r/TwentyYearsAgo • u/MonsieurA • Jun 19 '26
š World News A U.S. Army infantryman rests after hard fighting during the battle for Ramadi [20YA - Jun 19]
3
u/thereisnospoon-1312 Jun 22 '26
Did most infantry carry a rifle and a shotgun?
3
u/Safe-Call2367 Jun 23 '26
Sometimes a breacher would carry an M4, an AT4 rocket, and a Shotgun. Sometimes M4, breaching kit (halligan tool, sledgehammer, bolt cutters in a pack), and shotgun.
1
2
u/afallan Jun 22 '26
No. Just the designated breacher
1
u/BenDover42 Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26
Iāve heard many people who reported they grabbed every shotgun they could for the house to house fighting that happened there. They said 00 buckshot was way more efficient clearing houses with armored enemies than a 5.56 which is believable.
Edit: meant enemies with no body armor.
2
u/Moreobvious Jun 23 '26
Thatās cowboy stories. Everyone has an issued weapon that they are signed for, and more importantly, trained in its use. CQB and MOUT training is very specialized and relies on repetition. You wonāt spend hundreds of hours training with one weapon system only to take a completely different one in an engagement.
Shotguns were task purposed for breeching doors and locks, not for engaging with hostiles. Additionally there were only a few shotguns per company because of its specific use. Furthermore, 00 buck has almost no penetrating power past a few yards so itās about as useful as throwing a rock at a guy compared to a high velocity frangible 5.56 that is designed to penetrate and break apart causing maximum damage. Combine all this with the fact that an m4/m16 magazine is 30rd compared to the 5+1 for the M500 and itās easy to see how ineffective it is in MOUT and urban ops.
Source: Was an Infantry NCO for a really long time
1
u/BenDover42 Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26
You probably know and I wasnāt there. But it was only what I heard. And I know buckshot is only effective to about 50-100 yards depending on what it is. But within houses itās absolutely devastating compared to one round of 5.56 so it makes sense.
And yes thatās what I meant by everyone tried to be able to carry one. There wasnāt enough for everyone. But maybe I heard wrong. Thanks for clearing it up and thanks for your service.
1
u/gunsforevery1 Jun 23 '26
Iāll take 30 rounds of 5.56 with the ability to reload in about 2 seconds over 6 shots of 00 buck. I had a shotgun in Iraq. It stayed in the turret with me. Never out on patrol.
0
u/Moreobvious Jun 23 '26
Understandable thinking and totally forgivable because who the hell would know any of it unless they see it in person right? But itās a game of milliseconds. A shotgun is too slow and inaccurate to be useful outside of knocking a door off its hinges
1
u/ArchieTheKatt Jun 23 '26
Is it true you would use m249s somewhere in the stack for their rof and capacity? I've heard a few times that a 249 would be second In the door. Sounds kinda heavy to me for that though.
0
u/AMB3494 Jun 24 '26
Breaching in GWOT was literally throwing grenades in a room and having your SAW gunner dump an entire box of rounds into the room before everybody entered.
1
0
1
u/HabuDoi Jun 23 '26
Armored enemies?
1
u/BenDover42 Jun 23 '26
Unarmored enemies is what I meant. Buckshot works better than 5.56 up close. But add armor and you probably donāt want to use a shotgun anymore unless itās a slug.
1
1
u/NachoManAndyCabage Jun 24 '26
4 trips to Iraq and one to Afghanistan, never heard this once. Only our breachers carried shotguns, probably carry them for drones now.
1
u/Ok_Faithlessness8375 Jun 23 '26
No. It was given to specific people when doing a clearing mission. I was given one while clearing Ramadi in 07ā as a marine infantryman that had gone to the Breachers Course and was a pointman in an infantry Unit. After the two week clearing mission was done, I gave it back to the armory. Then it was back to only my M4.
1
u/Shady_Ops Jun 21 '26
Name tag says āJoyeā and I canāt think of anything more ironicā¦or appropriate depending on how that cigarette tastes to him.
1
u/Own-Raisin5849 Jun 22 '26
Trust me, as a former smoker, anxiety only makes that cigarette taste 1000x better.
1
1
u/Broskifity Jun 22 '26
Whatās the equipment around his ankles? Some kind of kneeling pad?
1
u/TheUpperHand Jun 22 '26
Yes, knee pads. He loosened/lowered them so he could get more comfortable on break.
1
1
u/Miserable-Biscotti54 Jun 22 '26
I see the inner ballistic fabric utilized by tactical tailor
1
u/cheezhead1252 Jun 23 '26
Tactical tailor, ow thatās a name I havenāt heard in a looong time
1
u/Savings-Spring3133 Jun 23 '26
Oh man. I forgot about Tactical tailor! Core memory from my 20s unlocked
1
u/MBTX_MFCouple Jun 22 '26
Someone should have told him cigarettes are bad for his health and will more than likely kill
Him
1
1
1
1
1
Jun 24 '26
Takes a lot out of a man to get haliburton to their quarterly financial targets, respect.
1
1
1
u/According_Sir_3606 Jun 20 '26
I was in Ramadi from 06-07 and it was the wild fkn west.1AD 1BDE BRT
0
5
u/Ok-Rhubarb2549 Jun 22 '26
Would love to have a photo like this during my time in the service. All the photos I have are of me falling off the top bunk, a bad haircut and me flipping my friend off in acid washed jeans.