Hunters: U.S. Snipers in the War on Terror

by Milo S. Afong

  He watched the street in front of the house, leading to OP-1. The narrow road was lined with cars and courtyard gates on both sides. Gunfire came from that direction, but Peeples still did not see anyone. Suddenly five insurgents rounded a corner at 150 yards away. They reloaded their weapons and seemed to be forming a plan.

  “I’ve got bad guys over here!” Peeples shouted.

  Two SEALs rushed to his position. The heavy weapons operator held the MK-48, a light machine gun. With a look of pleasure, he, Peeples, and the chief prepared and on cue opened fire, downing four of the men. One rolled on the ground in pain. Immediately afterward, the entire team was ready to move and ran through the front door into the street, making their way to the injured SEAL team.

  Once they were outside, the events became a blur for Peeples. A serious gun battle began, and insurgents gathered to press Peeples and the others. Some of the fighters took to the high ground and shot from windows and rooftops. On the street, they threw RPGs and hand grenades. Though Peeples and the others were heavily outnumbered, their tactics and superior firepower evened the fight.

  The SEALs and Peeples went into kill mode. The heavy weapons operator and another SEAL started it off and let loose a wall of bullets forcing insurgents to take cover, while the rest of the team bounded. Peeples took cover behind a car. He waited for the others to follow before opening fire. When they did, he and a SEAL gave the insurgents hell.

  Peeples lined his targets up and squeezed off two shots. He made it a point to fire only a few rounds per target, knowing that he might have to conserve ammo. Beside him, the SEALs sprayed every target; they executed their standard operating procedure for breaking contact with the enemy, bounding, and moving away. It was precise and exact.

  Though the work was hot and exhausting, neither Peeples nor the others stopped. Once, Peeples found a man in a window with a machine gun, his face locked in anger, as he threw bullets into the wall next to Peeples. Peeples returned fire, knocking him down. As he and the rest of the team bounded, explosions and rifle discharges echoed off the concrete. Peeples even noticed a hand grenade fly over his head, exploding in an adjacent courtyard.

  In less than five minutes, the team was at OP-1’s house. Two Bradleys were there already. They were the Quick Reaction Force. Peeples’s team waited for the OP-2 team to arrive before moving into the house of OP-1. When the other men finally arrived, Peeples’s team went in and witnessed the carnage.

  The road in front of OP-1’s house was filled with blood. Two separate blood trails led from the dirty street into the courtyard and on into the building. Peeples could not help but wonder what had happened. In the house, pools of blood formed on the floor, and the other SEALs were distraught. Peeples overheard one of the men explain to the chief what had happened.

  As a result of taking the rooftop, the team had been compromised early on. They had also been set up by the old man that Peeples had killed, who had set a pressure-plated IED at the front gate of OP-1. Later, someone tossed a grenade on the roof, hitting a few SEALs, but nothing serious resulted. The team leader called for the quick reaction force and a medivac. When the vehicles arrived, the men ran from the house, straight out of the front gate. The two Iraqi Army soldiers who led the way were instantly vaporized upon triggering the IED by stepping on it. Behind them, two SEALs were severely injured. One had 90 percent burns on his body and lost a leg, while the other had both legs broken.

  The sight disheartened Peeples. The lives of both men would never be the same. It just as likely could have happened to him. While sitting there, he had an unexpected thought. He asked if anyone was guarding the roof. Nobody was. He immediately ran up there with a SEAL in trace.

  Before walking out, Peeples slowly opened the door to the roof. Fifteen feet away, two men crept toward the OP-1 house from the next building. Weapons in hand, they wore green vests and face wraps. They had not seen Peeples. Peeples lifted his weapon and pumped two bullets into each of them. Moments later, more insurgents fired on the Peeples team, forcing them to take cover. Peeples and the SEAL returned fire but were ordered off the roof, because the Bradleys were going to hose everything. When the Bradleys stopped firing, the area went quiet once more.

