truth from a Marine in iraq

T

tmickley

Joined
Apr 4, 2001
Messages
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I got this from jerzeedevil.com. I can't verify this is true but it reads like it is and it made me feel pretty good. It's up to you to believe it or not. It's a long one so I broke it into two posts:​


Truth From A Marine In Iraq​
As Told To His Father
I received this from a friend. He received it from a friend of a retired Marine, now a UAL pilot on the East Coast. He's describing Intel brought home by his son (Jordan), a Marine currently between assignments in Iraq......WebMaster
Hello to all my fellow gunners, military buffs, veterans and interested guys. A couple of weekends ago I got to spend time with my son Jordan, who was on his first leave since returning from Iraq. He is well (a little thin), and already bored. He will be returning to Iraq for a second tour in early '06 and has already re-enlisted early for 4 more years. He loves the Marine Corps and is actually looking forward to returning to Iraq.

Jordan spent 7 months at "Camp Blue Diamond" in Ramadi. Aka: Fort Apache. He saw and did a lot and the following is what he told me about weapons, equipment, tactics and other miscellaneous info which may be of interest to you. Nothing is by any means classified. No politics here, just a Marine with a bird's eye view's opinions:

1) The M-16 rifle : Thumbs down. Chronic jamming problems with the talcum powder like sand over there. The sand is everywhere. Jordan says you feel filthy 2 minutes after coming out of the shower. The M-4 carbine version is more popular because it's lighter and shorter, but it has jamming problems also. They like the ability to mount the various optical gunsights and weapons lights on the picattiny rails, but the weapon itself is not great in a desert environment. They all hate the 5.56mm (.223) round. Poor penetration on the cinderblock structure common over there and even torso hits cant be reliably counted on to put the enemy down.
Fun fact: Random autopsies on dead insurgents shows a high level of opiate use.

2) The M243 SAW (squad assault weapon): .223 cal. Drum fed light machine gun. Big thumbs down. Universally considered a piece of shit. Chronic jamming problems, most of which require partial disassembly. (that's fun in the middle of a firefight).

3) The M9 Beretta 9mm: Mixed bag. Good gun, performs well in desert environment; but they all hate the 9mm cartridge. The use of handguns for self-defense is actually fairly common. Same old story on the 9mm: Bad guys hit multiple times and still in the fight.

4) Mossberg 12ga. Military shotgun: Works well, used frequently for clearing houses to good effect.

5) The M240 Machine Gun: 7.62 Nato (.308) cal. belt fed machine gun, developed to replace the old M-60 (what a beautiful weapon that was!!). Thumbs up. Accurate, reliable, and the 7.62 round puts 'em down. Originally developed as a vehicle mounted weapon, more and more are being dismounted and taken into the field by infantry. The 7.62 round chews up the structure over there.
\
6) The M2 .50 cal heavy machine gun: Thumbs way, way up. "Ma deuce" is still worth her considerable weight in gold. The ultimate fight stopper, puts their dicks in the dirt every time. The most coveted weapon in-theater.

7) The .45 pistol: Thumbs up. Still the best pistol round out there. Everybody authorized to carry a sidearm is trying to get their hands on one. With few exceptions, can reliably be expected to put 'em down with a torso hit. The special ops guys (who are doing most of the pistol work) use the HK military model and supposedly love it. The old government model .45's are being re-issued en masse.

8) The M-14: Thumbs up. They are being re-issued in bulk, mostly in a modified version to special ops guys. Modifications include lightweight Kevlar stocks and low power red dot or ACOG sights. Very reliable in the sandy environment, and they love the 7.62 round.

9) The Barrett .50 cal sniper rifle: Thumbs way up. Spectacular range and accuracy and hits like a freight train. Used frequently to take out vehicle suicide bombers (we actually stop a lot of them) and barricaded enemy. Definitely here to stay.

10) The M24 sniper rifle: Thumbs up. Mostly in .308 but some in 300 win mag. Heavily modified Remington 700's. Great performance. Snipers have been used heavily to great effect. Rumor has it that a marine sniper on his third tour in Anbar province has actually exceeded Carlos Hathcock's record for confirmed kills with OVER 100.

11) The new body armor: Thumbs up. Relatively light at approx. 6 lbs. and can reliably be expected to soak up small shrapnel and even will stop an AK-47 round.
The bad news: Hot as shit to wear, almost unbearable in the summer heat (which averages over 120 degrees). Also, the enemy now goes for head shots whenever possible. All the bullshit about the "old" body armor making our guys vulnerable to the IED's was a non-starter. The IED explosions are enormous and body armor doesn't make any difference at all in most cases.

