M14 Forum

SixTGunr

Good read from an email sent by one of our players over across the pond in the sandox ...

Thought I would share it with you here ...


R,
LtCol Lowrey

-----Subject: FW: greeting from Iraq

Sir,
Below is an email that the 1stSgt received from SSgt Chamberlain, our MT
Marine that we sent to the sandbox.

SF
Maj A


1stSgt,
Hello back there in the land of the big PX. Things here are going good,
we're staying busy. I'll have lots of info to pass to everyone once I get
back, especially convoy operations. Learned alot of things I didn't know and we are all learning more everyday. Lcpl Bush is with another unit within MHG, and I'm with MHG MT. I check on Howard, Scott, and Henderson every once in awhile. Talking with a gunny and Ltcol Sneed, they say they are doing well. Representing Kilo proud. so far we have been running alot of convoy operations from our base at Camp Fallujah to othe out lying bases. A convoy I was running a couple weeks ago got hit by an ied, and wounded two of my Marines and disabled a 7 ton. The driver was hit in the legs and lost alot of blood, but was able to continue to control the vehicle for another 100 yards, with both front tires flat and no engine power, he was able to pull it out of the kill zone and off the road. Once he came to a stop he passed out from the blood lost.

The gunner of the truck recieved leg wounds as
well, also a piece of shrapnel went under his goggles and injured his right
eye. Myself and a Capt from Intel were the first to get to the truck, and
the gunner pulled the driver down over the gunners platform and stayed on his gun until he saw us coming for him. He said he saw the men that did it running off and engaged them, but we were unable to see them. The insurgents had placed a 81mm mortar round on the backside of a guard rail and wrapped the round with ball bearings, some the size of golf balls.

There were two blast the first blew the guardrail out into the roadway, and an instantanious explosion blew the mortar and directed the bearings along the guard rail into the on coming truck. If it would have been a hummer the crew would have been dead. Both Marines are back in the states, the driver may lose part of his foot due to a weak pulse, and the gunner is back in the barracks on crutches, right now he can only make out colors in his right eye, but they're saying he may fully recover. that devildog had asked our Lt. not to put him on the bird to medevac him out, said he wanted to stay here with us. It's amazing, what Marines do and say, this group of Marines I'm with are awesome, and even that doesn't give them justice. I don't know if you heard about the armor upgrades for the vehicles, but the stuff we're getting and installing works.

The 7 ton that was hit had the Foster-Miller panels on it at it stopped alot of shrapnel, we actually pulled some of the ball bearings from it, one of them the size of a golf ball. the LOGCOM doors for the hummers and 7-tons are the best becase the design provides head protection and doesn't reduce you field of view, and they're made of LAV armor. There is another door out there for the hummer that is a half door, but they are not high on popularity becase of the limited protection. They also have been shipping us Kevlar blankets that go over the seats and lay on the floor board of the Hummers, the only problem with them is the raise you up in the seat, and the are uncomfortable as hell. If you have to get this stuff, more then likely it will be force feed out to everyone eventually, look up a companty called Gypsy Rack. They are producing fuel can racks that mount on the tailgate of the hummers, and side racks of the 7 tons. As well, they make overhead storage rack for both the 2 and 4 door hummers. The most significant thing that I would recommend by the is the turrent shields the made for the ring mounts.

The truck that was hit had them installed and they prevent the gunner from recieving upper body injuries. I counted five hits to the shield, with no penetration, one hit dimpled the inside of the shield a quarter of an inch. I don't know where Kilo's future missions will take them, but if they are to come here start working on the convoy procedures, and IA Drills for ambushes, ied's, blocked ambushes, and break downs/accidents. I can't stress enough there importance. If you have gotten the Sappi plates for the flak vest, I highly recommend training with them in as well as the throat guard. It will suprise you of how big a difference they make to your stamina by the reduced mobility and weight. You will see a significant reduction in performance of the Marines untill they get used to them. I believe I MEF has the SOP on their website, and provides alot of good info for covoy procedures, as well as the What If Books they came up with that gives you a rundown of what to do it different situations that maybe encountered on a convoy. IED training is another must, get as much info as you can on them and pass it onto the Marines, so that they may be able to identify them before they detonate, as well as potential enplacements, and meathods they are using to emplace and detonate them.

