Marines and paid a heavy price for it.
Shewan has historically been a safe haven for insurgents, who used to plan and stage attacks against Coalition Forces in the Bala Baluk district.




....
During the battle, the designated marksman single handedly thwarted a company-sized enemy RPG and machinegun ambush by reportedly killing 20 enemy fighters with his devastatingly accurate precision fire. He selflessly exposed himself time and again to intense enemy fire during a critical point in the eight-hour battle for Shewan in order to kill any enemy combatants who attempted to engage or maneuver on the Marines in the kill zone. What made his actions even more impressive was the fact that he didn’t miss any shots, despite the enemies’ rounds impacting within a foot of his fighting position.


...
I didn’t realize how many bad guys there were until we had broken through the enemies’ lines and forced them to retreat. It was roughly 250 insurgents against 30 of us,” the corporal said. “It was a good day for the Marine Corps. We killed a lot of bad guys, and none of our guys were seriously injured.

Rest of the story here

[Leonidas]

Good story. There are no pretensions in the Marine Corps about what job 1 is all about: Killing the enemy.

Quote:

"On February 1, 2005, Lieutenant General Mattis, speaking at a forum in San Diego, said "You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil. You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them. Actually, it's a lot of fun to fight. You know, it's a hell of a hoot. It's fun to shoot some people. I'll be right upfront with you, I like brawling." Mattis's remarks sparked controversy and General Michael W. Hagee, Commandant of the Marine Corps, issued a statement suggesting that Mattis should have chosen his words more carefully, but would not be disciplined."

Nice movie as well, but the dude is a zoomie Sergeant in the Air Force, not a Marine.

[samclem]

clifp, thanks for the post. As they say about those devil-dogs: "No better friend, no worse enemy"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leonidas Good story. There are no pretensions in the Marine Corps about what job 1 is all about: Killing the enemy. Nice movie as well, but the dude is a zoomie Sergeant in the Air Force, not a Marine.

Yep, the guy those pups are barking for is USAF. Two giveaways:
-- The uniform
-- He apparently wasn't wearing his cover when walking from his car to the house. (I can say that--I'm USAF retired)

[clifp]

Me bad and rather embarrassed since my very limited service was Air Force ROTC.

[RustyShackleford]

Quote:

Originally Posted by clifp During the battle, the designated marksman single handedly thwarted a company-sized enemy RPG and machinegun ambush by reportedly killing 20 enemy fighters with his devastatingly accurate precision fire. ... What made his actions even more impressive was the fact that he didn’t miss any shots, despite the enemies’ rounds impacting within a foot of his fighting position.

Somewhere I heard that the basic standard of marksmanship in the
USMC is comparable to "sharpshooter" status in most armies.

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by clifp What made his actions even more impressive was the fact that he didn’t miss any shots, despite the enemies’ rounds impacting within a foot of his fighting position.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RustyShackleford Somewhere I heard that the basic standard of marksmanship in the USMC is comparable to "sharpshooter" status in most armies.

Somewhere a Marine gunny sergeant is saying, perhaps with a frosty beverage clenched in one fist:

Quote:

" 'Impressive'? You call that 'impressive'?!? I'd say it's about %$@#in' time that $%^&wad shot his #$%^in' rifle like I've been &^*#in' trying to teach him to for the last @#$%in' 18 months! And I hope he cleaned it afterward like I @#$%in' taught him to, or his #$^ is @#$%#$!!! If he gets a medal for this, he's gonna owe me @#$%in' [moderator edit]s for the rest of his $%^&in' life, short as it'll be!!!"

But if you looked real close then you'd be able to see the pride in his snarl.

Quote:

Originally Posted by samclem Yep, the guy those pups are barking for is USAF. Two giveaways: -- The uniform -- He apparently wasn't wearing his cover when walking from his car to the house. (I can say that--I'm USAF retired)

Quote:

Originally Posted by clifp Me bad and rather embarrassed since my very limited service was Air Force ROTC.

It's amazing how far the no-cover zone extends around the flightline, eh? I speak for naval aviators as well as their brethren.

The similarity among the service's uniforms (and the expanding waistlines of some of their wearers) so exhasperated a PACOM admiral that he declared the HQ building a BDU-free zone. The whining, kvetching, & complaining (along with the scramble to the uniform & tailor shops) was a sight to behold. The Camp Smith Marines, of course, were not impressed...

[deserat]

Hahahaha - yes, that's an Air Force sergeant - and yes, the BDUs do look alike - but the admiral should be able to discern - heck, I do here in Europe easily - the patches, hats and nametags are different materials.....plus with flight suits, they do look different - the Navy seems to want their damn insignia on their flight suits to stand out...go figure ;-) Although, after my last few days in the 'joint' environment, I do have to say the Navy has a very different lexicon - "head call, anyone?" Hmmmm. The Army, well, that's an hourlong post.

As far as unforms -they change every five-seven years to keep the unifom companies in business. I am apalled at what the AF is looking at changing to for their dress uniform - it's a Billy Mitchell look-alike complete with outside belt - ugghhh - belt on pants, hat and now belt outside? Too many pieces to worry about losing!

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by deserat As far as unforms -they change every five-seven years to keep the unifom companies in business. I am apalled at what the AF is looking at changing to for their dress uniform - it's a Billy Mitchell look-alike complete with outside belt - ugghhh - belt on pants, hat and now belt outside? Too many pieces to worry about losing!

Don't get my spouse started on Navy uniform changes-- "%^&* it, here we go again" was a big factor in her retirement.