12) Night Vision and Infrared Equipment: Thumbs way up. Spectacular performance. Our guys see in the dark and own the night, period. Very little enemy action after evening prayers. More and more enemy being whacked at night during movement by our hunter-killer teams. We've all seen the videos.
13) Lights: Thumbs up. Most of the weapon mounted and personal lights are Surefire's, and the troops love 'em. Invaluable for night urban operations. Jordan carried a $34 Surefire G2 on a neck lanyard and loved it.

I can't help but notice that most of the good fighting weapons and ordnance are 50 or more years old!!! With all our technology, it's the WWII and Vietnam era weapons that everybody wants!!! The infantry fighting is frequent, up close and brutal. No quarter is given or shown.
 
Truth From A Marine In Iraq
As Told To His Father​
(...continued part II of previous post)
I can't help but notice that most of the good fighting weapons and ordnance are 50 or more years old!!! With all our technology, it's the WWII and Vietnam era weapons that everybody wants!!! The infantry fighting is frequent, up close and brutal. No quarter is given or shown.

Bad guy weapons:

1) Mostly AK47's: The entire country is an arsenal. Works better in the desert than the M16 and the .308 Russian round kills reliably. PKM belt fed light machine guns are also common and effective. Luckily, the enemy mostly shoots like shit. Undisciplined "spray and pray" type fire. However, they are seeing more and more precision weapons, especially sniper rifles. (Iran, again).
Fun fact: Captured enemy have apparently marveled at the marksmanship of our guys and how hard they fight. They are apparently told in Jihad school that the Americans rely solely on technology, and can be easily beaten in close quarters combat for their lack of toughness. Let's just say they know better now.

2) The RPG: Probably the infantry weapon most feared by our guys. Simple, reliable and as common as dogshit. The enemy responded to our up-armored humvees by aiming at the windshields, often at point blank range. Still killing a lot of our guys.

3) The IED: The biggest killer of all. Can be anything from old Soviet anti-armor mines to jury rigged artillery shells. A lot found in Jordan's area were in abandoned cars. The enemy would take 2 or 3 155mm artillery shells and wire them together. Most were detonated by cell phone, and the explosions are enormous. You're not safe in any vehicle, even an M1 tank. Driving is by far the most dangerous thing our guys do over there. Lately, they are much more sophisticated "shape charges" (Iranian) specifically designed to penetrate armor.
Fact: Most of the ready made IED's are supplied by Iran, who is also providing terrorists (Hezbollah types) to train the insurgents in their use and tactics. That's why the attacks have been so deadly lately. Their concealment methods are ingenious, the latest being shape charges in Styrofoam containers spray painted to look like the cinderblocks that litter all Iraqi roads. We find about 40% before they detonate, and the bomb disposal guys are unsung heroes of this war.

4) Mortars and rockets: Very prevalent. The soviet era 122mm rockets (with an 18km range) are becoming more prevalent. One of Jordan's NCO's lost a leg to one. These weapons cause a lot of damage "inside the wire". Jordan's base was hit almost daily his entire time there by mortar and rocket fire, often at night to disrupt sleep patterns and cause fatigue (It did). More of a psychological weapon than anything else. The enemy mortar teams would jump out of vehicles, fire a few rounds, and then haul ass in a matter of seconds.

5) Bad guy technology: Simple yet effective. Most communication is by cell and satellite phones, and also by email on laptops. They use handheld GPS units for navigation and "Google earth" for overhead views of our positions. Their weapons are good, if not fancy, and prevalent. Their explosives and bomb technology is TOP OF THE LINE. Night vision is rare. They are very careless with their equipment and the captured GPS units and laptops are treasure troves of Intel when captured.

Who are the bad guys?:

Most of the carnage is caused by the Zarqawi Al Qaeda group. They operate mostly in Anbar province (Fallujah and Ramadi). These are mostly "foreigners", non-Iraqi Sunni Arab Jihadists from all over the Muslim world (and Europe). Most enter Iraq through Syria (with, of course, the knowledge and complicity of the Syrian govt.) , and then travel down the "rat line" which is the trail of towns along the Euphrates River that we've been hitting hard for the last few months. Some are virtually untrained young Jihadists that often end up as suicide bombers or in "sacrifice squads". Most, however, are hard core terrorists from all the usual suspects (Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas etc.) These are the guys running around murdering civilians en masse and cutting heads off. The Chechens (many of whom are Caucasian), are supposedly the most ruthless and the best fighters. (they have been fighting the Russians for years). In the Baghdad area and south, most of the insurgents are Iranian inspired (and led) Iraqi Shiites. The Iranian Shiia have been very adept at infiltrating the Iraqi local govt.'s, the police forces and the Army. The have had a massive spy and agitator network there since the Iran-Iraq war in the early 80's. Most of the Saddam loyalists were killed, captured or gave up long ago.