  As the fighting finished, one thought haunted Peeples. He could not help but picture the faces of the family in the house of OP-1. They were absolutely terrified, and Peeples could see it in the children’s eyes. It dawned on him that everyone there would feel the effects of war for the rest of their lives.

  After the fight, Peeples’s team supported the company again. They had done a few counter-IED missions and held security in the observation posts before another large mission arose. It came in Operation Murfreesboro.

  For some time, al-Qaeda operatives had moved freely through the eastern Malaab District of Ramadi. With support, or fear, from civilians, the district was a safe haven for them and other foreign fighters. From that area, the insurgents planned and executed many of their operations. It was also suspected that they kept many weapons caches and IED factories there. To rid them of the area, U.S. commanders drew up a plan to move in, set up concrete barriers around the Malaab District, and sweep through, tightening the noose around and isolating insurgents there.

  Peeples’s team began to prepare for another fight. Soon he learned that the operation was divided into phases. First, soldiers would raid the district and apprehend high-value targets. Second, more troops would push into the district to help set up the concrete barriers, and finally they were to clear it out.

  As the final planning developed, Peeples explained the mission to his team. He and Stout had a security element attached to them, and when the others started the raids, they would all move into position to cover the soldiers. Once the soldiers withdrew, Peeples’s group was to be left behind, and from there they would snipe.

  He did not have to explain the risk. Though given enough ammo, they would be alone in insurgent-infested territory most of the time. Hundreds of fighters were suspected to be there, and as hard-core as they were, they would probably fight to the death. Peeples knew his team would see some action, but he truly was not aware of just how much that would be.

  To start the operation, the soldiers moved into the city under rain and darkness. They sped through the streets of Ramadi, knowing that enemy lookouts could compromise them. Peeples and Stout traveled in the rear Bradley, while the main element took the front vehicles. Before they hit their first target, the vehicles stopped just long enough for Peeples, Stout, and their security to exit.

  Peeples kept his rifle in hand and rushed out. In the street, he noticed right away the double-stranded concertina wire lining both sides of the road. Stout pushed the wire down while the rest of the team crossed. A thought popped into Peeples’s mind: “If insurgents want to sneak up on us, they will have to cross the wire as well.”

  Quickly the team infiltrated a building on the north side of the street. All of the action was to be on the south side and a good standoff distance away. In the hide, Peeples tasked the security as he always did; the Iraqi soldiers held the bottom floor to stay out of the way, while the U.S. soldiers took the upper levels. Within hours, the initial raid happened and the soldiers in the Bradleys exited the area, leaving the snipers to scour the darkness.

  Behind his M24, Peeples searched out targets. The main road ran below his window, giving him a sight of an intersection 293 meters (just under a thousand feet) away. He’d been using night vision and had a great view, but nothing happened for the first few hours.

  Later, a pathfinder element clearing IEDs swept through the area. Peeples covered their movement and heard gunshots intended for their vehicles. He spotted insurgents shooting from a high-rise in the distance, but they were out of his range. Peeples relayed the info to the pathfinders and the company. The pathfinders were armored and had not realized they were under fire. Once they learned of it, they moved out of the area. Thirty minutes later, four Bradleys arrived and took the direction of Peepl
es. The vehicles unloaded on the building where the gunmen were, and two of the floors collapsed on each other. The fighters did not return.

  The rest of the night was quiet. The next day, Peeples, while action hungry, stayed on the gun. The others slept and occasionally scanned the area with him. The streets were empty besides a few cars. Their sector was dead and Peeples figured it to be an uneventful day—that is until around 1600, when a loud shaking of metal sounded nearby.

  Everyone in the team heard it, but no one could distinguish the noise. It sounded to be nearby, and Peeples decided to look from the roof. The door leading to the roof was full of bullet holes, and Peeples peered through one to get a view. Outside, eight insurgents were trying to breach the concertina wire across the street. Two of them tried moving the razor wire while one held an IED. Another took the cord attached to the IED and went into a building.

