Comments on: A Firsthand Look at Firefights in Marja https://www.isegoria.net/2011/11/a-firsthand-look-at-firefights-in-marja/ From the ancient Greek for equality in freedom of speech; an eclectic mix of thoughts, large and small Tue, 12 May 2026 23:05:31 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.6.1 By: Isegoria https://www.isegoria.net/2011/11/a-firsthand-look-at-firefights-in-marja/comment-page-1/#comment-381399 Isegoria Fri, 18 Nov 2011 20:59:17 +0000 http://www.isegoria.net/?p=27162#comment-381399 While we may both agree that aimed fire is far more effective than unaimed fire, unaimed fire is what we see from almost all “riflemen” in combat — and it often works to drive the enemy off, even if it kills no one.

]]> By: Goober https://www.isegoria.net/2011/11/a-firsthand-look-at-firefights-in-marja/comment-page-1/#comment-380677 Goober Thu, 17 Nov 2011 21:50:27 +0000 http://www.isegoria.net/?p=27162#comment-380677 Of course accurate fire is effective. This can be shown in a million different ways, but the fact is, when you get into a gunfight, making a bunch of noise just isn’t enough. Yeah, the noise can get your enemy’s head down, but he can get back up and keep firing soon after. You have to wound or kill your enemy to effectively neutralize him, and you can’t do that with innaccurate fire, even in great volume.

Two men firing 10 rounds each and killing 15 men is far more effective a battle implement than 50 men firing wildly and hitting nothing. This is the reason that the US marine corps kill ratio has always been so high and remained higher than any other branch of service — their emphasis on accurate firing rather than just volley firing and fire superiority.

I’m not saying that there is no place on the battlefield for “spray ‘n’ pray”, but those times are fewer and much more far between than most people understand.

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