As someone who’s never been in a combat zone, it’s absolutely unfathomable what it must be like to be in such a dangerous scenario, where the stakes can be as simple as kill or be killed. A British veteran has shared an incredible story that puts it all into perspective.
Snipers are cool, right?
Anyone who’s played the CoD or Battlefield video game series knows just how satisfying it is to take down some noob from a million billion feet away. But it’s important to remember that video games are video games, and real life is real life.
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This is Andy McNab.
The 59-year-old is a Special Air Service (SAS) legend, one who’s won numerous combat awards for his service in the U.K. He’s written books and shared his accounts of military missions during the Persian Gulf War.
McNab shared an incredible story.
Although his exploits can fill a few books (in fact, they have!), McNab’s story was about someone else: an unassuming soldier, about 19 years old, who he observed during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
The soldier was apparently a great shot.
McNab’s role was an advisory one, and he had a great view of this young sniper at work. According to McNab, the sniper landed a seriously impressive shot on a Taliban target.
It was a mile-long shot.
“He was an infantry soldier and he took a shot with a 0.50 sniper rifle, which is quite a heavy calibre sniper rifle, and he dropped a walking target at 1,600 metres (one mile) which is amazing, absolutely amazing,” McNab told the Daily Star .
This happened in Afghanistan back in 2010.
To put the feat into context, consider this: the sniper had to adjust for gravity and wind direction to hit a human-sized target who stood over 17 football fields away.
McNab said it was “incredible”.
I mean, a guy died. But we’re assuming he was a bad guy, so there’s that. Also, on a purely technical level, those kinds of skills are pretty impressive for any soldier, let alone a 19-year-old.
No word on where this super sniper is these days.
McNab shared the story as an aside during a larger conversation about Armed Forces Week in the United Kingdom. No word on the sniper’s current status, but I’m guessing he’s basically James Bond at this point.
It’s a fascinating glimpse into combat zones.
While drones have made it easy for combatants to strike their enemies at a distance, it’s pretty incredible that someone can accurately fire a bullet and hit a target standing a mile away.
What do you think?
More importantly, could you hit a target a mile away? I mean, no shame if not. Let us know what you think of this story in the comments section!
