Sentry of the Century

[darrels joy]

Sentry of the Century
"Hundreds of American soldiers [in Iraq] owe their lives to the prompt action of a 23-year-old sentry," London's Daily Telegraph reports:

In the faint pre-dawn light Specialist James Ross saw a car, its headlights on, accelerate towards his guard tower at the entrance of the Talaafar military base, near Mosul.

The vehicle had already cleared the first line of defence, barrelling over a coil of barbed wire 80 yards away and was heading straight down a corridor of crash barriers.

"I knew it wasn't one of our guys--it was either me or him," said Spc Ross, who began firing his machine-gun in a last-ditch attempt to stop the car entering the compound, where 300 soldiers were just waking.

Spc Ross, from Kentucky, fired almost 100 rounds before the car, pitted with bullet-holes, came to a stop. A second later, the vehicle blew up.

CBSNews.com reports this under the headline "Iraqi Suicide Attacks Fall Short"--but a Google News search shows that most other news outlets are reporting this as if it were a victory for the enemy.

[revwardoc]

Specialist Ross will face a court martial for firing on a civilian vehicle that, up to the point it exploded, was not considered an actual threat. We wouldn't want to piss off the Iraqi people anymore than we already have, right?

[Boats]

I think Mr. Ross deserves a medal for his decisive undertaking and preventing undo loss of lives. People must be able to make a decision - he made one. Let's give him some credit instead of thinking how he may be reprimanded for his actions.

We are so used to people being taken down a peg it would be nice to have a hero like Mr. Ross for taking an action that someone else may have froze or had to get a second opinion before taking that action.

I say Job Well Done to Spec Ross!!

[Seascamp]

Timid or intimidated sentries are worse that no sentries at all. We found this out the hard way in Beirut and then again in the port of Aden. 280 plus Marines dead in Beirut, 17 Sailors killed aboard the USS Cole. A case could be made that those US Troops killed in Mogadishu were hung out to dry by similar faulty policies of having on a ?happy face? and not looking too ?aggressive?. The policy in Iraq seems to be a different story and the suicide bombers that have an overwhelming wish to rest in many pieces and raspberry jam splatters will have to run a deadly and lethal gauntlet to even get close. The sentry/machine gunner did what was required and that should be it other than some formal recognition for a job well done.

My only critique is that it wouldn?t have taken 100 rounds from an M2 50 Cal to totally disassemble the car and driver at a distance much farther than 80 yards. My guess is that three or four short/medium bursts would have done the job, assuming the first two bursts were for ranging in.
If the various media outlets claim that as a suicide bomber victory than all I have to suggest is that they have many, many ?victories? just like that one, bring em on-destiny awaits.

Scamp

[SEATJERKER]

...A solid round of applause erupts,...

...shoot first, and live long enough to answer questions later,...

...That soldier DID exactly what he was supposed to do.

...I would say that his actions when your "alone" are the hardest to make, and that he does indeed deserve whatever honors that can be bestowed upon him, ...

...he selfless act of defending his fellow soldiers in the midst of certian disaster should be held in the highest esteem by both his peers, and commanding officers,...

...And if they don't see it that way, then they are far beneath him in terms of duty, and honor,...

..."salute",...

...

[Boats]

SJ

Very well said and I agree 110%.

[revwardoc]

I'm not saying that Ross SHOULD be reprimanded. I agree that he deserves some sort of commendation. I was being sarcastic in that, as Seascamp pointed out, we've lost way too many men becausesentries carried unloaded weapons and were told not to make assumptions about people approaching the perimeter or alongside a ship. I firmly believe that, if you're in a war zone, no matter if you're in a "peace keeping" force or in actual combat, you shoot first and ask questions later. The life you save may not only be your own but those of your buddies, who are a lot more important than some diaper-on-the-head-wearing Islamic fanatic.

[Seascamp]

There is no such thing as PC in a hot or contested area. When we get in a mental fog over PC vs. vigilance and aggressive defense we loose, period, and some US youngsters will pay the ultimate price. I guess we had to get hit over the head with a splitting mall far too many times before we finally got the picture.

But I?d bet money, marbles, or chalk that the beltway bias is still to dictate if a Marine, Troop or Sailor has a hot mag popped in and would love to press forth and dictate impossibly complicated rules of sentry engagement.
I don?t know about anyone else but it?s my experience is that when bad stuff is on the plate, complicated concepts are out the window and the focal point of vision and thought centers on sight picture, training, instinctive reactions, following instructions and that?s about it and about as good as can be expected.

Scamp