This came in from on old bud former Marine aviator. Great stuff.....
Subject: Iraq intel from a Marine
> This was forwarded to me... I have no idea if it is valid... but whether
> it is or isn't ... made for an interesting read. L>
>
> *Subject:* Intel from a Marine
>
> 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.
>
>
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 cant 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 govt. Kidnapping of family members (especially children) is common
> to influence people they are trying to influence but cant reach, such as
> local govt. 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 cant stand the thought of Iraq being an American ally (with, of
> course, permanent US bases there).
>
> Anyway guys, that's it, hope you found it interesting, I sure did.
>
>
