John Kettler Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 Those of you waiting for the British Module may be interested in a nasty firefight which occurred during above op. Stumbled across it, and the British forces, apparently with an embedded female war correspondent, got ambushed and are now surrounded by no less than six Taliban groups. Accents, dialogue, unforms and more are all on display. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted February 15, 2009 Author Share Posted February 15, 2009 Unit is 3 Para, and there was also a photojournalist who took some terrific pics seen in the show, to include handheld firing of the British LMG and a sniper in action. Situation was so dire one man was heard to say he'd save the last bullet for himself. Two A-10s initially sent to help were diverted to an even more urgent task, leaving the Paras dependent on nothing but organic small arms. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theFightingSeabee Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 Cool. I would also recommend Ross Kemp documentaries. They can be found on liveleak. He goes out with the Brits in Afghanistan. Also very good. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dowding2 Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 Is the Military channel documentary on in the UK? Can't seem to find any reference to it. The Ross Kemp series is good - he does make me cringe sometimes with his attempts to 'fit in' with the squaddies. Fair play to him for risking his life to give a portrayal of the battle out there. A better series, if you ask me, is the Doctor and Nurses at War series on ITV - follows TA medics (NHS surgeons, nurses and doctors in their 'real life') at Camp Bastion and on the MERC chopper. Some of the stuff they have to do is pretty gut - and heart - wrenching. The number of civilian casualties is surprisingly high - especially children. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted February 15, 2009 Author Share Posted February 15, 2009 theFightingSeabee, Appreciate the Kemp referral! Show seems to have expanded scope to take in Marine MOUT during OEF. good and chilling stuff! Dowding2, Couldn't say, as am in the States. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted February 15, 2009 Author Share Posted February 15, 2009 The series host the famous SAS soldier Andy McNab. The new episode covers man down scenarios and shows some astounding nver show before footage of 2 Mercia in combat in Garmsir, Afghanistan as part of Op Hedgehog. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted February 15, 2009 Author Share Posted February 15, 2009 Typos got by me, but I also wanted to add there's some intense coverage of Marines taking casualties during fighting in Fallujah, Iraq, a situation compoun ded by profuse use of AP ammo by the insurgents. Sgt. Carlos Gomez's shoulder wound looks like an enormous axe bit into him from the top. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cabal23 Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 Also another great book written by a former SAS Blade, John Geddes, Highway to Hell, is a great read on the state of PMC actions around the world. He talks a lot about his time in the Blades and the work they did. Highly recommend! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purpheart23 Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 Typos got by me, but I also wanted to add there's some intense coverage of Marines taking casualties during fighting in Fallujah, Iraq, a situation compoun ded by profuse use of AP ammo by the insurgents. Sgt. Carlos Gomez's shoulder wound looks like an enormous axe bit into him from the top. Regards, John Kettler Same picture can be found in the book, "No True Glory", the author escapes me at present and i'm too hungover to go get it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted February 15, 2009 Author Share Posted February 15, 2009 cabal23 and purpheart23, Thanks for the info! The episode after that was about the disastrous fuel tanker convoy ambush of KBR tankers escorted by Hummer gun vehicles. Of 27 that went out, 8 got through. This was the ambush in which the insurgents captured the KBR convoy leader and showed him to the media. Escort force was from 724th Transportation Company with new ROEs and procedures in which KBR driven trucks had a soldier riding shotgun. Some of the stills taken showed even surviving tankers made very impressive JP-8 fountains from their bullet holes. Terrific interviews with many of the survivors! Battle took place between Biap and Balad in Iraq, with the unit based at LSA Anaconda. These are all names to conjure with, since my brother was there during OIF, I believe as TOC radio operator for the 3/2 SBCT, the first Stryker brigade to see combat. ISTR this was also the same neck of the woods in which he was nearly blown to bits by a VBIED (blew up right after his vehicle passed it) and in which several of his buddies were killed or wounded in a variety of ways. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apocal Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 Same picture can be found in the book, "No True Glory", the author escapes me at present and i'm too hungover to go get it. Bing West. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purpheart23 Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 Bing West. That's it. No problem John. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyR Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 Also another great book written by a former SAS Blade, John Geddes, Highway to Hell, is a great read on the state of PMC actions around the world. He talks a lot about his time in the Blades and the work they did. Highly recommend! I just read a book by John Geddes on Parachute Regiment in action in Goose Green, of which he was part. It was ok...typical para propaganda (I did expect it tbh...I'm not a virgin when it comes to reading books on The Parachute Regiments), but it was a decent read. