Consider that in many of his larger training classes, the final "test" is a scenario similar to this one.
I think his training program is Yeager's own, strange way of trying to atone for what happened. I think he relives this five minutes every day of his life.
What bothers me is his lack of caring for his fallen brothers. Not once in any of his "videos" does he offer a dedication to them. I think he's a selfish prick that had the opportunity to stand tall, but chose self preservation over sacrifice for others. That's what separates the great from the mediocre. He survived that day, but he did so in a manner that does not constitute valor. I would be ashamed to train people had I acted in that manner. His AAR was scathing against his comrades in arms.
Ever hear the phrase like shooting fish in a barrel? Anyone who says they should have stayed in the car is an idiot. A 9mm will penetrate a car straight through, let alone a 7.62X39. The only two places that are somewhat safe on a car in a firefight is the engine block and the rear axle. Staying in the car puts neither of those two pieces between you and the BGs in a broadside ambush. All staying in does is limit your movement to the interior dimensions of the car.
Yeah I agree GunnyClint,it looks bad admittedly especially when it turns out his was the only vehicle in the end that could've cleared the ambush but he forgot what gearboxes were and how they were used. Having said that I dont suppose there's much future using unarmoured vehicles for cover when rounds are clearly slicing through them next to you.Someone got hit right next to him and he clearly wasnt prepared/trained for such an occasion.
The group was being spotted by a bad guy and I think they knew it. When the shooting started the lead car was in nuetral with the brake on, he mistakenly thought it was "down" because it didn't move when he tried, so he bailed. (his words from a statement he made) No plan apparently for the other 2 vics to support maybe, but another ended up actually down in the end. Can't pass judgement it wans't me taking fire at that minute. Real easy to armchair it.
I don't understand why people are calling James Yeager a coward. Can someone explain it to me? He got out of the car which was an immediate death trap (Unarmored) went prone and returned fire.
gearbox011....maybe it was due to the wounded in the car being abandoned. I think its understandable he fled from a position that didnt provide cover, but the fact 2 men basically bled to death makes me wonder at what point he(and the others) did actually get around to rendering aid. Hits to the femoral artery are tricky and very often fatal, but 2 out of 2 dying from this makes me skeptical that appropriate aid was rendered. Cant tell from the video though.
Maybe you should stick to "airguns". Given a choice between sitting behind a unarmored car door and prone behind a sand berm any sane person would take the better cover. Even 9mm pistol rounds will go through the thin sheet metal of a car door with ease, never mind 7.62 x 39 rounds. If you can't movethe vehicle immediately you better dismount and return fire, Any cover is better than hanging your @ss out in the open. How do you patch up a buddy when your dead?
1. they should NOT have moved from behind the cars (providing they are NOT soft skinned (not armoured) and they should have been back in the vehicles and leaving the scene after the first lull in the fire (13-16 seconds in) they could have defensively returned into the cars.
yeager should have known better, and people refused to hire him for a long time following the incident. This video is famous for a reason. A fuck up, not how successful or good of a gun fight it was. terrible conduct.
@huntwithairguns I have no idea where you took your training but Yeager made the right move! Staying with the vehicles was NOT an option! Driving away was NOT an option! Get educated you armchair General!
@huntwithairguns I have no idea where you took your training but Yeager made the right move! Staying with the vehicles was NOT an option! Driving away was NOT an option! Get educated you armchair General!
Everytime i show this video to people they can't believe how slow and stupid the reactions are. there was a good 40 seconds of contact there when they should have broken contact within 15-20 and in the vehicles and gone by 30!
no structure to the response, non assertive when contact breaks out.
And they get out of the cars on the side of fire! seriously blokes, i wonder if some of the operators in this video are still working in the ME...
Yaeger appeared last night (July 13, 2011) on a Discovery Channel show "One Man Army" and pretended to be some kind of a badass... and he lost to some gay dude. LMFAO!