Bad Guy Tactics:

When they are engaged on an infantry level they get their asses kicked every time. Brave, but stupid. Suicidal Banzai-type charges were very common earlier in the war and still occur. They will literally sacrifice 8-10 man teams in suicide squads by sending them screaming and firing Ak's and RPG's directly at our bases just to probe the defenses. They get mowed down like grass every time. (see the M2 and M240 above). Jordan's base was hit like this often. When engaged, they have a tendency to flee to the same building, probably for what they think will be a glorious last stand. Instead, we call in air and that's the end of that more often than not. These hole-ups are referred to as Alpha Whiskey Romeo's (Allah's Waiting Room). We have the laser guided ground-air thing down to a science. The fast mover's, mostly Marine F-18's, are taking an ever increasing toll on the enemy. When caught out in the open, the helicopter gunships and AC-130 Spectre gunships cut them to ribbons with cannon and rocket fire, especially at night. Interestingly, artillery is hardly used at all.
Fun fact: The enemy death toll is supposedly between 45-50 thousand. That is why we're seeing less and less infantry attacks and more IED, suicide bomber shit. The new strategy is simple: attrition.

The insurgent tactic most frustrating is their use of civilian non-combatants as cover. They know we do all we can to avoid civilian casualties and therefore schools, hospitals and (especially) Mosques are locations where they meet, stage for attacks, cache weapons and ammo and flee to when engaged. They have absolutely no regard whatsoever for civilian casualties. They will terrorize locals and murder without hesitation anyone believed to be sympathetic to the Americans or the new Iraqi gov't. Kidnapping of family members (especially children) is common to influence people they are trying to influence but can't reach, such as local gov't. officials, clerics, tribal leaders, etc.).

The first thing our guys are told is "don't get captured". They know that if captured they will be tortured and beheaded on the internet. Zarqawi openly offers bounties for anyone who brings him a live American serviceman. This motivates the criminal element who otherwise don't give a shit about the war. A lot of the beheading victims were actually kidnapped by common criminals and sold to Zarqawi. As such, for our guys, every fight is to the death. Surrender is not an option.

The Iraqi's are a mixed bag. Some fight well, others aren't worth a shit. Most do okay with American support. Finding leaders is hard, but they are getting better. It is widely viewed that Zarqawi's use of suicide bombers, en masse, against the civilian population was a serious tactical mistake. Many Iraqi's were galvanized and the caliber of recruits in the Army and the police forces went up, along with their motivation. It also led to an exponential increase in good intel because the Iraqi's are sick of the insurgent attacks against civilians. The Kurds are solidly pro-American and fearless fighters.

According to Jordan, morale among our guys is very high. They not only believe they are winning, but that they are winning decisively. They are stunned and dismayed by what they see in the American press, whom they almost universally view as against them. The embedded reporters are despised and distrusted. They are inflicting casualties at a rate of 20-1 and then see shit like "Are we losing in Iraq" on TV and the print media. For the most part, they are satisfied with their equipment, food and leadership. Bottom line though, and they all say this, there are not enough guys there to drive the final stake through the heart of the insurgency, primarily because there aren't enough troops in-theater to shut down the borders with Iran and Syria. The Iranians and the Syrians just can't stand the thought of Iraq being an American ally (with, of course, permanent US bases there).
 
Terry Newton said:
I believe this one has been debunked already.
Click to expand...

I guess I should have looked first. I did a google and found this one all over the place with at least three different 'sources'. That doesn't mean it's automatically a fake but it makes it suspect. Make your own decision. Personally, I think it's the real deal...
 
from the firarms point of view and being a marine also
M16 got to shoot dry = no oil on it that helps greatly and use a rubber on it
249saw ok light use
240G wow now that is a fun tool and so much better the the old M60
M2 and barrett reach out and touch someone:D
new flacks i dont know about as i never used one but i will say this just about anything would be better then what i had
NVGs loved my anpvs7b or was it 14 single eye night vision that way is the thing craped out you still had one good eye also its funn to be looking at something with one eye nvg and one with your night sight they sorta superimpose
i ll have to read alittle more of this post to see what i can add
butch
 
I've heard and read that a lot of special forces guys are using the M14. The Kalashnikov in the right hands is a deadly weapon.
 
If I didn't know this was from Iraq I would have thought it was from Nam. Pretty much the same. I told my wife just before the whole pile of shit started it would be another Nam.
 
Raymond Richard said:
If I didn't know this was from Iraq I would have thought it was from Nam. Pretty much the same. I told my wife just before the whole pile of shit started it would be another Nam.
Click to expand...

I expressed the same opinion on the Political Forum here a couple of years ago and got called nine different kind of democrat and liberal and other bad names for it. It still looks that way to me in some cases.
 