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 deleted per user request 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apocal Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 How is it that the Taliban ambush a British patrol and don't hit anyone? In part two of that Ross Kemp documentary, just past half way, they take fire from a Mosque at about 100m "or so" with Kemp himself pinned in the open. Nobody is hurt? (Or it isn't mentioned if they are.) Weapons incoming are small arms and RPGs. That's real life. Even hitting someone 100m away is no trivial matter. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 deleted per user request 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoex Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Adam, a little math for you here: If we assume that the vehicle in question is about 2m wide and facing the ambushers frontally at 100m, then its profile covers just a bit more than one degree of arc seen from the attackers viewpoint. This in turn means that (given the attacker has perfect aim) even the slightest motion of the barrel of his weapon (like what comes from his breathing, or from his nervous or excited hands shaking a bit, or the recoil from the last shot he fired if he's snapping off bullets quickly) means an aberration in flight path of his projectile that is so great that he will miss the vehicle entirely, probably by several meters. And here we are not even factoring in wind, distortion by heat haze, or an old AK-74s natural slight inexactitude due to barrel wear etc. I'll leave the rest up to you. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomm Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Hmmm. 2 meters at 100 meters translate to 20 mm at 1 meter. That is a reasonably sized target. A human sized target at that range is a different matter (500 mm shoulder width at 100 meters = 5 mm at 1 meter = small, but not impossible). Best regards, Thomm 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoex Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Thomm, 20mm at 1 meter is reasonable for sure, but by no means easy for an inexperienced (green or conscript in game?) marksman. Definitely already difficult if not using careful aim and single fire. And here we are only talking about target width anyway, and lateral aim is certainly the easier thing to get right at a distance compared to vertical aim. You really need to know how to use a weapon and its sights correctly to get the correct trajectory vertically. And as several people have posted here, projectiles are stated as flying over the heads of the British soldiers in the documentary. This is probably the bigger issue here, all things considered. Though I must add that all my gun-totin' experience comes from paintball, which is a different ballistic matter altogether, sprinkled with book knowledge about real weapons. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hcrof Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 It also has to be said that the British forces were making quite an effort not to be hit. AFAIK, infantry never walk in the open if they can help it, which reduces their profile. The Taliban shooters probably just has to rely on flashes of movement in between pieces of vegitation to shoot at. Of course, once the bullets start flying, then given the terrain, the British soldiers (or Taliban for that matter) would effectively disappear as they dive into the nearest cover. Ross Kemp was making himself a pretty small target in those ditches! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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bitchen frizzy Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Overenthusiasm? Eagerness? Nervousness? Each wanting to be first? Most of the Taliban fighters are farmers with old AK's. Inexperienced, untrained, not professional. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hcrof Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Why don't they setup better ambushes? Point blank if need be. I had to think about that for a while but I think the answer is that your average Taliban footsoldier (for all the stereotypes) is not that interested in dieing. They fight partially because they always have and partially because they cannot take any foreign occupation/influence. This is no Jihad (In most cases) Now I'm sure someone who has been to Afghanistan can do a much better analysis than that (And I'd be interested to hear it!) but that is not the point. An ambush would only kill part of a platoon as the terrain, weapons and numbers of fighters cannot achieve more than this. They would then have to escape before the rest of the platoon unleashes a whole world of hurt on them. At point blank, it is much more difficult to escape and the remaining troops would fix them with fire before taking action to wipe them out (reinforcements, air, arty etc). In Afghanistan and Iraq, anyone who decided to fight it out rather than hit and run got killed fairly early on so most of whats left will not risk such a bold attack. I hope I am not wrong because anyone who is a) good enough to lay a decent ambush and crazy enough to do it point blank will cause a lot of casualties - like you said. I am not a military man so don't take all of that as gospel but that is how I see it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Secondbrooks Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Close range ambushes have potential to go bad for ambusher. Situations are fast, aggressive and superior (in numbers) ambushed can quickly change course of battle for their favor, at least in body count. If terrain is broken and distance is short some ambushed (now aggressive attackers) can soon appear to flanks of ambushers. 100 meters is something which could be considered to be "safe" distance to open fire. Enough distance is enough time to react if ambushed tries to act aggressively. And i dont' know how this affects to human mind as well, opponent is enough far to become enough "safe" so ambushed will act less desperately (rat in corner comparsion comes to mind) and will pin down more easily. Hard to say anything particualr as i'm not too familiar with this case. I think i saw clip of it where this Kemp lied behind enough high feature in terrain to cover him from fire... If it doesn't come from too high position. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 deleted per user request 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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