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American Sniper - Boekje Pienter

American Sniper - Boekje Pienter

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Dragunov (the Russian-made sniper rifle), because the bullets flew<br />

through the walls of the house.<br />

I was up on the roof, trying to figure out where the gunfire was<br />

coming from. Suddenly, I heard the heavy whoop of Apache helicopters<br />

approaching. I watched as they circled placidly for a second,<br />

then tipped and fell into a coordinated attack dive.<br />

In our direction.<br />

“VS panels!” someone shouted.<br />

That might have been me. All I know is, we hustled out every VS<br />

or recognition panel we had, trying to show the pilots we were<br />

friendly. (VS panels are bright orange pieces of cloth, hung or laid out<br />

by friendly forces.) Fortunately, they figured it out and broke off at the<br />

last moment.<br />

Our com guy had been talking to the Army helos just before the attack<br />

and gave them our location. But, apparently, their maps were<br />

labeled differently than ours, and when they saw men on the roof with<br />

guns, they drew the wrong conclusions.<br />

We worked with Apaches quite a bit in Ramadi. The aircraft were<br />

valuable, not just for their guns and rockets but also for their ability to<br />

scout around the area. It’s not always clear in a city where gunfire is<br />

coming from; having a set of eyes above you, and being able to talk to<br />

the people who own those eyes, can help you figure things out.<br />

(The Apaches had different ROEs than we did. These especially<br />

came into play when firing Hellfire missiles, which could only be used<br />

against crew-served weapons at the time. This was part of the strategy<br />

for limiting the amount of collateral damage in the city.)

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