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| Afghanistan |
| Field-stripping a Mk19 . . . while under hostile fire |
| 2008-03-05 |
| A Bad Time for Murphy’s Law Story by Sgt. Jim Wilt During a fire fight Sept. 9, 2007, near the village of Qaleh Saleh, Tag Ab District, Kapisa province, Afghanistan, Army Sgt. Jonas Jerome Allen and Spc. Charles Villasenor had a little run in with Murphy’s Law. Fortunately for the two Paratroopers and their fellow Soldiers, a second law came into effect after the first. This time the law wasn’t named after Murphy; it was named after Sir Isaac Newton. “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction,” is Newton’s third law of motion. Paratroopers from the LRSD, along with a Marine Corps Embedded Training Team and soldiers with the Afghan National Army’s 3rd Kandak, 3rd Brigade, 201st Corps, were on a mission to assess damage from an earlier engagement when the unit began taking enemy fire. . . . Soon after the fighting began, Murphy’s Law came into effect. “I fired four to five bursts and I had to reload due to a break in the link; when I charged the weapon I noticed that the right side charging handle was still towards the back of the weapon,” Villasenor said. “During his reloading there was a malfunction with the MK-19,” said Spc. Christopher L. Baker, who was driving the truck Villasenor was manning the gun on at the time. “When he couldn’t fix the malfunction I called ‘gun down’ over the radio.” “When I heard over the radio that [Villasenor’s] gun was down, I was still shooting my weapon and we were taking contact from a house and the rooftop,” Allen, then a specialist, said. “I glanced at [Villasenor’s truck] and saw that the gunner was having trouble and I knew we need the MK-19 rocking.” “I could not fix the gun at that time because what I had was a major malfunction and it requires the weapon to be almost completely disassembled in order to fix,” Villasenor said. . . . Enter Newton’s Law. “I jumped out and told the gunner (Villasenor) to get out and get into my turret,” Allen, who is Ranger-qualified, said. “At that time, we were still taking sporadic small-arms and RPG fire when we jumped out and switched trucks,” Villasenor said. Allen had more experience operating the MK-19 than Villasenor. He also had additional training from his team leader on major malfunctions, Allen said. Once the two gunners swapped trucks, Villasenor began to fire the .50 cal., while Allen began to work on the malfunctioning weapon. “I jumped into the turret and saw that the charging handle was stuck behind the bolt and I knew the only way to fix it was to disassemble the weapon system,” Allen said. “I knew I had to hurry because we were taking RPG’s and small-arms fire and I’d rather fire at the enemy than to have the enemy fire at me.” Allen said he disassembled and reassembled the weapon as fast as he could. “I just was thinking that if I hurry up and fix the MK-19, I could start engaging the enemy and kill them,” he said. Once he repaired it, he had the driver of the truck move him into a better position then he put it to use. . . . |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #12 The American soldier is often stereotyped by the usual suspects as lazy [re:Bettle Baily] and inattentive. However, they demonstrate remarkable acumen and adaptivity and dexterity when life provides the proper motivation. Focused like a laser beam. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2008-03-05 21:41 |
| #11 “I just was thinking that if I hurry up and fix the MK-19, I could start engaging the enemy and kill them,” There is a man with clarity of purpose. I like that. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2008-03-05 20:18 |
| #10 Don't forget Gunderson's Corollary: "Murphy was an optimist." |
| Posted by: mojo 2008-03-05 16:44 |
| #9 Don't forget Gunderson's Corollary: "Murphy was an optimist." |
| Posted by: mojo 2008-03-05 16:44 |
| #8 woohoo! What a great story |
| Posted by: Jan from work 2008-03-05 14:37 |
| #7 Good NCOs saved those mens lives. I had it hammered home to me, and hammered it home to my guys: You Fight Like You Train. Train To Fight To Win. And remember Murphy is always lurking. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2008-03-05 13:41 |
| #6 "A Bad Time for MurphyÂ’s Law" I have never heard of a good time for Patron Saint Murphy to make an appearance...... |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2008-03-05 13:31 |
| #5 darth that has to suck! |
| Posted by: legolas 2008-03-05 12:47 |
| #4 Nothing like field stripping a M-249 in pitch black darkness 3 minutes before the live fire because you fell in some muddy Georgia clay either. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2008-03-05 12:36 |
| #3 I once stripped a coed while... oh, never mind. |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2008-03-05 12:14 |
| #2 Sounds like someone deserves a Distinguished Service Medal. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2008-03-05 11:40 |
| #1 well d-mn impressive! |
| Posted by: legolas 2008-03-05 11:21 |