Navy SEALs' Simultaneous Headshots
on Somali Pirates Were Procedure
Expert: Without Headshots, Captain Phillips 'Definitely Would Have Been Killed'
By LEE FERRAN
April 13, 2009 —
At least one former SEAL was not surprised that each of the three Somali pirates was killed with just one shot, despite the fact that they were on a rolling sea and the Navy snipers had to make a successful "headshot," something he said is "extremely difficult."
Their job was made easier by the pirates' willingness to allow their boat to be towed, smoothing out the sea and settling them into an even keel.
SEAL sharpshooters are trained to hit targets "under a minute," meaning able to hit within an inch of a target from 100 yards, former Navy SEAL Harry Humphries told ABCNews.com.
For the snipers who killed the three Somali pirates, it had to be a "head shot," Humphries said, because one of the pirates was holding an AK-47 pointed at the back of American freighter captain Richard Phllips.
For the snipers who killed the three Somali pirates, it had to be a "head shot," Humphries said, because one of the pirates was holding an AK-47 pointed at the back of American freighter captain Richard Phllips.
"There's only one way to be assured no involuntary trigger squeeze, and that is a head shot," Humphries said. "If you hit the central nervous system, the probability [of an involuntary trigger squeeze] is greatly reduced."
"The shot's extremely difficult to make depending on equipment that shooters have," he said. "If the sea was flat, the shot would be relatively simple."
During the five day standoff, the Navy worked to get close to the pirates, but as their patience wore thin, the seas became rougher. The waves turned the lifeboat into a moving target, and the rear of the U.S.S. Bainbridge where the snipers were deployed was also heaving with the waves....
4 comments:
Almost as impressive as Ethan Edwards and Rev. Capt. Clayton taking out Chief Cicatrice.
Hodie up with a Searchers reference. Nice.
I would just like to note for the record that the operation was authorized by President Barrack H. Obama.
Rush Limbaugh just said that the pirates were merely community organizers that chose to organize at sea and President Obama ordered their killings.
Read this morning that the SEAL team parachuted in at night near the USS Bainbridge. I figured that's how they got there. Presumably, a P-3 Orion brought them in.
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