Another thing I would highly recommend if the training schedule and funds allow it is crew-served weapons shoot from vehicle mounts, and not only allow them to shoot from them for the expierience, but create a permanent gunner for the weapons. Ensure he knows that weapon system down to the smallest spring, and know immediate action procedures to the point they can do it blindfolded. The dust here gets into everything, even into you underwear while your wearing them, and sitting down. CLP attracts it like a magnet and once it starts collecting it turns into mud, you would be amazed what the weapons look like after that, and are thankful you didn't have to fire them. Highly recommend LSA, because it dries to a solid film and doesn't collect the dust, and when the weapon is fired, the heat melts it down for the extra lubrication. So far I haven't seen it melt just from the air temperature, but it isn't hot yet. The same lube strategy goes for the M-16 and M9. On the note of the TO weapons, get rid of the issue M9 holster and get a tactical leg holster with mag storage on it.

The Mollie vest and LBV place the hoster to high and it is awkward to draw it out with the flack and Sappi inserts on. Also swap out the issue lanyard for one that resemble a phone cord, less snag and great mobility with the weapon. On the M16, I have heard good things from the Marines about the Tactical sling, as welll as the buttstock magazine pouch. Some other gear that I have found to be nice is the new Kevlar helmet chinstraps and head bands,and that is just mearly out of the comfort value they provide. Additionally, Wiley X Goggles for eye protection, the Marines that were hit swore by them and said to pass on to the rest of our Marines here to use them. They are available with impact resistant clear and tinted lenses that are interchangeable, regular side arms, a neck strap, and a headstrap. Recommend using the headstrap, because it prevents them from being knock off, and fits well under the helmet.

I'm sure the are other things I'm forgetting to mention, but that is all I
can think of right now. If i find more good info or run across another
situatiuon that can be passed on to the Marines, so that they may learn from it I will do so. Please pass onto the Marines of Kilo that they are being represented well over here, and that reserves in general are well
represented and performing as the Marines they are expected to be. It is
hard to distinquish within my platoon, who are the reserves and who is
active, if you didn't know. The one team one fight is being proven and
suceeding here. I didn't realize how much I missed that bunch of misfits,
till I heard the thunder of 198 outgoing the other night. Hope to get over
to the gunline and show them how Kilo Brty puts rounds on target, with a
little lanyard time. The other thing I'd like to ask is if there are anymore
Kilo Btry coffee cups left, and can I purchase or get one. Mine became a
casualty of war, and was broken. Now I'm without my SNCO Identifier. Hope to see you all make it over here to the big fight. Hell if they won't bring you, take yourself to it.

Semper Kilo
SSgt Chamberlain, RL
IMHG MOTOR T

Six

SixTGunr

Received this email with a story that was found in the London Times ...


Stranded Marines fight to last bullets

From James Hider in Fallujah


THE 15 Marines were trapped in a house, surrounded by hundreds of Iraqis armed with rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles, their armoured vehicle in flames on the street outside. Each man was down to his last two magazines.
“It was in my head, we just got to go. Whoever makes it back, makes it back, those who fall, fall,” said Staff Sergeant Ismail Sagredo, sitting in the relative safety of Bravo Company’s forward base yesterday, as mortars and machinegun fire sounded a few streets away.

“That was the decision I’d have had to make, and I’m glad I didn’t have to do it.”

It was one of the most dramatic actions of the war.

Sergeant Sagredo, 35, had been in one of two Amphibious Assault Vehicles running out from the Marines’ frontline close to the centre of Fallujah, trying to trap insurgents who had ambushed a supply vehicle.

But as they headed down the narrow, parallel streets of Fallujah, where Sunni tribesmen have battled the Marines for more than a week, their vehicle came under fire from rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), the guerrillas’ weapon of choice.

Unable to turn the large vehicle around, the squad charged their attackers, but lost contact when they hit a bend in the road. They were driving into unknown territory. Then they turned another corner and saw hundreds of guerrillas.

