Helmet cam footage from Irene IV

[Mowgli1647545497]

My cleared-for-release helmet cam footage from Irene 4.

 

About 30 minutes. No music, simple editting. Just combat and sounds.

Video is in chronological order of the weekend though of course with gaps.

Due to rain in the afternoon Saturday I stowed my camera for the later Sat scenarios. And I didn't capture night op footage.

 

It ramps up in action as you watch so shouldn't get boring. Tried to get a decent cross section of activity thru event. The town gets progressively more chaotic as it goes on, and the explosions get impressive (even being inside buildings during them). so put on some good headphones or crank up the speakers - especially around 20minutes in and on. Also, someone might notice I switched from an M249 MkII to an M249 Para halfway thru since I burned my MkII out and had to fall back to the spare.

 

Hopefully I'll get a hosting location for the file for folks to download and not deal with google streaming and compression.

 

Support Gunner Striker Delta footage - Irene 4

 

Comments welcome

[HotCarl]

So what exactly is the policy when you get hit? do you sit out for a certain predetermined time, do you need a medic to bring you back to life? It seemed like most of you guys had no communication, if you spend so much on your gear, why not on radios?

 

and whats the difference between guys in green fatigues and tan fatigues?

[TheHaze]

Good footage. I always wanted to give that a try but didn't think I'd get to go very much. Where is that place located?

[Mowgli1647545497]

Thats Ft Knox. Its a once-per-year event. But other events are happening elsewhere all year round, local and national. That one, Irene, has gotten to the point where its almost invite-only, the slots go so fast. You pretty much have to be on a team thats already gone to get in (I was lucky enough to get invited by a team when their support gunner couldn't attend). But other events are wide open.

 

We were in constant radio communication. Our Squad at least. Can't speak for everyone else. I personally wasn't hitting the radio much since I was the support gunner and so was always in visual or earshot of my fireteam leader: just a grunt, tell me where to go and lay down suppression.

 

The people in green were side Delta, led by MSgt "Mad" Max Mullen (ret) who wrote the hand-to-hand combat handbook for the Rangers, the people in tan were side Charlie led by (ret) Colonel Danny McKnight (yes that McKnight, of the mission the movie Blackhawk Down was based on - he was played by Tom Sizemore in the movie). Both teams had to enter the city and accomplish certain objectives. Day 1 we were opposing each other as well as insurgents and indigenous. Day 2 we were allied.

 

Hit rules vary by event - it depends on the host. For this event: you're hit, you call out, sit down, put on your "death rag" (red rag) and wait 5 minutes. You can call for medic. You can be moved by a teammate to a medic. If a medic gets to you in 5 minutes you can be "healed" by them applying a bandage to your arm - they have a limited supply, 6 I think, when out they're out. If you're hit then again anytime later while wearing the bandage its immediate "kill" - you immediately leave the AO, go to your FOB or CP, drop off your bandage, and "respawn" and are allowed to re-enter the AO. Only medics can bring new bandages into the AO. Other events vary these rules.

 

That was the most fun $175 I've spent ever. It was also very draining. Even hydrating well (I drank almost 4-5 gallons of water that weekend) and eating like a horse I dropped 7lbs. Its was 48 hours of almost constant running with about 65lbs of gear on. ALOT of fun.

[HotCarl]

The people in green were side Delta, led by MSgt "Mad" Max Mullen (ret) who wrote the hand-to-hand combat handbook for the Rangers, the people in tan were side Charlie led by (ret) Colonel Danny McKnight (yes that McKnight, of the mission the movie Blackhawk Down was based on - he was played by Tom Sizemore in the movie). Both teams had to enter the city and accomplish certain objectives. Day 1 we were opposing each other as well as insurgents and indigenous. Day 2 we were allied.

 

That just gave alot more validity to this whole thing.

 

i looked up your gun, did you really pay over 900$ for that thing?!?!?!? none of that stuff seemed cheap but damn thats a chunk of change.

 

oh and, with all that gear on, do you even feel it when you get hit?

[Mowgli1647545497]

Validity: most of the guys who play are ex or current military, police, ems, security, etc. The Army often uses airsoft equipment to train when its MOUT or woods environment where the ranges are shorter anyway, the army just placed another order for 1,000 or more Classic Army M4s to augment their MILES training systems. For me its a hoot because being ex Navy I never really got a chance to roll around in the mud and get dirty.

 

Cost: Yep. Stock. But with the amount of upgrades and accessories such I've probably got close to 2 grand in it. But support guns aren't cheap. $900 isn't even the top end - Inokatsu and VFC M60s cost more. On the other hand, you can get a completely competitive M4 or M16 or AK for ~$300 and never throw another dollar at it. Overall its still cheaper than paintball. But like any hobby you can dump as much money into it as you want. Or you could spend $1,500 on one of those paintball daffy duck monstrosities. Oh and before an Einstein chimes in and repeats the obvious that you could spend $800-$2,500 and pick up a "real steel" AR15 or bushmaster; Thats not the point. Many of us (ex or current military, police, ems, etc) have real steel equivalents, and a good lot of us enjoy milsim airsofting more than shooting our real steel at paper targets at the range. At this event a good quarter of the participants were active military coming out for the weekend. A few even were deploying to Iraq the next week. The gear weighs the same, they look the same, feel the same, and you can *use* them in the manner they're intended.

 

Its always funs having shooting range heros come out and handing their asses to them in the field. "Oh I'm sorry, did you need a shooting station and a couple seconds to line up your shot? Sure I'll wait for ya..." heh. Likewise its fun getting our asses handed to us by the active duty guys.

 

Hits: with your gear on you don't always feel it. It depends on how hot the gun is, but even so you don't always feel it if it hits gear. But you hear it, its a distinctive sound. Usually, unless something loud is happening at the exact moment you're getting lit up. Its a game of the honor system. And while that has some drawbacks, I also tend to think it has a positive affect in terms of the demographic of the type of person that comes and plays this. You don't get the asshats you do in say paintball. Some of the best sportsmanship I've seen in any game, of any kind, football, hockey, rugby, you name it, is at airsoft events.

 

Come out and play sometime at a decent local event (not something done at a rented paintball course). Warning - its addicting. You'll soon find yourself passing on that new CAI for another MP5SD...