  Peeples ran down and called his team. He explained the noise and they instantly formed a plan. Peeples would initiate with his bolt-action rifle. Everyone else would take a predesignated target. The team also radioed the company and requested the help of the Quick Reaction Force; they asked the QRF commander to let them know when they exited the base, giving the sniper team about two minutes before they arrived. When the QRF commander radioed them, Peeples took aim.

  The men with the IED were ninety meters away. Peeples chose the man orchestrating the event and put the crosshairs on his chest; at that distance he could have taken his head if he wanted to. The boom of his rifle started the attack, followed by the M240 machine gun and an M203 grenade launcher. The enemy was completely surprised and stood in shock for a second. With his first target down, Peeples transitioned to a guy trying to get the IED, which he had dropped in the street. The machine gunner kept on the few that slipped into buildings, until a minute later when the QRF arrived. As soon as they did, a counterattack was launched by more insurgents.

  Gunfire ensued. Insurgents sent bullets through Peeples’s window, causing him and Stout to dive for cover. During a lull, he stood and shot a man on an adjacent rooftop, but another volley flew through the window, hitting a metal windowpane and sending bullet fragments into his face and leg. The guy next to him took fragments to the face and hand. The impact shocked Peeples. It felt like a fist to the head, but when he knew that the injury was not serious, and neither were the injuries to the other soldier, they resumed fighting.

  Five minutes later the shooting ceased. Peeples assessed the damage. Dead insurgents lay in the street and in the other building. One even dangled by his leg from a second-story balcony. Miraculously no soldiers were seriously injured, even though the wall behind them held fifteen to twenty bullet holes. When the coast was clear, the sniper team headed for the Bradleys to withdraw.

  In the street, the team shuffled into the fighting vehicles. One of the soldiers tripped and was stuck in the concertina wire, sending Peeples to his aid. As he grabbed the wire, Peeples turned and noticed that they were being targeted by an insurgent. Before Peeples could level his rifle to shoot, a Bradley noticed the fighter as well and tore his body to shreds with its 25mm main gun.

  At base, Peeples and his team resupplied. After a quick bite, they were ordered back into the fight. This time Peeples’s security would be two squads, and instead of insert by vehicles, they would be trailing the company on foot. That night the soldiers patrolled from their base into their sector. Fighting had already begun in other areas, sending tracers and bullets twenty-five feet overhead while the soldiers moved in.

  When they reached their break-off point, Peeples’s team and the squads moved into a building. They held the upper floors of the six-story building with a commanding view of the city. From there, they watched as the rest of the company patrolled on and eventually out of sight. That night, the company took heavy contact while fighting to and from base. The next day Peeples and the others learned that one of their friends had died as a result. It was hard not to be dispirited. Another friend had lost his life, and Peeples thought about it all day.

  The next evening, Peeples and his partner took the roof. An infrared beacon marked their friendly position for the air assets above that had made gun runs throughout the day. From the roof, Peeples kept his eyes in one sector while the others watched elsewhere. He and his partner scanned a certain road at the same time, and they noticed a large patrol moving in their direction. They focused in and saw two groups, the closest being 150 yards and moving in two single files, while the larger group patrolled about 500 yards behind them. When the snipers tried to recognize which unit the patrols were, they realized that these men were not friendlies; they were insurgents carrying AKs and dressed in street clothes.

  “This has got to be friendly. There’s no way this is enemy,” thought Peeples.

  Their size shocked him. He could not believe his eyes and even radioed the company three times to ask if any friendly patrols were in their sector. The answer each time was no.

  Peeples immediately informed the company of the situation. He requested air and indirect fire but was denied because of collateral damage. With no help there, he turned to the QRF Bradleys and asked them to move toward his building from east to west, while Peeples and the squads covered the north-south street, locking the insurgents in an L-shaped ambush. He also requested illumination mortars to light up the sky on his mark.

