Jack Coughlin | |
---|---|
Nickname(s) | "Gabriel" (Callsign during time in Somalia) |
Born | Waltham, Massachusetts, U.S. | January 12, 1966
Allegiance | United States |
Service/ | United States Marine Corps |
Years of service | 1985–2005 |
Rank | Gunnery sergeant |
Unit | 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines |
Battles/wars | Task Force Somalia Iraq War |
Awards | Bronze Star (with V) |
Jack Coughlin (born January 12, 1966) is a retired United States Marine Corps Gunnery sergeant and the author of the autobiography Shooter.
Coughlin was born and raised in Waltham, Massachusetts, the youngest of five children. At a young age, Jack was temporarily blinded in his right eye (his shooting eye) when a sharp rock ricocheted from a fight between two older boys. His eye eventually healed and his sight in the eye was 20/10. At age 19, Coughlin decided to enlist in the Marine Corps.[ citation needed ]
Coughlin enlisted in the Marines in 1985 and completed his recruit training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island. His first experiences with operating firearms occurred during Marine Corps recruit training, including shooting a rifle. He attended Scout Sniper school but never graduated. He was also stationed at the Subic Bay naval base in the Philippines with Alpha Company, Marine Barracks Starboard Security Platoon, and later the Jungle Operations Branch. Eventually, he was assigned to the 3rd Battalion 4th Marines, part of the 7th Marine Regiment of the 1st Marine Division.
Coughlin was deployed with Weapons Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines as a "Professionally Instructed Gunman" (P.I.G.) during Operation Restore Hope. He was involved in an attack on an enemy compound north of Mogadishu, Somalia and assigned a hide position to take out targets of opportunity and to report enemy movement. The compound had a ZSU-23-4 Shilka anti-aircraft weapon (also referred to as "Zeus") and tanks. Coughlin operated the manned ZSU-23-4 and successfully dispatched the enemy, permitting the attack to be effective. He was deployed with this unit to Iraq in 2003 during Operation Iraqi Freedom, the 2003 invasion of Iraq with Basra. He spent some time with British Army troops in Basra, then fought with his unit north of Baghdad, and he was present at the destruction of Saddam Hussein's statue. In Iraq, he received his second Bronze Star Medal with valor device. He retired from the USMC when he returned home from Iraq.[ citation needed ]
Coughlin's autobiography Shooter recounts his military experiences in Iraq, written with Captains Casey Kuhlman and Donald A. Davis and published in 2005. [1]
He has written ten Kyle Swanson Sniper Novels with Davis:
He's also written a book with John R. Bruning:
A sniper is a military/paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and, beginning in the Crimean War, were equipped with telescopic sights. Modern snipers use high-precision rifles and high-magnification optics. They often also serve as scouts/observers feeding tactical information back to their units or command headquarters.
Gunnery Sergeant (GySgt) is the seventh enlisted rank in the United States Marine Corps, above staff sergeant and below master sergeant and first sergeant, and is a senior non-commissioned officer (SNCO). It has a pay grade of E-7.
A ghillie suit is a type of camouflage clothing designed to resemble the background environment - such as foliage, snow or sand. Typically, it is a net or cloth garment covered in loose strips of burlap (hessian), cloth, or twine, sometimes made to look like leaves and twigs, and optionally augmented with scraps of foliage from the area.
Carlos Norman Hathcock II was a United States Marine Corps (USMC) sniper with a service record of 93 confirmed kills. Hathcock's record and the extraordinary details of the missions he undertook made him a legend in the U.S. Marine Corps. He was honored by having a rifle named after him: a variant of the M21 dubbed the Springfield Armory M25 White Feather, for the nickname "White Feather" given to Hathcock by the North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN).
The Home Army Silent Unseen Paratroopers GROM Military Unit, simply known as the GROM Military Unit, is a Polish special forces unit and forms part of the Special Troops Command of the Polish Armed Forces. It is believed to consist of around 250 operatives plus support personnel. GROM is considered to be the most elite unit in the Polish Armed Forces.
The Second Battle of Fallujah, initially codenamed Operation Phantom Fury, Operation al-Fajr was an American-led offensive of the Iraq War that lasted roughly six weeks, starting 7 November 2004. Marking the highest point of the conflict against the Iraqi insurgency, it was a joint military effort carried out by the United States, the Iraqi Interim Government, and the United Kingdom. Within the city of Fallujah, the coalition was led by the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Army, the battle was later described as "some of the heaviest urban combat Marines have been involved in since Huế City in Vietnam in 1968" and as the toughest battle the U.S. military has been in since the end of the Vietnam War. It was the single bloodiest and fiercest battle of the entire conflict, including for American troops.
