In our gun trucks(with competent crews) PID was a muzzle flash. If friendlies were operating in the area you would have had that info in your convoy brief from the MCTs or it would come across the net from either Sherriff or Handcuff. Our crews backed eachother up. If the gunner saw that we were taking fire and could see the muzzle flash(and hopefully tracers), and that it is obviously somebody shooing AT US, then they would engage, and the TC would back that decision. We did have incidents where incompetent crews didn't engage even though they were taking all kinds of fire along with one or two IED detonations for fear of having to do a bunch of paperwork and having to explain to the chain of command why the hell they fired their weapon, along with times where the gunner got scared, and the TC playing psycologist in the damn truck telling them that it's okay. Shit it's not okay to me when lead is flying in my direction. You can be scared later when the adrenaline is dumping from your system. That type of shit gets you punched or elbowed in the shins or the balls. Those crews got a lot of shit from their peers throughout our tour.

The .50 is supposed to be only used for equipment. The AK or RPG that the asshole is trying to kill us with is equipment. That's how our guys got around that technicality. Of course I wouldn't condone dumping a hundred rounds downtown to wax a single guy with an AK taking potshots at us, for I certainly wouldn't want one of those rounds ripping some innocent kid in half or something. The whole damn chain of command would get deep fried for that type of shit. It's fucked up when the locals are more afraid of a M9 which probably wouldn't even hit them when being fired from a moving vehicle, as opposed to the Ma Deuce which can sever limbs by having a round come within a foot of hitting you. They know what our ROE are, and they use the shit to their every advantage. I think that we needed to be a little bit more agressive and a little more proactive in how we handle business, and if we did I feel that things would have been in their current state a lot sooner. To me it's like our hands are tied, and we have all of this fantastic equipment in front of us. Iraq has calmed down a lot. The funny thing is, though, that OIF 1 was the time there that I saw the least amount of shit. Of course though I was in a support unit and was not directly engaging the enemy, and the whole insurgent thing hadn't become the thing to do yet. The second time('04-'05) was when I personally experienced the most combat, Including having a mortar land damn near on top of me over by the theater on "the big snake" FOB.The third time there('06-'07) I only saw shit happen out on the road three or four times during my whole tour. From friends that are currently deployed mortars are the main attack going on these days, and they are happening at random. The roads have been quiet as hell.

Afghanistan is it's own mess. In my opinion we need to overrun that place with overwhelming force, which is much easier said than done due to the terrain. If the goddamn Soviet Union couldn't beat these guys in the '80s(although the Mujahideen DID have some help from us), then we surely have a challenge ahead. Personally I'd go there just for the change in scenery. I've seen enough of Iraq to claim citizenship there. It's pretty bad when I can still remember how to get just about anywhere in country off the top of my head, and can tell you what shit has changed out on the roads. At least Afghanistan has some fucking mountains to look at.