American Sniper - Boekje Pienter

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The captain’s unit was doing cordon and search operations, where
they would take an entire block and search it. We started working with
them. We’d do daylight presence patrols—the idea was to make civilians
see troops on a regular basis, gaining more confidence that they
were going to be protected, or that at least we were there to stay. We
would put half the platoon on an overwatch while the rest patrolled.
A lot of these overwatches would be near Four Story. The guys
downstairs would patrol and almost always be contacted. I’d be upstairs
with other snipers and nail whoever was trying to attack them.
Or we would bump out five hundred yards, six or eight hundred
yards, going deep into Injun territory to look and wait for the bad
guys. We’d set up on overwatch ahead of one of his patrols. As soon as
his people showed up, they’d draw all sorts of insurgents toward them.
We’d take them down. The bad guys would turn and try and fire on us;
we’d pick them off. We were protectors, bait, and slayers.
After a few days, the captain came up to us and said, “Y’all are
bad-ass. I don’t care where you go, if you need me, I’m comin’ to get
you. I’ll drive the tank to the front door.”
And from that moment on, he had our faith and our back.
I was on overwatch at Four Story one morning when some of our guys
started doing a patrol nearby. As they moved to cross the street, I spotted
some insurgents coming down J Street, which was one of the main
roads in that area.
I took down a couple. My guys scattered. Not knowing what was
going on, someone asked over the radio why the hell I was shooting at
them.
“I’m shooting over your head,” I told him. “Look down the street.”