Daniel Joseph Daly was a United States Marine and one of nineteen U.S. servicemen to have been awarded the Medal of Honor twice. Daly and Major General Smedley Butler are the only Marines who earned two Medals of Honor for two separate acts of valor.
The Short-Timers is a 1979 semi-autobiographical novel by U.S. Marine Corps veteran Gustav Hasford, about his experience in the Vietnam War. Hasford served as a combat correspondent with the 1st Marine Division during the Tet Offensive of 1968. As a military journalist, he wrote stories for Leatherneck Magazine, Pacific Stars and Stripes, and Sea Tiger. The novel was adapted into the film Full Metal Jacket (1987), co-scripted by Hasford, Michael Herr, and Stanley Kubrick.
The following lists events that happened during 2006 in Iraq.
Bob Lee "the Nailer" Swagger is a fictional character created by Stephen Hunter. He is the protagonist of a series of 12 novels that relate his life during and after the Vietnam War, starting with Point of Impact (1993) up to the most recent Targeted (2022). Swagger is the protagonist of the 2007 film and the 2016 TV series Shooter, each based on Point of Impact. Hunter has said that Swagger is loosely based on Carlos Hathcock, a U.S. Marine Corps Scout Sniper.
The Battle of Al Faw was one of the first battles of the Iraq War; it took place March 20-24, 2003.
Nicholas Allen Popaditch is a medically retired United States Marine Corps gunnery sergeant who gained fame as the "Cigar Marine", recipient of the Silver Star and Purple Heart. He ran unsuccessfully as the 2010 Republican candidate for California's 51st congressional district, losing to incumbent Democrat Bob Filner. He ran again in 2012 in the 53rd congressional district, losing to incumbent Democrat Susan Davis.
The Marine Raider Regiment (MRR), formerly known as the Marine Special Operations Regiment (MSOR), is a special operations force of the United States Marine Corps, which is a part of Marine Corps Special Operations Command (MARSOC). Renamed for its predecessor, the World War II Marine Raiders, this unit is the principal combat component of MARSOC, which is the Marine Corps' contribution to the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM).
On April 9, 2003, during the US invasion of Iraq, a large statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad's Firdos Square was destroyed by Iraqi civilians and United States Marines. The event received global media coverage, wherein it came to symbolize the end of Saddam's rule in Iraq.
Reports regarding the longest recorded sniper kills that contain information regarding the shooting distance and the identity of the sniper have been presented to the general public since 1967. Snipers have had a substantial history following the development of long distance weaponry. As weapons, ammunition, and aids to determine ballistic solutions improved, so too did the distance from which a kill could be targeted. In mid-2017 it was reported that an unnamed Canadian special forces operator, based in Iraq, had set a new record of 3,540 m (3,871 yd), beating the record previously held by an Australian sniper at 2,815 m (3,079 yd). In November 2023, the record was once again broken by 58-year old Ukrainian sniper, Vyacheslav Kovalsky from the Security Service of Ukraine, who shot a Russian soldier from a distance of 3,800 m (4,156 yd) during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Christopher Scott Kyle was a United States Navy SEAL sniper. He served four tours in the Iraq War and was awarded several commendations for acts of heroism and meritorious service in combat. He had 160 confirmed kills and was awarded a Silver Star, three Bronze Star Medals with "V" devices for valor, 2x Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal with "V" device, as well as numerous other unit and personal awards.
Unertl Optical Company, Inc. was a manufacturer of telescopic sights in the United States from 1928 until 2008. They are known for their 10× fixed-power scopes that were used on the Marine Corps' M40 rifle and made famous by Marine Corps Scout Sniper Carlos Hathcock during the Vietnam War.
Donald Alan Davis is an American writer, novelist and former war correspondent. He was a writer of military histories, military thrillers, and, along with Jack Coughlin, was co-author of the New York Times bestselling book, Shooter.
Ace, when used in the context of military propaganda, denotes a successful military professional who has accumulated a meaningfully measurable statistic such as aircraft shot down, tanks destroyed, tonnage sunk, or a number of successful sniper shots. In a manner analogous to sport statistics, some military roles can be measured in terms of a quantifiable metric. Once said metric is established, military personnel may be quantified versus the designated metric and compared in a tabular fashion. Such metrics may be used as a basis for military merit awards, such as Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross by setting an arbitrary threshold. Likewise, a designation of "ace" may be applied, such as 5 aircraft shot down.