On behalf of all the soldiers and snipers currently deployed I thank you for your support and God Bless this great Nation of ours.

One Shot, One Kill.

Sincerely,
Sgt. xxxx
Army

My name is SGT xxxx currently deployed to xxxx Iraq with the xxxx as a company level Sniper. I have a three-man team. For some reason the Stryker brigade figured a three man team would be better than the traditional two-man team. It has been working well for us. We are able to maintain a better degree of security as well as sustain ourselves on longer missions. To tell you a little about myself i have been in the army for approximately xxxx years. I have completed army sniper school and graduated honor grad. I have attended the Marine sniper school at xxxx and have done sniper training with the xxxx SWAT team. I am always trying to improve my knowledge as a sniper to improve my lethality and survivability. I have been here in Iraq for xxxx now. When I return to the states I have a SOTIC date slotted so I will attend that as well when I return. I have been in the Sniper community for about three years. I have found that there is no better job in the military. When I get out, I am planning to continue my work as a sniper hopefully in a SWAT team or as a private security.

Like I said, I’ve been in country for about 6 months and we have faced allot of problems over here with employment that the schools do not teach so it’s made my job pretty difficult. We have been able to adapt and overcome our challenges but unfortunately, it has been at our own cost because the unit does not see the reason we need different gear than the line platoons. We have had to purchase rappelling harnesses, rope, carabineers, and flack vest's that allow us to seat the rifles in our shoulders better, along with other comfort items. On xxxx all hell broke loose here in Mosul and we were up on an OP. My shooter spotted approximately 150 personnel with RPG's and AK's inter mixed with civilian personnel. He was able to fire three shots before the crowd dispersed. He killed two and wounded one at a 430 meters while under indirect fire. Now the shot does not seem that difficult but if you add the fact that he was firing from the 5th story out of a 12 degree loophole and the persons were running. I am proud of my shooter for making those shots. We were in heavy fire for about 5 hours that day and in all my company killed about 30 NCF and sustained no friendly injuries. I just thought I would tell you a little bit about us.

SO anyways I heard about this program through Strykernews.com. They had an article and I was curious about this program, for we are always looking for newer equipment and better tactics. I have no idea how this program works but I am proud to be a sniper when I see fellow snipers in the community are back home looking out for us snipers over seas fighting this horrible war on terrorism. Myself and my team wanted to relay our thanks to those snipers back home for all the support. I am curious to hear more about this program and how we can get a "Sniper Care Package." Thank you very much for all your support, and in the words of the greatest man that ever shot "Keep your head down, and your powder dry," Carlos Hathcock. I’ve also attached a pic of myself and my team. I am in the middle. My shooter SPC Furman on the right and my RTO xxxxx ako "xxxxx"

Sincerely,

SGT xxxx
Army
xxxx Iraq

Awesome. I have a ton of respect for what you guys are doing. This is my third deployment and with each deployment it seems that the support from folks back home has grown. It means a ton to everyone deployed.

Thank you.

A lot of out of pocket expense, but well worth it. The only thing I foresee us needing would be good cleaning/lubricating stuff. I put my hands on as much as I could before we came out, but it goes fast. For cleaning, we use xxxx mainly. If you all have some favorite products, please send them out and let us give them a try. I tried to get my hands on some "Spooge" before we left, but no joy. Everyone has there own little concoction for lube. We are mainly using our xxxx's, so they can be finicky. Again, if you guys have experience with something that works well, please send it out. My particular xxxx is not picky, I could probably lube it with some dip spit and it would still shoot well. Some guys are switching over to the xxxx but we can't get our hands on the good ammo, I have some squirreled away for special occasions, but if you guys have some hot xxxx to spare... The only other things I can think of off hand are:

• xxxx
• xxxx
• xxxx
• xxxx
• xxxx
• xxxx

Again, if you guys have any other recommendations, please send them.

Miscellaneous gear and moral type stuff is of course always welcome. My platoon has xxxx guys from all over. Some eat Kimchee, some chew Redman. Any thing you send out will be well received and greatly appreciated.

I can't tell you enough how much this means to all of us. My guys are in disbelief that people back home who understand our needs are trying to help us. Yesterday was my 28th birthday, so this news comes at a great time. I hope to have the chance to meet you and thank you in person; I'd love to do some cross training with police units as well. Again, thank you for the support, it's unbelievable.

All the best,

Hey John, great to hear from you. Sorry it took so long to reply. We've been busy here. We're not involved in the Fallujah op right now but we've been getting a lot of over watch stuff for the airfield we're at. It’s keeping us busy. We're looking at going out tomorrow for 5 to 7 days. Haven't heard if it’s going to go yet, I'd say it’s a 50/ 50 chance.

You asked if we'd like T-shirts. Yes. The platoon has xxxx operators, a.........In response to your other question, we've got guys who dip Copenhagen, Kodiak, and Skoal in plain and vanilla. They're always trying to get dip. A good address is:

Sgt xxxx, SM

(Sniper Platoon)

Again, thanks for the support. Its making a difference. Let me know if there's anything we can do for you. Stay safe.

xxxx