Same shit different forum. Basiclly correct. We still kick ass no matter what combination of equiptment we use. as far as weapons go, bigger is better. M14, 45's, 50's. in the desert long range is key. house clearing, shotguns and 45's. F-18/A-10's work best.
 
Kim Breed said:
Same shit different forum. Basiclly correct. We still kick ass no matter what combination of equiptment we use. as far as weapons go, bigger is better. M14, 45's, 50's. in the desert long range is key. house clearing, shotguns and 45's. F-18/A-10's work best.
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i like the way your thinking
butch
 
Kim Breed said:
Same shit different forum. Basiclly correct. We still kick ass no matter what combination of equiptment we use.
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And we will continue to do so despite the naysayers. I wish they would ask a soldier their opinion for a change instead of the media. You can't pass from your ass, and that is why America, jihad target #1 has been safe since 9/11.
 
I am only going to comment on the weapons and I totally agree. Silly String is left out though..... can be sprayed to detect wires in doorways........ also, some IED's are being fed by radio controlled units that are debonned from toys. The 9mm....... rather have the 45 but wonder if maybe too much for some women serving....wonder if the 40 pistol is a better choice like many police officers use. ??????

Daniel
 
Well, the .40 is good because it fits into a 9mm-sized (often "high-cap") platform, but the recoil impulse is sharper than a .45.
 
butcher_block said:
from the firarms point of view and being a marine also
M16 got to shoot dry = no oil on it that helps greatly and use a rubber on it
249saw ok light use
240G wow now that is a fun tool and so much better the the old M60
M2 and barrett reach out and touch someone:D
new flacks i dont know about as i never used one but i will say this just about anything would be better then what i had
NVGs loved my anpvs7b or was it 14 single eye night vision that way is the thing craped out you still had one good eye also its funn to be looking at something with one eye nvg and one with your night sight they sorta superimpose
i ll have to read alittle more of this post to see what i can add
butch
Click to expand...
Funny part is that the M240 is nothingmore than the good ole FN MAG which is what we decided not to buy along with the FAL back in the late 50's. Not invented here syndrome. It is basically a Browning M1919 .30 cal receiver with an MG42 feed system and trigger group and a BAR gas system. A combination of the best parts of some of the best weapons ever fielded. The Marines have had it for longer than anyone and the coax version has been around even longer. M60 was a DOG on the coax application I wonder how much better the H&K G36 that is supposed to eventually replace the M16 fairs in the sand? As for the .45's, My understanding is that some spec ops guys have bagged that pistol (unless you need a pistol that can be fitted with a supressor) in favor of tricked out Kimber and Springfield Armory 1911's. Have you noticed that the "replacement' for the M2 hasn't been heard from for a fair number of years? The beast is heavy and a tad complicated, but you can't argue with success, just like the 1911.
 
butcher_block said:
from the firarms point of view and being a marine also
M16 got to shoot dry = no oil on it that helps greatly and use a rubber on it
249saw ok light use
240G wow now that is a fun tool and so much better the the old M60
M2 and barrett reach out and touch someone:D
new flacks i dont know about as i never used one but i will say this just about anything would be better then what i had
NVGs loved my anpvs7b or was it 14 single eye night vision that way is the thing craped out you still had one good eye also its funn to be looking at something with one eye nvg and one with your night sight they sorta superimpose
i ll have to read alittle more of this post to see what i can add
butch
Click to expand...
Butch....what do you think of the new web gear? I have heard some feedback that says it kinda sucks compared to the old ALICE stuff.
 
Is the 240G much lighter than the old M60? I don't recall hearing any complaining about the M60 in Nam. The only thing I didn't like about it is if you fired it at night you were blinded by the flash. I was with a 81mm mortar platoon. We were set up as a outpost on some hill top in the middle of the Central Highlands. I borrowed a M60 from an artillery battery and forgot to return it. I called it my security blanket.
 
never used the mollie gear or the even newer stuff was out just in time for it but heard not the greatest from some of the testers that used it (might not have had bugs out yet)

my understanding was 240G lighter and easer to clean
only played with M60 a few times fleet had the 240G just after i got there
i was an 81 in the FDC
steel rain

that or shake and bake = HE RP/WP proxy mix
aaa the good old days of laying waist to the landscape:) :D
 
I recently went to a place that sells US military surplus and they had a pile of green ammunition boxes. There were tall ones that carried just four rounds, fat boxes that held 12 gauge cartridges and lots that held 7.62 and .223. All the boxes had the type of ammunition stencilled on the side. I picked up a box that said 7.62mm that also said 'OVERHEAD FIRE', which was the only one described as such. Most were '7.62mm BALL' or '7.62mm BLANK'. Anyone know what 'OVERHEAD FIRE' rounds are?
 
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