In the Fall of 2003, orders were going out that our company 1174th Transportation and other companies within Camp Cedar II were being relieved by civilian truck drivers from KBR. However, all the companies were required to go through the marksmanship training offered by retired special forces soldiers and we found the training to be very different than what we were used to at a weapon's range.
We spent the first half of the day learning close quarters marksmanship. Previous training involved shooting from a foxhole with targets ranging from 50 to 300 meters. However, our enemies have learned that they can not go toe to toe with American firepower and have evolved their tactics to be close to American forces and negate the use of artillery and air power. The training consisted of shooting at targets within 20 meters, learning to stand, move and shoot on the move. The stance used is similar to a martial arts stance with neither foot ahead of the other. Elbows are in, holding the weapon in closer to the body instead of out. The idea is to be a smaller target to the enemy and if taking an incoming round, the round will hit the frontal body armor and should not be a fatal wound. There is not firing from the hip, the weapon is raised, releasing the safety for aimed and controlled fire. The fire is controlled pairs, also known as double-tap. The training was interesting and an incident where the training was useful will be discussed later in this blog.
The next training was shooting from a truck. Our job in Iraq was to haul fuel from one location to another. However, prior to deployment, we didn't train for engaging an enemy from a moving vehicle. The second half of the first day of training, we simulated being in a convoy and were shooting from a stationary truck. The driver cradled his M-16 and due to Laws of War could only fire in the semi-auto function. Fire was not aimed, fire from the driver's position was for suppression. The passenger could fire from the 3-round burst mode and if using a M-249, the weapon would be used in full-auto mode. Gun truck crew received training to use the M-2 heavy machine gun. The role of a gun truck to go after and engage the enemy with heavy fire, while the freight trucks pass through.
The following day, we actually went on a road march and put the new training into practice shooting pop targets from a moving vehicle. It was interesting to see the .50 caliber machine guns tear up the targets. Training was intense and real, on one occasion I did hear the 'zing' from a passing friendly round.
A few weeks after the training, our unit began redeployment back to the United States and pulled back to Kuwait. Bear in mind, in 2003 the Iraq War was different that what it became. IED's were not as common, insurgents mainly used small arms, RPG's and mortars to attack our convoys.
A couple of months returning home from the war, I would use the tactics learned at Camp Udari. 11:30 pm on a Sunday night, my wife said that someone was in our drive way. Living in a rural area, I figured that they were using the drive way to turn around. I watched the car came up the drive way and shutting off the headlights. We immediately called 911 and I grabbed a semi-automatic rifle and went outside to greet my uninvited guests. I have the opinion that a visitor coming by my house that late at night is someone in trouble, or someone looking for trouble. I stood in the combat stance with the rifle in a ready position, never aiming the weapon; the people in the car must have seen me and decided it would be best to leave. We gave a description of the car and would hear the police looking for the car on the scanner.
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