The Sounds of War - Inside MDT

Many of us perceive reality through our experiences with cinema. From that perspective, we might think that when we hear gunfire, and turn our heads in that direction, we will see someone who is holding a weapon and shooting at us. This, however, is contrary to the reality of combat. As a young recruit in Boot Camp, I can remember numerous days on the shooting range being inside the pits. There, a target hangs above you while you are recessed in the Earth. Someone far away will then fire a rifle at the target. Once hit, a carriage system allowed one to pull the target and mark impacts. After marking the impact, the target was run back up for the shooter to see where they were hitting. The shooter would then make the necessary adjustments and confirm their zero in subsequent strings of fire.

While in the pits, you hear a snap above your head, and then you see the round impact of the berm 30 yards in front of you. At first, I assumed the snap was the bullet contacting the paper; however, experienced guys would tell you that that was not true. The snap above your head is the sound of the bullet breaking the sound barrier. At the time, this didn't make sense. Shortly after the snap, you hear a deep thud like thunder in the distance, being the rifle that fired that round.

With my inquisitive nature and hunger for knowledge, I spoke with several people, including an aerospace engineer, about the sound barrier and why the snap was heard over my head, even though it originated at the rifle when the sound barrier was broken. Let's understand a few things about this topic, and then we'll apply it to combat.

After all the explanations I had received about the sound barrier dragging with the bullet, I finally ran my test to make sense of it. I attached a camera to a target. I shot over the camera to avoid hitting the target and to eliminate the sound of my bullet striking a solid medium. I fired four strings of fire, first from 300 yards away, with and without a suppressor. I then moved 600 yards away and repeated the process. This allowed me to delineate the difference between the bullet passing by the camera and the sound of the gun being fired.

I found that at 300 yards, there was a half-second delay between the snap of the round passing by the camera and the loud thud of the rifle or light pop with the suppressor. Having moved to the 600-yard line, I heard an equally loud snap of the round passing by the camera and then a distant pop of the rifle unsuppressed. With the suppressor, it's tough to make out the sound of the rifle firing. Of course, with the greater distance came a greater delay between the snap of the round and the rifle's report.

The bullet gets to the target much faster than the round, and their segregation increases in dwell time the further away you are. Now that we've understood what a bullet traveling through the atmosphere sounds like, let's apply it to what I wish I had known in one specific fight in the Middle East.

Marines in Iraq, 2007. Photo Courtesy of the Department of Defense.

In 2007, I was on my second combat deployment as an infantry Marine with Third Battalion, First Marines. During this operation, we received effective sniper fire. It was an enemy fighter with a skill set, and he was placing rounds into Marines's necks at a distance (to avoid our body armor and helmets). This is a challenging shot as seldom were those Marines stagnant when they were hit. We created an operation to target this Sniper; the goal was to place a few of our own Sniper teams the night prior and then put my team out in the open where we would likely receive enemy fire—we were the bait. It worked.

While we had dismounted the vehicles and began setting into positions, the first round snapped by us, all of us panning around looking for the shooter, not making sense of the direction it had come from. Had we all held very still and listened for the report of the rifle after the snap of the round we might have had a better idea of its origin. On the second impact, there was no snap because there was a deep thud as it struck one of my peers in the back. This put him to the ground aggressively as it hit his vest, in his small arms protective insert (SAPI). After suppressing the target with my rifle, I moved to the wounded Marine and assessed him. As I was the first one there, ripping off his vest and finding that the bullet had hit his Camelback and then his protective insert. Serving as a Combat Lifesaver / Squad Medic, I identified with him that it probably hurt like hell, but he wasn't dying. Making sense of those combat sounds only happened after that fight. Also, the further investigation and testing I performed helped these sounds make sense in my mind. However, I wish I had known these things before I was in a situation to exchange rounds with an enemy force.

Marine Snipers in Iraq, 2007. Photo courtesy of the Department of Defense.

How do I include this in training? I conduct most of my business at a range with a Marine Corps-style paper target system that allows target engagement out to 1000 yards.

Understanding that the system is designed to keep people safe and recessed within those pits allows us to have a round whiz over our heads and then hear the rifle fire shortly after. This can help make sense of what a gunfight often sounds like when receiving rounds. It also allows us to gather sound data that can give us a rough estimate of how far away the shot was. In any other circumstance, if someone were to say, "I'm going to shoot at you, it will be beneficial for you to learn." You might call them crazy. But now we understand how this can be safely conducted on ranges designed for these activities. This allows my clients to understand how sounds on the battlefield can be confusing. With a little conversation and guidance, we can quickly sense what's happening around us and how we need to react.

Check out the latest video from our YouTube!

Articles from Rob Orgel of Emergency Response Tactical

• Long-Range Hunting and Shot Placement
• Eye Dominance and Handedness Maximizing Speed and Efficiency
• Are You Ready for Your Hunt?
• Combat Readiness Regaining Mental Balance
• Bullet Expansion for Rifle Hunting
• Three Biggest Dangers During a Hunt
• Five Common Questions About NFA Items
• 5 Things to Know Before Buying a Suppressor
• Physical Fitness In The Military

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rob Orgel enlisted in the USMC in 2004 as an Infantry Rifleman (0311), serving with 3rd Bn 1st Marines in Iraq, including roles as a point man in OIF-3 & team leader in OIF-6. Later, he joined the 1st Marine Regiment, achieved the rank of Sergeant in 2010, & continued service in Afghanistan. Upon returning, he became a Combat Instructor at the School Of Infantry West. Transitioning to private military contracting with Securing Our Country (SOC), he instructed at the American Embassy in Iraq. In 2018, Rob became Chief Instructor at GPS Defense Sniper School, revamping their program. Now, as owner & lead instructor at Emergency Response Tactical, he focuses on training novice to advanced shooters on the range over 300 days a year.