25.12.2014 Views

American Sniper - Boekje Pienter

American Sniper - Boekje Pienter

American Sniper - Boekje Pienter

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

396/439<br />

We had worked with members of 4-10 Mountain Division during<br />

much of the Sadr City battle. They were fighters. They wanted to be in<br />

the shit—and they certainly got their wish there. Now as we bumped<br />

out into the villages outside the city, we were happy to have a chance<br />

to work with them again. They knew the area. Their snipers were especially<br />

good, and having them along improved our effectiveness.<br />

Our jobs are the same, but there are a few differences between Army<br />

and SEAL snipers. For one thing, Army snipers use spotters, which we<br />

don’t, as a general rule. Their weapon set is a bit smaller than ours.<br />

But the bigger difference, at least at first, had to do with tactics<br />

and the way they were deployed. Army snipers were more used to going<br />

out in three- or four-man groups, which meant they couldn’t stay<br />

out for very long, certainly not all night.<br />

The SEAL task unit, on the other hand, moved in heavy and<br />

locked down an area, basically looking for a fight and having the enemy<br />

provide us with one. It wasn’t so much an overwatch anymore as<br />

a dare: Here we are; come and get us.<br />

And they did: village after village, the insurgents would come and<br />

try and kill us; we’d take them down. Typically, we’d spend at least one<br />

night and usually a few, going in and extracting after sunset.<br />

In this area, we ended up going back to the same village a few<br />

times, usually taking a different house each time. We’d repeat the process<br />

until all the local bad guys were dead, or at least until they understood<br />

that attacking us was not very smart.<br />

It was surprising how many idiots you had to kill before they finally<br />

got that point.

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!