“I’ve never seen so many RPGs. A lot of them were propped up against the walls with extra rounds,” said the sergeant.

The Iraqis, not expecting a lone American vehicle so far behind their lines, ran frantically for their weapons as the Marines opened up with M16 rifles and machineguns.

Rockets started smashing into their vehicle. One pierced the armour at the front, taking a large chunk out of the leg of Lieutenant Christopher Ayres, the officer in command. The rocket did not explode, but hit the engine, setting it ablaze.

Still under intense fire, the driver swerved south along a route known to the Marines as “Sh**head Alley”, desperate to find a turning to the east, towards their own lines. The gunner was dead from enemy fire, and several men had been knocked down by the continuing rounds of missiles.

The blaze was spreading toward the stockpiles of grenades when the engine gave out completely.

With the engine dead, the rear gate would not open. The men had to climb out of the hatch one by one, still taking small-arms fire. Luckily for them, their dash down the gauntlet of Sh**head Alley had left their attackers — up to 600 of them — behind. But only for a while.

“When we stepped out I was relieved. At least I wasn’t going to burn,” said Lance Corporal Abraham McCarver, a machinegunner.

The men had to help Lieutenant Ayres, who was crawling blindly toward the fire. Sergeant Sagredo and Corporal McCarver pulled him, but his webbing caught on a rack.

They were still taking fire, conscious that the vehicle could explode at any moment. Then the webbing ripped, and they carried the wounded officer to a nearby house, kicking down the door.

The Marines took up firing positions on the roof as more than 150 Iraqi gunmen converged on the small house.

“All the Iraqis surged south to join the festivities,” Sergeant Sagredo said. He now found himself in charge of an impossible situation reminiscent of scenes in Black Hawk Down, the film of a doomed US raid in Somalia that the sergeant had seen back home in America.

“It did remind me of that soldier being dragged through the streets back then,” he said, aware that a similarly gruesome scene had involved four US contractors just streets away, the trigger for the Marines’ invasion of Fallujah.

Ironically, Bravo Company’s call-sign is Blackhawk.

The Marines could hear the Iraqi fighters shouting outside, could see their feet shadowed under the front gate.

“I opened a window because I heard voices and I thought it was Americans,” said Corporal Koreyan Calloway. “There was a guy in a headscarf with an AK47 standing there looking at me, so I shot him.”

The attackers were darting down narrow alleyways beside the house, and lobbing grenades from neighbouring rooftops.

“They were running across our line of fire like we weren’t even shooting at them,” the corporal said.

“It was just like a range, we were just shooting them down,” said Corporal Jacob Palofax.

In the midst of the firefight, with the armoured vehicle’s munitions blowing up, an ambulance pulled up. The Marines thought they were being rescued. Instead, 15 men with RPGs jumped out and started firing.

The Americans were almost out of bullets. An Iraqi round hit a kitchen pipe and gas started whistling out as RPGs slammed into the building.

A guerrilla burst through the gate with an RPG and was shot dead. Another tried to follow and was wounded.

“Then the men started shouting that they could hear tanks. The first one went past, then the second,” Sergeant Sagredo said.

Horrified that the rescuers would miss him, Sergeant Sagredo radioed to tell them to back up. They did. A rifle muzzle appeared through the gate, and Captain Jason Smith of the 5th Marine Regiment came through shouting: “Marines, Marines, friendlies!”

It took an hour for the tanks to hook up with the burnt-out vehicle, but they were determined not to leave a dead Marine behind inside it.

Sergeant Sagredo does not want a medal for saving his men. “A decoration would only remind me of what happened. This is something I want to forget. Unfortunately, if it doesn’t affect me now, I know it will haunt me later.”


Six

RedLeg0811

SixtGunr,

DO you know if that was Kilo 3/11? My old firing battery was Kilo. I always find it a trip when I hear things from my old units. When the Iraq war started I had found pictures of 3/11 which I found a trip also.

Thanks
Martin

SixTGunr

Not positive but I believe it was ...

I get a lot of email info like this from our Golf 2/5 Marines Information Officer ...

Six