  Within minutes the Bradleys were en route. When they fired the first shots, the illumination mortars were sent and lit up the insurgents’ position, causing everyone to open fire. Peeples ranged his first target at eight hundred yards. His custom M4 was capable, and he was glad that it was modified. With the light, he saw perfectly a man dragging a weapons crate. He adjusted his sights and let the first round fly. It hit its mark, dropping the guy, and Peeples swiftly acquired another target. His second shot was also on, and his second target fell, but soon the group dispersed.

  Suddenly the lights went out for a few seconds. When the next mortar triggered, the illumination exposed an insurgent crawling. Peeples shot but was off target. He adjusted at once, but this time his bullet hit a power line. After he adjusted again, his bullet found its mark, stopping the man in place. Peeples finished him off with three more shots. Seconds later, he spotted another man resting behind a dirt mound. His upper torso was exposed and he looked to be taking cover.

  “You see that guy behind the mound?” Peeples said, directing Stout onto the target.

  “Got ’im,” replied Stout.

  Peeples’s next shot may have been his luckiest ever. He aimed at the man’s head and took a deep breath; he wasn’t going to miss with the other soldiers watching. Relaxed and on target, Peeples gently squeezed the trigger. Stout and a few others watched Peeples’s round hit the man’s head, dropping him instantly. The sound of bullet hitting skull echoed through the street. It was a sound Peeples would never forget. Later the team pulled out and refitted back at base.

  At base, everyone cleaned weapons and tried sleeping. They waited all day until night to insert into the city once more. This time Peeples and Stout were with a squad and were directed to hold a position in support of the soldiers erecting a concrete barrier. As luck would have it, Peeples and the squad were to be trapped in the Malaab District side while everyone else was on the other side.

  The ride into the city was different this time. Insurgents in the Malaab felt the pressure and attacked the Bradleys the entire drive in. Once they were close to their objective, Peeples monitored the radio for the attached squad leader to signal that their building was clear. When it was, the Bradleys dropped their back ramps.

  With his feet on the ground, Peeples knew right away it was going to be a tough mission. It sounded like the Fourth of July with the amount of explosions outside. All of the Bradleys were on the defensive as insurgents rained RPGs and bullets on them. Tracers zipped past Peeples and pinged off the armored vehicles. In the midst of this, Peeples and Stout ran for their lives and made it to the safety of the building.

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bsp; The squad leader met them at the door. A situation report was quickly discussed, and Peeples took Stout straight onto the roof. Another soldier followed the two up, and once there, Peeples moved to the ledge facing the enemy and readied his weapon. His night vision covered his eye and he glanced over the ledge toward the street. To his surprise, below him were two insurgents with AKs, whispering to each other. Peeples’s PEQ-2 infrared laser could only be seen with night vision, and he put the laser on their heads and dumped a half a mag, killing them. At the same time, another soldier fired on a few insurgents farther down the street. It was the start of the most violent firefight that Peeples had ever experienced.

  Insurgents had staged in the same area that the soldiers had moved into. Hundreds of enemy fighters opened fire very close to the soldiers. There was no room for mistakes now as the insurgents gave all they had. Peeples felt their bullets and RPGs exploding against his building, and even worse, he and his team were near the largest group, and the insurgents knew that.

  The intensity of it all was nerve-wracking. It took all he had for Peeples to shoot, reload, duck, and shoot while trying to direct others on targets. His strategy amid the turmoil was to shoot muzzle flashes, but the enemy did the same and fired on him. Next to Peeples, the M203 gunner let grenades fly like a champion. He aimed for dead space where insurgents took cover and once landed a grenade behind a courtyard wall hitting several men. Their painful screams let him know that his shot was on.

  It was a deadly stalemate for some time until the soldiers received air support. A Guided Missile and Large Rocket, or GLMR, momentarily silenced the fighting when one destroyed a house. Peeples gathered his thoughts in the mess of it all and hoped to make it out alive. As he regained focus, he saw an insurgent below him moving through an alley twenty yards away, and he killed the enemy fighter.