By ANTONIO CASTANEDA, Associated Press Writer
Sun Jul 30, 12:57 PM ET

RAMADI, Iraq - He was 5 when he first fired an M-16, his father holding him to brace against the recoil. At 17 he enlisted in the Marine Corps, spurred by the memory of 9/11. Now, 21-year-old Galen Wilson has 20 confirmed kills in four months in Iraq — and another 40 shots that probably killed insurgents. One afternoon the lance corporal downed a man hauling a grenade launcher five-and-a-half football fields away.

Wilson is the designated marksman in a company of Marines based in downtown Ramadi, watching over what Marines call the most dangerous neighborhood in the most dangerous city in the world.

Here, Sunni Arab insurgents are intent on toppling the local government protected by Marines.

Wilson, 5-foot-6 with a soft face, is married and has two children and speaks in a deep, steady monotone.

After two tours in Iraq, his commanders in the 3rd Battalion, 8th Regiment call him a particularly mature Marine, always collected and given to an occasional wry grin.

His composure is regularly tested. Swaths of central and southern Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad, are dominated by insurgents who regularly attack the provincial government headquarters that Marines protect.

During a large-scale attack on Easter Sunday, Wilson says, he spotted six gunmen on a rooftop about 400 yards away. In about 8 seconds he squeezed off five rounds — hitting five gunmen in the head. The sixth man dived off a 3-story building just as Wilson got him in his sights, and counts as a probable death.

"You could tell he didn't know where it was coming from. He just wanted to get away," Wilson said. Later that day, he said, he killed another insurgent.

Wilson says his skill helps save American troops and Iraqi civilians.

"It doesn't bother me. Obviously, me being a devout Catholic, it's a conflict of interest. Then again, God supported David when he killed Goliath," Wilson said. "I believe God supports what we do and I've never killed anyone who wasn't carrying a weapon."

He was raised in a desolate part of the Rocky Mountains outside Colorado Springs, "surrounded by national parks on three sides," he says. He regularly hunted before moving to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., as a teenager. His brother also serves in the military.

Guns have long been part of Wilson's life. His father was a sniper in the Navy SEALS. He remembers first firing a sniper rifle at age 6. By the time he enlisted he had already fired a .50-caliber machine gun.

"My father owned a weapons dealership, so I've been around exotic firearms all my life," said Wilson, who remembers practicing on pine cones and cans. "My dad would help me hold (an M-16), with the butt on his shoulder, and walk me through the steps of shooting."

Technically, Wilson is not a sniper — he's an infantryman who also patrols through the span of destroyed buildings that make up downtown Ramadi. But as his unit's designated marksman, he has a sniper rifle. In the heat of day or after midnight, he spends hours on rooftop posts, peering out onto rows of abandoned houses from behind piles of sandbags and bulletproof glass cracked by gunfire.

Sometimes individual gunmen attack, other times dozens. Once Wilson shot an insurgent who was "turkey peeking" — Marine slang for stealing glances at U.S. positions from behind a corner. Later, the distance was measured at 514 meters — 557 yards.

"I didn't doubt myself, if I was going to hit him. Maybe if I would have I would have missed," Wilson said.

The key to accuracy is composure and experience, Wilson says. "The hardest part is looking, quickly adjusting the distance (on a scope), and then getting a steady position for a shot before he gets a shot off. For me, it's toning everything out in my head. It's like hearing classical music playing in my head."

Though Wilson firmly supports the war, he used to wonder how his actions would be received back home.

"At first you definitely double-guess telling your wife, mom, and your friends that you've killed 20 people," Wilson said. "But over time you realize that if they support you ... maybe it'll make them feel that much safer at home."

He acknowledges that brutal acts of war linger in the mind.

"Some people, before they're about to kill someone, they think that — 'Hey, I'm about to kill someone.' That thought doesn't occur to me. It may sound cold, but they're just a target. Afterward, it's real. You think, 'Hey, I just killed someone,'" says Wilson.

Insurgents "have killed good Marines I've served with. That's how I sleep at night," he says. "Though I've killed over 20 people, how many lives would those 20 people have taken?"

Wilson plans to leave the Marines after his contract expires next year, and is thinking of joining a SWAT Team in Florida — possibly as a sniper.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060730/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_the_marksman

Shooting is just something you're naturally good at. Some people can pick up a gun for the first time and hit bullseyes first go. I can't keep still enough so my shots go everywhere

"Holding still" isn't the hard part - sniper rifles are big, heavy, stable and used with small tripods. The trick is hitting a target 1/4 mile away in the face of wind & elevation changes, and doing it on the first try.

Breathe, and stop that damn heartbeat, cheek down nose up ,squeeze dont pull, keep your eye open.

Bet you all thought this was about how to shoot straight but really it is how Jimmy Powers directs GAG FACTOR!

PHATBOY

Somebody has to do that job and I'm glad we have guys willing, but I bet the dude will have nightmares for the rest of his life.

There's a difference between shooting people who are unarmed and shooting those who are trying to kill you. I shot at people during the Gulf War and probably hit something. I never lost any sleep.

That story about shooting refugees in Seoul just doesn't sound right. South Korea normally treats defectors like kings and publicizes their defection for propoganda purposes. I'm not sure what three NoKo refugees would be doing running around in Seoul without supervision or why they would be scaling the walls of the US Embassy. Besides, the rules of engagement at the embassies normally prohibit firing on intruders unless they are armed or pose a direct threat to embassy personnel.

He sounds like a very fine, valuable soldier to the American military. He also sounds like a very nice young man. I really feel for him though. There's going to come a point when those baive fascile religious analogies and his family's military background will be insufficient to hold at arms length the doubts and regrets and self reflection of an inevitable shift in perspective that experience and maturation bring to nearly all. This young man is only 21, after all. That is war though I hear. I wish him all the best in any case.
But what I really want to ask about is how can a location in Colorado surrounded by National Parks be referred to as "desolate"?

Those fucking Iraqis don't know how lucky they are getting such a swift death, if this is what they do to us.

Warning : For some reason I cant make pics appear in my posts but this pic is quite graphic

I think the hardest part would be the travel to get in position sometimes prone inch by inch and then holding a position with minimal movement for however long it takes to line up the shot.

Excellent delivery of lead filled goodness.