A question for combat veterans.

[Rooskibar03]

It someone wants to embed the video from the article for feel free (it's the PITA to do from iPad )

Ok so video shows helmet cam from a solider in Afghanistan on a hillside and as the story shares he was trying to draw fire from the rest of his team.

The closest I've come to combat is a game of Call of Duty but my common sense says if you have cover, stay there. He seems to run out onto a steep hillside and then has to double time his ass back to some piss poor cover and then lays there yelling I'm hit, which means his team has to now come get him.

Again I respect his service and putting his ass on the line but can someone shed light on the mindset here?

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/wild-helmet-cam-vid-shows-heroic-u-s-soldier-drawing-taliban-gunfire-away-from-pinned-down-squad/

[Rust_shackleford]

Shoot move and communicate

[Mick-Boy]

Sometimes the best choice tactically isn't the one with the highest degree of survivability. Combat in real life isn't like movies or video games. It's fast, busy and very, very confused. You can only operate off of the information you have.

I thought the article made it very clear why the troop felt the need to scoot around on that hillside.

[275RLTW]

If he is a team leader then he is doing his job. His priorities are 1) the mission, 2) his men, and 3) himself. It is simply doing what is necessary to get his team/friends back home to their families. Moving to a position with poor cover was just a bad decision made on the fly and under fire and should not be armchair quarterbacked by anyone who hasn't experienced the same. Good initiative, bad judgement (use of cover). He is a young NCO and this experience will help him become a better leader. You can always teach someone to use cover more effectively, you can't teach someone the concept of self sacrafice. He did the right thing.

[TheBelly]

When was that video taken? Does it say?

I can't access any videos on my current network.

[HoneyBadger]

rLHU-_OhT8g#!

[Rooskibar03]

I got the feeling he made the right move however some of the comments othe story were leaning towards a bad move, likely by people who have no experience either.

Just so it's clear I have no desire to questions his actions. Simply looking for an understanding of the combat mindset that those of us who haven't served simply don't have.


If he is a team leader then he is doing his job. His priorities are 1) the mission, 2) his men, and 3) himself. It is simply doing what is necessary to get his team/friends back home to their families. Moving to a position with poor cover was just a bad decision made on the fly and under fire and should not be armchair quarterbacked by anyone who hasn't experienced the same. Good initiative, bad judgement (use of cover). He is a young NCO and this experience will help him become a better leader. You can always teach someone to use cover more effectively, you can't teach someone the concept of self sacrafice. He did the right thing.

[SuperiorDG]

I can't imagine what this guy is going through, but I wonder how he runs so well with balls that big.

[zteknik]

Like coloccw said,good move bad judjment.
I say constant training and drills will help with judjment calls.
Although in combat that does not necessarly hold true.Thats where experience comes to play.
He did his job and got his team back home.

[275RLTW]

I got the feeling he made the right move however some of the comments othe story were leaning towards a bad move, likely by people who have no experience either.

Just so it's clear I have no desire to questions his actions. Simply looking for an understanding of the combat mindset that those of us who haven't served simply don't have.


No sweat, I didn't interpret your post as a question of his actions. He was simply doing what he swore he would do and doing it under the most intense and chaotic of conditions. Understanding that mindset completely is difficult to do without 1st hand experience however I can almost guarantee this: he did not have to think about whether or not it was the right decision....there was no decision about it. He just did it because he knew it had to be done. That's not a mindset developed by any classes; it's a result of his character.

[DangerLee_Industries]

He has my respect either way... He's the man on the ground...

[asmo]

I have absolutely no room to judge here..

However I just pulled this up in front of a group of 18E and Fs and there was MUCH hoopla and yelling at the screen.. Common decency prevents me from sharing some of the comments. ;)

[Teufelhund]

Cool that he posted up video. I've never been shot at, so I don't know how I'd react, but that looks pretty intense. Glad our boys are wearing armor over there; it definitely saved his life. I can't imagine getting cracked in the chest with a 7.62, even wearing plates.

The armchair quarterbacking that is still being posted under that video on youtube by a bunch of damn kids is just sickening. One actually called him a pussy for hiding behind a rock and yelling that he's been hit. Had to stop reading it before my blood pressure got too high.

[Scanker19]

I seen some Combat on TV.

[Ronin13]

I will say that the sound of rounds impacting near your pos is about the scariest sound on earth. Like DG said it's hard to imagine living a normal life with massive testicles like his. If you read some of the story on the video, he was hit 4 times and a round impacted his 203... pucker factor of about 12 right there! Glad he survived, Kunar is no freaking joke, that place sucks! [AR15]

[TheBelly]

Lots of armchair quarterbacking sometimes....