Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Praxis: A new comment from a Designated Marksman in Afghanistan on an old post but worthy of greater notice.


A new comment on this old post.

americansldr11b said... For those of you that feel the need to throw your comments out there and have yet to set your boots to the sands, grape fields, or mountains of the country that I currently sit... Yes, the training of the DM is not that of the sniper and is not that way by purpose... The sniper is valuable in his own right but few units or commanders have the experience or the training to employ snipers as they should be.

At this time in our country's fight, few commanders trust the sniper to manuever on his own or in a shooter/spotter team and to that affect even make the call on taking a shot. There are far too many rules and things to consider in the way our country fights in these times of political BS.

The DM on the other time is designed by nature to do no more than bridge the gap between the grunts and the snipers. A simple soldier looking to his DM as an asset, of trust, as eyes and ears of his fellow soldiers. To look from the streets of no mans land and see your DM watching, waiting, controlling the surroundings. The DM is by design the best marksman "within" his unit.

It isnt the (one shot, one kill) the DM looks for but a chance to meet the enemy at extended distance as to create time and space between the enemy and the boots on the ground. The DM fills a role that has in the past been void. For the soldiers within the unit that have a DM within them, he is an asset that in "this" country can turn the tides of an often suprise encounter with the enemy.

I have yet to meet an enemy in this country that would tell you the site of a "long gun" within a unit on the ground is not an unnerving one. (Best regards to the fighters on the couch back home) Signed..... DM 10th mountain Division, Afghanistan. (M14EBR) (118 Special Ball, Match Grade)

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ne'er did a man speak truer string of thought.

Michael in MS

Anonymous said...

To your health DM, nurture your skills, we'll see you stateside.

Anonymous said...

Good Post Boss, thanks for bringing it back to our attention.

-Bubba Man (one of the Bubbas of the Apocalypse)

Anonymous said...

Bout time we took a cue from the russians and damn near everybody else. HOO AAHH!

EJR914 said...

That is a great comment from a man out there doing it with his boots in the sand.

I'm glad to see them employing this strategy in a place with such wide open mountian terrain.

Anonymous said...

As a devout Couch Commando and in defense of same, I'd just like to say that, you can accomplish a lot from a comfy couch and your extra plush (hemorrhoid prevention!) office chair.

Besides, the extra adipose tissue will come in handy, when Obama and our illustrious congress finally kill off the economy, and we starve to death. If they make the mistake of letting any of us live that long.

Anonymous said...

A lot of us couch comandos did our time in places like 'Nam. They too will become couch commandos in time. Besides, they said I was too old to reup....Bastards.