By I just have to wonder why the techniques the SEAL team used to kill the three pirates earlier this week is being leaked to the media?:
We also have some information — unconfirmed, though we’re working on it — about how the shots were taken and what was used. Our firearms expert Eric Poole who writes for Tactical-Life posits that the snipers were using the MK-11 .308 sniper system manufactured by Knights Armament Co. This weapon is awesome, by the way (I’ve shot it a few times myself) and, if this is indeed what the shooters used, would mark a major, high-profile departure from legacy thinking about sniping which holds bolt-action rifles as the Gold Standard or marksmanship.
Poole figures the DevGru frogmen removed the “overpowered” standard-issue Leupold scopes and opted for the Aimpoint CCO augmented by the PVS-14 night vision monocular. Though the SEAL version of the MK-11 Mod 0 is issued with suppressors, it’s unclear whether the operators used them, but I’d bet a million bucks they did.
One other question (among many) remains open…were there three shots or four? Poole reasons, and Allen and I agree, that someone had to shoot through the lifeboat window first, then fire the kill shots. My limited knowledge of ballistics leads me to believe the snipers could not rely on the effectiveness of the one window shot to actually strike the target where it was aimed based in the potential deflection of hitting that probably plastic (glass) window. [DOD Buzz]
For anyone still drinking the Kool-Aid that President Obama doesn’t deserve any credit for this successful operation then read this:
Poole, Allen and Buff agree that this operation was meticulously planned and flawlessly executed. The DevGru SEALs developed the situation (with their interagency partners in the FBI and other OGAs), planned an attack and executed when the opportunity presented itself (and I don’t buy this “the captain was in danger” line the Pentagon and White House is trying to sell here…you mean to tell me Phillips hadn’t had a gun pointed at his back anytime before this?)…It was a kick butt operation carried out by one of the best counterterrorist units in the world and they deserve a huge HooYah from all of us…
I think as well that this was an operation the special ops guys planned, Defense Secretary Robert Gates presented to the White House, President Obama approved of, and the SEAL’s executed. Great job around by everyone, now lets hope this gets followed up with some kind of policy to effectively do away with these pirates.
1:46 am on April 17th, 2009 1
And I'll pass you a slice of pie at a DFAC in Somalia by 2015.
12:59 pm on April 17th, 2009 2
Am I just being obtuse in not understanding why they're having so much problems with these pirates? Are these big cargo ships really not carrying any guns with them? If you see a little rubber dinghy with 4 starvin' marvins coming at you can't you just open up on those fools?
2:38 pm on April 17th, 2009 3
I'm with you Big B.
If Captain ChickenHead was in charge, somebody would be on constant duty in the crow's nest with binoculars and a radio. The moment some boat-full-of-skinny looked like it was coming our way, the water cannons would be manned, the cinder blocks would be readied and the bucket-o'-gas would be filled.
This post answers the question, though. Delete the leading and trailing zzz.
zz zhttp://randompokes.org/pokes/2009/04/why-dont-merchant-ships-carry-weapons.htmlzzz
9:32 pm on April 17th, 2009 4
If taking down three pirates required Secretary of Defense involvement and a briefing and approval by the President as GI suggests,then we are back in the Jimmy Carter-Desert One era and I hope that is not true. Although the one question I have yet to see asked and answered is why didn't the Navy take out the lifeboat when the Captain jumped in the water? My former Navy ship driver friends suggest that the lifeboat was in range, should have been under constant observation and the ship should have been prepared to lay down some fire. Also, you have to be concerned that a ship's crew doesn't have the ability to deal with pirates at sea unless their crew is supplemented by Navy Seals.
There is something troubling about this story. The Seals did a great job and all is well that ends well but this should have been over when the captain dove overboard and I have to assume that when he did so, he too assumed the Navy would be there to help. Were there restrictive rules of engagement in place? Was the Navy truly not prepared to respond? And did they need to wait, as GI suggests for Gates to brief the President and get approval? I hope not or we are back in the Carter era whee the president needed to sign off on every detail of an operation and that is a scary proposition
11:50 pm on April 17th, 2009 5
I think when the hostage jumped over board the first time the Navy probably had orders that were ambiguous enough to cause the Navy captain to think he could not kill the pirates? Maybe he didn't even have the capability to even kill the pirates without also harming the hostage. That may be why the Navy captain requested a SEAL team.
It is clear I think that the order was given to take these guys out after Gates got approval from the White House to use the SEAL team against the pirates. A high profile case like this you would think the President would want his SECDEF to brief him on a Navy SEAL operation they have planned.
If people want to criticize then maybe they should criticize Gates for not getting the SEALs out on the boat sooner?
11:53 pm on April 17th, 2009 6
I was watching 20/20 last night and on there many of the crew members didn't want weapons because then the pirates could escalate with bigger weapons then they have now. Other crew felt that hired security guards were the way to go. I tend to agree with hired security guards. If that ship had five highly trained security personnel those pirates in the dinghies would be sitting ducks.
The military needs to also look at going after the mother ships that these dinghies are dispatched from to hijack ships 400 miles out to sea.