@Parson52550:17 you see 4 muzzle flashes from Yeager's rifle while using his car for cover 0:23-0:26 he breaks cover and goes prone in the roadside ditch. 0:28-0:31 his muzzle is kicking up dust from the ditch. I don't know what his problem was with stopping the car but everyone there should have been in that ditch with him returning fire and treating their wounded instead of standing around on the road making great targets for PKM fire. All basic Infantry School graduates know this procedure.
This is what happens when u fuck with Alibaba!! Nobody invited you to Aladdin cave u sick fuckin redneck! it's not my fault that u decided to die so Chevron nd shell can pump gas into you soccer mom's SUV bitches! Proud to be Arab! Where no stranger walks around my streets without $1,000,000 armed MRAPS
yall should read the book hidden soldier. it really depends on employers and contracts.a pmc group can go a while without gettin hit but if u accept the wrong contracts you will get smacked. when ur employer wont give u grid refrences say no, left and right instruction dont do. lol live and tell the tale
Seems that there's a lot of monday morning quarterbacks commenting on this video. I'd like to think that a professional security company, with millions of dollars invested, would know what weapons would be effective in roadside ambushes. The Mp5 argument seems to obvious to me. Meaning, the commanders of this group would have definitely pointed out that the Mp5 would be ineffective during training, meetings etc. Just my humble opinion. Regardless, RIP to the guys who lost their lives that day.
@ChoppedFender5 point being that most would refuse to go into a AO with a sub-machinegun. It isn't a question of 'professional' security companies. Alot of the PMC's set up in war zones during the early part of the occupation took advantage of the lack of regulations and the ability to earn vast amounts of money for contracts without adhearing to what normal people would call 'health and safety', e.g being properly equiped for the task at hand. I would love to write more but youtube won't let me
@nlomas Interesting points, nlomas. Are you saying that contractors ignored recommendations by authorities and regulations put in place by their employers/companies? I'm just wondering, if the mp5 was ineffective and the contractors knew they would be, why was that their main assault weapon? Any contractor that goes into Iraq or Afghanistan can pretty much guarantee that they're going to be engaged by the enemy. Just weird to me that these guys didn't think to have a long range rifle.
@ChoppedFender5 There are no regulations in place or were not at the time for PMC's working in iraq. This led to cost cutting measures by certain companies in order to reduce costs and secure bids. Consequently certain companies could not afford the most desirable of CV's such as Special Forces training or something similar. You may end up having someone who was in a rear echlon unit and who has limited experience in how to deal with a contact
@nlomas Why the fuck does an MP5 matter? The guy was also carrying a select fire M4. They weren't undergunned in the traditional sense - nearly all of these PMCs had two or three primary weapons a piece. The real gap in firepower was a lack of armor-piercing machine guns, like the PKM reportedly fired at them.
@John234pwns Where was the M4 sorry, i missed that. What information are you basing the fact that they had two to three primary weapons?
Firstly a mp5 is designed for CQB, it lacks range. Secondly you've obviously never had to carry around a weapon and kit if you think you can carry and move with 3 weapons plus all the amunition that goes with them. Thirdly how would having armour piecing round have help them?
Lastly swearing isn't really needed, common sense is better
@nlomas Have you read their AAR? Everything I've said can more or less be backed up by both the corporate Edinbourgh Risk AAR and the individually submitted ones. One of the drivers in fact carried an M249 on top of an RPK. The sub machine guns weren't really affecting their firepower during the actual battle as most of them had switched to their carbines at that point.
As for the AP? The vehicle that had fired at them resisted direct hits from the SAW and RPK (cont'd)
@John234pwns (Continued) Worse point being that only one vehicle was armoured and this was a low level armoured vehicle. All vehicles should be armoured and capable of stopping AP
@nlomas The fact was, they hadn't a single weapon effective against a hard target, and it's a real shame they didn't consider fighting other armored vehicles when they had the excess cash to carry that many weapons in the first place. While there is no guarantee a 7.62x54r or 7.62x51mm would've done the job against their opponents, it certainly would've done better than SAWs.
