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Daily Mail Article with Picture of Irish DF Sniper Team
Is it true there's a specific shape that your moustache has to be, should you gain permission to grow one?
Sigh! Yes. I don't have one - but there are rules - it all borders on the ridiculous if you ask me. Of course some animals are more equal than others and there are US troops here that get away with a lot because of who they are (not talking SF but those that support them). My favorite are the Kiwis - no headgear, sleeves rolled up but still highly professional.
CT is right about here although I'm not sure if it's base policy at this point as I see many units now wearing them just not us.
Apologies for dragging this slightly off topic. Rant over!
There may be only one time in your life when your country will call upon you and you will be the only one who can do the nasty job that has to be done -- do it or forever after there will be the taste of ashes in your mouth.
The enemy insurgents were more than a mile away when the sniper, a corporal serving with 4 Rifles, got the all clear to take them out.
British sniper shot dead five Taliban gunmen in just 28 seconds to save the lives of comrades walking into an ambush.
The sharp-shooter, a father of one who has been a sniper for nine years and serves with 4th Battalion The Rifles, added: 'My job is about taking care of the boys. It is not about how many you kill, it's about the team.'
The marksman felled the rebels from more than a mile away as they prepared to attack troops on foot patrol in Afghanistan.
The corporal - whose identity cannot be revealed for security reasons - has killed a record 37 enemy fighters during a four-month tour of duty.
But his most remarkable feat of arms came when he and the spotter who accompanies him saw the group of armed Taliban.
They were taking up positions to fire on a patrol that included the platoon commander in Helmand Province.
Hiding in an old fort, the sniper prepared his British-built L115A3 Long Range Rifle.
The firearm, which fires 8.59mm bullets at three times the speed of sound and uses a state-of-the-art telescopic sight, is so effective that it has been nicknamed The Silent Assassin.
Requesting permission to shoot - needed because the British had not yet been attacked - the corporal made sure the rebel leader was in the crosshairs of his sights.
He would have had to make precise calculations in a split-second on wind speed and other weather conditions to compensate for the drift of the rounds in flight.
Moments later his commander gave him the go-ahead to fire and in less than half a minute the five Taliban gunmen lay dead.
He said: 'They gave me the "weapons free". I engaged with the first insurgent. It took me nine rounds but I took him down with the ninth.
'Then the other four had moved closer, so I took them down as well.'
Sigh! Yes. I don't have one - but there are rules - it all borders on the ridiculous if you ask me. Of course some animals are more equal than others and there are US troops here that get away with a lot because of who they are (not talking SF but those that support them). My favorite are the Kiwis - no headgear, sleeves rolled up but still highly professional.
CT is right about here although I'm not sure if it's base policy at this point as I see many units now wearing them just not us.
Apologies for dragging this slightly off topic. Rant over!
Talking to the French, apparently an American CSM decided to go after them for wearing 'indecent' shorts. The French PT uniform shorts are typical European sports shorts, much shorter than boxer-type shorts or the ones the US wear. Apparently the French Adj-Chef directed him to write to the French MoD to demand a change in uniform standards.
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