Real life combat experience ? - anyone ?

[maturin 12]

As a boy, I wondered how a soldier under fire could have the courage to stick his head up and return fire.

So, from the above, I wonder if the experienced combat soldier knows it’s somewhat difficult to get hit and so sticks his head up long enough to get off aimed shots.

-

I highly doubt it. Hitting someone at 300m in cover under fire is extremely difficult. Getting shot under those same circumstances is extremely easy in exactly inverse proportion. Simple Murphy's Law.

There's still an awful lot of rounds going past at supersonic speeds, and there's no reason at all a blind over-the-shoulder hail mary shot can't bounce off a butterfly's wing and dive gracefully into the exact center of your cranium like God's own bullet.

[ArmAriffic 10]

i got a question, is it easy to kill somebody, how do you feel after it (if your aloud to say)

[Herr anfsim 0]

1: with my primary weapon (hk416) its quite easy hiting a stationary personel target at 300m. Especially with aditional optics lik 3x, acog or shortdot.

2: Supressive fire works. the sound of bullets snapping overhead is verry frightening and most will hit the ground.

3: In my experience numerically superiority isnt as important as superior firepower. In many TICs the insurgents will have more "troops" than coalition forces but still loose the fight do to theire ak47s and PKMs arent enough to give them the firepower and range needed.

[Ollie1983 10]

Actually, hollowpoint is not an exotic munition by any means. It is one of the most common types of ammuntion used by police forces and in the hunting of larger game. Some jurisdictions it is the only type of ammunition permitted in the hunting of large game. (eg The Deer Act 1991 in the UK prohibits the use of any type of ammunition other than soft-nose of hollow point for deer hunting). Police forces use hollow point ammunition for safety reasons. It is far less likely to pass through targets (over-penetration) or ricochet and injure or kill bystanders. Some shooting ranges ban full-metal jacket rounds and require the use of soft-point ammuntion because of its tendency to rapidly damage targets and backstops.

The fallacy that "police use hollow-point ammunition that is even illegal under the Geneva Convention" is a common saw used by activists to incite anti-law enforcement hysteria. The banning of hollow point ammunition in war is a quirk resulting from St. Petersburg Declaration of 1868, which banned exploding projectiles of less than 400 grams. This was included as a continuance in the Hague Convention of 1899. It is no more horiffic than many other military inventions introduced since 1868. New Jersey, is the only US state that has restrictions on hollow point ammunition, and that is only for carry permits. It is legal in NJ to hunt and target shoot with hollow points.

I didn't say hollow point was exotic. All the ammo I use in hunting/sporting shooting is hollow point or blunt or similarly deformable. Fully jacketed ammo would be unlikely to stop game such a deer unless you shoot them in the head which is not how it is done. The other reason would be that fully jacketed ammo ricochets like a bar steward, esp in low velocity loadings.

[Inkompetent 0]

1) With a M16 (rifle of your choice) with optics, given a clear line of sight is it relatively simple to drop a target at 300m or do you spend half a clip doing so (assuming a steady prone target)

Quoting the Swedish combat manual a rifleman (using the AK5, a modified FN FNC 2000) is expected to need two shots to hit a standing target, 10 shots to hit a prone target, and 20 shots to hit a target in cover, and that is at a range of 200-300m (probably closer to 200 than 300 due to lack of magnifying optics. We only use Aimpoints in Sweden, aside from the marksmen). Note that a single hit might not kill the target, so more ammunition is probably needed.

Unfortunately I don't think we'll have any luck here getting a Swedish combat vet posting, due to the low number of them :(

[shay_gman 272]

Well it easy to tell apart the virgins from the experinced one, believe me when I say TheDudeAbides post sum it all. Combat isn't training. 300 meters are long range in combat. Google trench warfare, after the first burst all units from both sides will take cover. And you'll be stuck with long fights of pop 'n shoot. Till the big guns get in the area or one side will take the initiative and move for the kill.

I highly doubt it the small arms determins battle. AK47 or HK it's the same, there is no weapon supriorty in small arms. 12 years old african mailtia armed with AK47 is as much as dengarous as USMC soldier given the fact that usually the one with the poorly weapon is the one that familiar with the terrain and the battlefield.

[Ollie1983 10]

Bullets are all similarly lethal, what is the problem is that insurgents and 12 year old African children, generally can't shoot for toffee- full auto, shooting from the hip etc, all a complete waste of time, might as well throw bullets at the enemy... Not many professional soldiers do much of that.

[Inkompetent 0]

Bullets are all similarly lethal, ...

That they are, but they are also bloody hard to hit with, professional or not, as long as your opponent actively tries to not get shot. Thus machine guns and artillery.

[thedudeabides 40]

i got a question, is it easy to kill somebody, how do you feel after it (if your aloud to say)

It was the most scary yet satisfying feeling in the world, no drug, nothing, can match the way I felt after my first kill. The scary part is that it feels so good.

Another poster asked, about sticking your head up when rounds are coming in. When the shit is going down it is almost like an out of body experience, time does not exist, there is a level of focus that cannot be described, all of your senses are on. But a combat experienced soldier will always tell you, alot of it is just dumb blind luck, stick your head up at the wrong time and boom, something bad happens. When I got my first Purple Heart I stuck my head up over the lip of a roof in Ramadi and a RPG blew up on the lip, ruining my Oakleys and leaving me some nice facial scars. If I would have waited two seconds more I would have been fine. Just pure dumb luck.

[NeMeSiS 11]

might as well throw bullets at the enemy... Not many professional soldiers do much of that.

Some however,

.

EDIT: It seems that casting Charlie Sheen for this movie was, in hindsight, one of the best decisions ever made.

Edited March 18, 2011 by NeMeSiS

[ArmAriffic 10]

It was the most scary yet satisfying feeling in the world, no drug, nothing, can match the way I felt after my first kill. The scary part is that it feels so good.

Another poster asked, about sticking your head up when rounds are coming in. When the shit is going down it is almost like an out of body experience, time does not exist, there is a level of focus that cannot be described, all of your senses are on. But a combat experienced soldier will always tell you, alot of it is just dumb blind luck, stick your head up at the wrong time and boom, something bad happens. When I got my first Purple Heart I stuck my head up over the lip of a roof in Ramadi and a RPG blew up on the lip, ruining my Oakleys and leaving me some nice facial scars. If I would have waited two seconds more I would have been fine. Just pure dumb luck.

OK thanks for answering

[JojoTheSlayer 35]

Some however,

.

EDIT: It seems that casting Charlie Sheen for this movie was, in hindsight, one of the best decisions ever made.

Hes Winning! :D