U.S. Soldier Survives Taliban Machine Gun Fire During Firefight

[Luddite]

OK...

So...

What the heck?

Firstly, what's he doing wandering down a hill, out of cover?

Where's the rest of his section?

Is this really how the American army operates??

[Leon]

I found that so bizarre I had a dig about for more info to find out why he's wandering around so exposed on the side of a mountain?! 

So:

U.S. Soldier Survives Taliban Machine Gun Fire During Firefight

An incredible new video shot by an Army soldier's helmet cam shows the brave warrior’s heroic attempt to draw fire on himself after his squad got pinned down by Taliban militants in Afghanistan.

The video is part of a larger effort to broadcast raw combat footage shot by soldiers fighting in Afghanistan.  The footage will be included in a documentary about the terrors of the war in Afghanistan, along with an interview of the soldier. The images were captured during an intelligence-gathering mission, in the proximity of a village. The soldiers were spotted and shots were fired immediately, with automated machine guns.

Nearly 100 combat videos appear on a YouTube channel called Funker530, including the one posted Wednesday showing the soldier's harrowing shootout with Islamist militants. It later surfaced on Reddit and other sites.

The video opens with the soldier creeping down a rocky hillside in Kunar Province, as Taliban bullets kick up dirt near his feet.

According to the video's description, the solider's unit was gathering intelligence in a nearby village when the Taliban ambushed them.

"I was point heading down the face of the hill with the LT. when we got hit," the unnamed soldier writes. "The rest of the squad was pinned down by machine gun fire. I didn't start the video until a few mins into the firefight for obvious reasons.

"I came out into the open to draw fire so my squad could get to safety."

He eventually ducks behind some rocks, and appears safe.

In a description of the video attributed to the soldier, he writes that he intentionally exposed himself in order to draw attention away from his fellow soldiers, who were pinned down.

But moments later, a Taliban round knocks the weapon out of his hands.

"I'm hit!" he screams. "I'm hit!"

The shoulder shouts for help for several more minutes, as bullets skip off the rocks around him.

Luckily, he made it out alive, according to the YouTube description.

The solider was hit 4 times, including one round that knocked his weapon out of his hand.

"I got a hit a total of 4 times. My helmet cam died and I made it down the mountain on my own. I was also hit in the side of my helmet and my eye pro was shot off of my face," the soldier writes.

"A round struck the tube by my hand of the 203 grenade launcher which knocked it out of my hands.

"When I picked the rifle back up it was still functional but the grenade launcher tube had a nice sized 7.62 cal bullet hole in it and was rendered useless."

[Nav]

if your a fan of funkers youtube channel like me he always has the description of the video in the description box, i love his videos, they show the things that the news will not show

[Hertsblue]

I'm no warrior, but I would have thought there are several more intelligent things you could do when pinned down other than stand up and act as an Aunt Sally. Like calling in reinforcements/artillery fire/air support? Or were they operating completely unsupported? 

[Luddite]

"I came out into the open to draw fire so my squad could get to safety."

Presumably this utter muppet went through 'basic Hollywood training'?

I seriously can't believe that this is how a professional soldier would operate. 
If i were his officer i'd want him transferred out of the front line because he's going to get someone killed.

[Steve J]

Looks like a 'How not to do it' video to me.

[Nav]

I'm no warrior, but I would have thought there are several more intelligent things you could do when pinned down other than stand up and act as an Aunt Sally. Like calling in reinforcements/artillery fire/air support? Or were they operating completely unsupported? 

I believe they were doing special recon so no support

[Nav]

Presumably this utter muppet went through 'basic Hollywood training'?

I seriously can't believe that this is how a professional soldier would operate. 
If i were his officer i'd want him transferred out of the front line because he's going to get someone killed.

he was drawing fire from the enemy so his men could escape to saftey and then give cover fire so he could escape

[Rob]

Presumably this utter muppet went through 'basic Hollywood training'?

I seriously can't believe that this is how a professional soldier would operate. 
If i were his officer i'd want him transferred out of the front line because he's going to get someone killed.

This procedure although obviously risky is SOP. You cannot judge on the urgency of the situation from this snippet, so waiting for support of any nature may not be an option. If some one has you pinned, you can bet it is either to stop you from pursuing while their oppos retire, or more worryingly they are flanking you.

In the British army if the situation is urgent and all else has failed, you will order the section/squad to "watch and shoot" and a single soldier to zig zag forward to draw fire. This gives the other soldiers a chance to observe and be pretty sure they are not the main target. If they are really switched on they will have dropped a couple of tracer into the top of their mag so if they spot anything others can see the path of their bullets and zero in as well.

Its not clear whether this soldier was ordered or he took it on himself to carry this out. You can be pretty sure any bravado shown is skin deep and he was pretty scared. Its tough being an infantryman but this sort crap is part of the job.

I think in future you should hold back on your unrestrained comments. Especially when directed against someone who's life is being put at risk. I would say it isnt the soldier who is the muppet. 

Have a nice day 

[Luddite]

I think in future you should hold back on your unrestrained comments. Especially when directed against someone who's life is being put at risk. I would say it isnt the soldier who is the muppet. 

I'll take your suggestion under advisement.  It's filed under 'B'.

[Techno]

What I found quite surprising is the high quality of the footage. So crisp and clear.
Far better than a lot of the 'reality style' fictionalized stuff that you get on DVD.....Most of which I'm not keen on at all.
I'm guessing that the forces use  decent quality cameras, so the footage is more useful when it's played back ?

What proportion/percentage of the guys that are doing the fighting have a 'cam' attached to them, or is it down to "It'd be useful if we filmed this particular op....Get 'X' to carry a camera." ?

Cheers - Phil.

[Nav]

What I found quite surprising is the high quality of the footage. So crisp and clear.
Far better than a lot of the 'reality style' fictionalized stuff that you get on DVD.....Most of which I'm not keen on at all.
I'm guessing that the forces use  decent quality cameras, so the footage is more useful when it's played back ?

What proportion/percentage of the guys that are doing the fighting have a 'cam' attached to them, or is it down to "It'd be useful if we filmed this particular op....Get 'X' to carry a camera." ?

Cheers - Phil.

Its a helmet camera

[Techno]

No....I realized that Nav....
It's just that the 'film' quality is so good I was wondering how many of the guys go out with that fixed to their helmets.
I should have said..."Stick this on 'X's helmet," rather than "get X to carry a camera."
Are helmet cameras all the same standard as regarding the quality of the images ?
Cheers - Phil