*promote

Self promoting this video and sending it back into the queue for one more try; last queued Wednesday, September 26th, 2012 1:55pm PDT - promote requested by original submitter Hybrid.

Scary... seems like a tactically dubious situation to be running down a hill open to known aggressors don't they usually throw smoke or something to create some cover when there isn't any?

The fisheye affect of the camera makes it hard to see if there was any cover to be had from the terrain, the rock he ducks down behind looks pretty small.

Since he was able to post the video I guess his buddies were able to locate the bad guys firing positions, or maybe they just called in an airstrike on the whole village to clear the area.

that was some intense stuff... but he definitely shouldn't have gone down... he was basically the only one there, no cover and no vision of the attackers.

More footage like this needs to make it into the public eye so that we all know what we are committing to when we decide to go to war.

Where did this guy train? Ft. Thisishowtogetyourselfshot?

I mean, he doesn't spend much time prone, charges from a bad position to a worse one, in spite of the fact that the enemy fire is obviously so far away it's not going to make any difference to his aim, misses some cover options, and appears to be shooting randomly in the enemy's general direction. Did I miss anything? I mean, he broke just about every Infantry 101 rule there. No wonder he was getting hit so much. He's damn lucky the Taliban barely knows one end of the rifle from the other and have extremely inaccurate rifles to begin with.

This is the kind of training they send soldiers out with?

Note, I'm not blaming him, he's putting his ass on the line for little pay. Too bad for him the Pentagon and US government would rather spend the money on defense contractors (who coincidentally contribute vast sums to political campaigns) than on training the troops and paying to hire and retain top-quality soldiers.

>> ^visionep:

Scary... seems like a tactically dubious situation to be running down a hill open to known aggressors don't they usually throw smoke or something to create some cover when there isn't any?
The fisheye affect of the camera makes it hard to see if there was any cover to be had from the terrain, the rock he ducks down behind looks pretty small.
Since he was able to post the video I guess his buddies were able to locate the bad guys firing positions, or maybe they just called in an airstrike on the whole village to clear the area.


Smoke isn't as effective as it seems in the movies or in video games. I've never heard of it actually being used in this sort of situation as concealment (note, cover is hard, stops bullets, concealment hides you, but won't stop a bullet).

Judging from what I saw, the most likely scenario was that the Taliban just retreated. They know they can't keep up a full-on engagement for long before the cavalry arrives in one form or another.

I agree with @Drachen_Jager, that looks like about the most stupid thing you could possibly do in that situation. He's up high, out of range, but on a really open slope. They're hidden (at least in the video) and obviously have a clear view of the hillside.

What do you do then? Walk down the side of the hill in the open.

I just don't get what possible aim he had in mind. He's very lucky to not be dead.

I was wondering why he was out in the open too. Then I read the video description... did you guys?

He was running point, drawing fire (successfully)away from his squad with his LT. I'm surprised he doesn't have a wheelbarrow to carry those huge balls. His squad was pinned by machine gun fire. You can hear it, he's not getting shot at by the machine gun, from the sound of it he's taking fire from small arms most likely AK-47's and what not. As for poor training? I think he showed some pretty damn good discipline for staying calm as he draws fire upon himself, with rounds landing inches from him pretty regularly.

>> ^nach0s:

I was wondering why he was out in the open too. Then I read the video description... did you guys?


Reading FTW. I didn't read the description at first either and was like, "Did he just Leroy Jenkins down the hill?!?"

I'm a bit amazed at the accuracy of the Taliban shots. They seemed to be at a fairly far range (I can't make them out at all in the vid) and yet a lot of the shots are hitting him or just inches away from him.

I love how FPS's make us all experts. Seriously though...he was drawing fire 1:30 into it and keeps getting further from his squad as time goes by.

>> ^nach0s:

I was wondering why he was out in the open too. Then I read the video description... did you guys?

I did. What kind of horrendous position where they in that he needed to put himself in a worse one though. Its easy to be the armchair critic...but wow did it look like a dumb move. I gotta think he pulled this stunt at least in part due to the camera on hid head. I wonder how long it took him to regret that move.

Afghanistan = shittiest possible terrain.
You need to be a mountain goat to get around there.

They should make a "Google Glass" android app that will point out where the gunfire is coming from. (there's a humvee mounted version of this tech - uses microphone array and calculates time differences)

I believe you can see one of his wounds on his leg at 1:54. This is even before he drops his weapon and starts yelling. Pretty crazy.

>> ^nach0s:

I was wondering why he was out in the open too. Then I read the video description... did you guys?


Nope I hadn't read it, it's hidden when watching from the front page. And that does explain it... but also doesn't make it any more a ridiculously dangerous and seemingly stupid move. Was there really no other way for them to get out of it than get one guy to run out into the open and take direct fire? Nothing else to do?

Has anyone ever considered the thought that there is no other alternative for him to draw fire? You're on a face of the mountain, middle of nowhere, and you gotta draw fire. You go wherever it is appropriate to go to draw fire. If it means he's gotta go downward and closer to where the shots are coming from, then you gotta do it. After all, what better way to draw fire than to give them a bigger target and something to worry about.

I don't side on the notion that the guy may be dumb. Sure, what he was doing was reckless. But if there is no other way to do it, you gotta man up, suck it up, grab your balls, and run with it.

Yeah that's about what me playing ARMA looks like...

Amazing footage. I kept wanting him to press "s" for scope.

>> ^Fletch:

Amazing footage. I kept wanting him to press "s" for scope.


In the FPSs I play, "s" moves backwards. Which would also be fair enough!

"NSFW for language."

Welcome to modern society. Here's a video of someone actually getting shot but careful, he uses some naughty language.

Brave guy. One question: why is he screaming "I'm hit!" rather than using his comm/radio. No comm?

He should've quicksaved before the firefight.

>> ^nach0s:

I was wondering why he was out in the open too. Then I read the video description... did you guys?


His post-hoc rationalization of what he was doing doesn't help matters. He acted in a really dumb way. If he's so heroic, then why did he get himself shot, then hole up in a position where the cavalry would have to run through the same hail of bullets to rescue him, shouting "Medic! I'm hit!" over and over.

No, what he says after the fact simply ain't true. He panicked, he thought he was superhuman, he just wasn't thinking straight, he suffered from a lack of training.

And no, I'm not getting this from my FPS experience, but from my Army experience and Veteran status. What he did was wrong, it endangered his life and the lives of his squad-mates. First off, they weren't pinned down by machine-gun fire, I only heard single shots and short bursts incoming. Secondly, fighting a hit-and-fade enemy like the Taliban, being "pinned down" is not a bad place to be. If you wait them out they'll take to the hills. They don't want to wait for the airstrike they know is coming. Third, by running down the hill and getting shot he forced some of his guys to come get him, endangering their lives. Lastly, he said in his blurb he was under the command of an Lt. yet he didn't wait for an order, nor did he appear to be acting on an order, he just ran off with his cock in his hand and a big "shoot me" sign on his chest and left it to his allies to come clean up the mess.

>> ^rex84:

Brave guy. One question: why is he screaming "I'm hit!" rather than using his comm/radio. No comm?


Not too many units where every member carries a radio. Mostly just special forces, and even then only some of the time. Small units like this are supposed to work as a unit, that means they stick together most of the time. And it's pretty obvious that this guy is not trained to a level where he's competent to be off on his own.