@John234pwns The lack of a 7.62 caliber weapon or higher was an issue but not the underlying issue. My point was merely about the fact one of the team was armed with a sub machine gun, which is worse than an M4 for the situation they faced. The point being made was more towards the lack of knowledge: the Team Leader did not take control, the CSW was not put back into action, someone got out on the side of the contact in addition to my point about it taking 30 seconds to pop smoke.
@nlomas Right, my point being that the rifles didn't do a horrible lot in the first place. I agree that lack of organization was their biggest failure. Drivers leaving handbrakes on, wounded left in the line of fire, and everything else. Though, as a military friend of mine said, "They're cheap British contractors, you can't expect them to armor everything."
@John234pwns The lack of a 7.62 caliber weapon or higher was an issue but not the underlying issue. My point was merely about the fact one of the team was armed with a sub machine gun, which is worse than an M4 for the situation they faced. The point being made was more towards the lack of knowledge: the Team Leader did not take control, the CSW was not put back into action, someone got out on the side of the contact in addition to my point about it taking 30 seconds to pop smoke. (continued)
The circuit is a great book, not just an insight into the job but into the security situation of several countries in the middle east. As bob shepard mentions in his book, these lads stayed static for too long on a road that the yanks closed because of an ied strike. He talks about the concerns of the lads doing the job that dont have the right skill or knowledge for....
Why does that guy have an MP5 on route Irish? Most engagements would probably be outside the effective range of that weapon system plus the 9mm round can't penetrate shit! Why are they getting out of the vehicles!? Why didn't they properly develop and train team SOPs!? Holy shit this is terrible. Its too bad 3 guys had to lose their lives because their leadership didn't take care of them properly. RIP
Not going to respond to what actually happens in this video, but would like to say that everyone in the company and everyone in the industry learned something from this, be it how to do things or how not to do things.
Just sad that 3 guys paid the ultimate price for it, RIP guys.
"EI prevents hijacking, theft, kidnapping and armed attacks mostly through careful preparation (risk assessment, intelligence review, planning and comprehensive briefing)." From Edinburgh International web page.
On 20 April 2005 Edinburgh Risk personnel assigned to Operation APOLLO (support to the Independent Election Commission of Iraq) were engaged by enemy forces on Route IRISH (BIAP Road) during the execution of their duties.
First, Guy's read all the reports and it will answer some of the questions you have, as far as Yeager leaving the car after action starts, all cars are bullet magnets, get away from them quickly, and as far as anyone putting down effective fire on bad guys, no one gave a direction and distance to the target for the team to engage effectively, communication breakdown led to this, if you read the reports from Yeager and others on the team that goes back to leadership.
I HEARD A LOT OF NEGATIVE STORIES HOW THIS COMPANY TREAT ITS THIRD NATIONAL EMPLOYEES SUCH AS FROM NEPAL...THEY DISCRIMINATE THEM BADLY, NOT PROVIDING ANY CONDITIONS OF CONTRACT SUCH AS VACATIONS..IF SOME ONE GO FOR A VACATION THEY HIRE ANOTHER CHEAP LABOR...THEY CHEAT PEOPLE AND TREAT THEM AS sADDAM TREATED HIS NATION
@WinduWarrior Me too, i had to look this video up after he mentioned it in The Circuit. Still shocking to watch, i don't get why it's a "Trophy video".
It shows deadly mistakes that you feared might happen but not to you.If you are smart, you will learn from it and,should something similat happen to you,you will put it under "another contact on the job", not as "the worst thing that ever happened to me on the job".Still, i feel sorry for these guys.Hope they learned from it.
Well, Yeager messed up on the emergency brake for his lead vehicle, so it stalled and they couldn't drive off. There is some controversy over how he retreated from the vehicle to the South end of the end, which he stated that this was the plan for an ambush.
Mainly, Yeager has gotten flak for his attitude with the incident and inconsistencies in the after action report, which is pretty significant. He still teaches tactical classes, which is why people continue to argue over the guy.
