Observations on Weapons From Iraq

Email from a reader:

Picked up a copy of a one-off magazine called COMBAT ARMS this week. It's from the publishers of Guns & Ammo. Lot of good, interesting articles, including one titled "Iraq: Lessons From The Sandbox" by Richard Venola. He was given unfettered access to a bunch of Marines back from a tour there, to discuss weapons, what worked, what didn't, etc. Some of the more interesting excerpts:

"Twenty years later, the Beretta 92F is still here, like a party guest you were pressured to invite and who now won't leave. It works, is accepted, but unloved. Beretta's design doesn't seem to be the issue, and with 40,000 Crimson Trace Laser grips headed into the system, it's going to be significantly upgraded - but caliber IS the issue."

"What is notable about its (the AK 47) use in Iraq is the total lack of anything approaching aimed fire. Lance Corporal Isaac McKay put it simply: "They just stick it around the corner and that's it," he says Images from television invariably show insurgents doing 'spray and pray' or 'Beirut Offhand' on front of the TV cameras. Bob says he asked a former sergeant in the Medina division (now in the new Iraqi army) to demonstrate the proper technique for firing the AK. The Iran-Iraq and Desert Storm veteran put it on his hip and sprayed in a wide arc. Fortuantely for us, a lot of this has to do with Islamic fatalism, the 'If Allah wills it, it will hit' attitude."

"In Fallujah, Marines with ACOG-equipped M16A4s created a stir by taking so many head shots that until the wounds were closely examined, some observers thought the insurgents had been executed. Since then the Corps has split (as usual) into East Coast and West Coast schools. The Lejeunites want to go with a special DMR AR (SAM-R) variant with a free-floating barrel (some say in 6.8 mm SPC) while the Pendeltonians just want to put an ACOG on a regular M16A4"

"A man can see a window and hit it with iron sights, but a scope sees INTO that window and can hit a target inside."

"Troop leaders are concerned about the rise of an unusual and dangerous form of indiscipline: Men are failing to report serious wounds for fear of having to be medevace'd. Morale among the combat units is so high that men will risk courts-martial, maiming or death to stay with their buddies in the fight. How's that for a leadership challenge?"

"Such is the current public awe for snipers that the next generation of barroom BS artists will all say they were 'snipers with Recon' just as the RVN generation blowhards were all 'Green Berets working for the CIA'."

" 'Johnny Jihad likes a stand-up infantry fight,' says Bob. 'It's their macho thing.' According to others, the Jihadists like to squirt a burst at a patrol and then fall back if something heavier is fired back. But if the Americans swap rifle fire with them, they'll bunch up to encourage Achmed or whomever is doing the firing. Marines entertain them in this manner while they coordinate mortars and air support."

"Whatever you have noticed about the continuing fighting in the wake of 9/11, the part that stands out is the lopsided kill ratio. In this case, a lot of the credit goes to the drug war right here at home. Door kicking on crack houses has refined our urban entry techniques. The main differences are that the Iraqis don't have a pit bull and our guys aren't throwing stun grenades."




California: Guard Wroe weighs plea agreement: "Dameon K. Wroe has four days to make what might be the hardest decision of his life. The security guard, who fatally shot a man at a Rancho Cucamonga apartment complex, must choose by Wednesday whether to admit to a crime he doesn't believe he committed, or gamble at trial and risk decades behind bars. 'It's a deal where you need to think very long and very hard before you reject it,' a judge told him Friday. Wroe fatally shot 19-year-old Michael Krause Jr. at the Sycamore Springs Apartments in Rancho Cucamonga on New Year's Day 2004. Prosecutors allege Wroe shot Krause while Krause was following the guard's orders to leave the apartment's gated parking lot. Wroe, 33, claims he fired in self-defense after Krause twice tried to run him over with a pickup."




Arizona: Gun bill approved by Senate: "Carrying your loaded gun into a bar or restaurant that serves alcohol would be legal -- as long as you don't drink -- under a bill that passed Thursday in the Senate. 'There are already guns in bars and restaurants now, but they are brought in by the criminals,' said Sen. Ron Gould, R-Lake Havasu, who supported Senate Bill 1363. 'If we don't allow law-abiding citizens to protect themselves, we're doing a great disservice to the public.' The bill passed by a vote of 17-11 and now moves on to the House where supporters are confident there are enough votes for passage. Last year a similar bill passed the House, but fell one vote short in the Senate."