@CMARPAT The hearsay is, Yeager, who runs "tactical response" is the guy you see in the tan pants run across the road and lay down in the ditch. He was driving, put the car in park and in neutral. When the contact started, he left the vehicle instead of leaving the kill zone. You can make out his legs on the screen just to the left of that fuzz ball. If you watch, he lays there the entire time, not providing aid or cover.
@CMARPAT Yeager was the first guy returning fire in the forward right of your screen and then moved across the street to take up a prone firing position.You can see his legs to the left of the white tuft on the left of the screen.
@FromanMD If you watch the video you never see him fire his gun. He was hiding and praying he would live through it so he could get the hell out of there and brag that he was a hero.. But we all know he wasn't....
@Parson5255 I just watched, the chunky guy who ends up in the ditch fire his weapon, the guy who remained had no muzzle flashes(MP5 user maybe?). He fired his weapon, I know where the muzzle flash of an M4 is in relation to the shooter and the higher stanced person(the chunky guy who runs for the ditch) has the only visible muzzle flash. I stand by my assessment of the chunky guy who runs to the ditch(presumably Yaeger) is the first guy to return fire and not stand there in the kill zone.
@FromanMD he did not shoot his weapon. The man next to him did you can clearly see that. And yes he ran out of the kill zone LEAVING his men to die. He ran to the ditch to shit on his self while the two in the vehicle to the left tried to save his men. Also he got fired because of this. He hid in a ditch. The families of the people that died sued Yaeger and one because Yaeger was hiding like a pussy.
@Parson5255 I'm not here to argue with you but you aren't watching the same video I am. The second guy(who doesn't run across the road) is still in the front door well of the car while the fatty is shooting and doesn't even have the ability to take a shot from his low kneeling position until fatty leaves his spot on the trunk to bail across the road.The second guy you say is firing had his weapon lower than the top of the car door! He isn't even in position to fire until fatty is done shooting!
Yea...he's the guy in the front car to the right side of the video. You see him jump out the car...return fire...then bolt off toward the side of the road and offers to support to the rest of the team.
@CMARPAT james yeager and his company of contractors came under contact in iraq. instead of following protocal they stop there vehciles and stayed in the kill zone. 3 of the guys from his car were killed cuz of this
@Airborne1224 Would you be standing around there in the road or would you be prone in the ditch with Yeager or would you try to get the wounded in the last running vehicle and haul ass?
Correct me if i'm wrong. I read the report through "Guns For Hire" by Tony Geraghty, The report said everyone fired at least some rounds at insurgents(or an suspected area) but during the video I only see Yeager the ONLY one to fire back. Am I wrong? I just find the report misleading.
Yeager is the guy at the very beginning who came out of the driver's side on the front car, and bailed across the road. Basically everybody was firing the entire time; you can see the muzzle flashes and smoke of the guys shooting over the lead vehicle.
The PKM seems to only be firing on them for the first thirty seconds or so.
i wanna say onle the american army they will lost soon very soonnnn i will remain u when they losttttttttttt cuz iraq and afganstan and iran and all middle east thet to much about one army one army will fight with iraq and iran and afganstan and middle east that why they will losttt
Yeager exits car to correct side, sees others abandon cars as well. Heads for cover. If he DID drive away, Vehicles 2 and 3 could NOT have followed, so he would have been a coward then too....? He took COVER, then attempted to return fire. That IS THE SMART THING TO DO. Another guy injured/dead on the ground does no good in the fight. Sad day that more guys are lost, but they dont go thinking its gonna be an amusement ride.
Sure he could have used a little more tact in his report, but hey, we aren't all perfect. What astonishes me, is that folks thing that in order to not be a coward, you need to stand in the line of fire LIKE A MAN.... wow.
Read the reports, bith Yeager's and the findings of the ERSM. They are all over the place.
They were static, ambushed, and outgunned. This contact had NOTHING good in store for them, no matter how you look at it, unless of course they had not have stopped.
Unless you worked for ERSM and you were there when this happened most of you guys don't know what you are talking about. Just watch the video, learn from any mistakes made, and if you get over there try to not make them yourself.
i dont mean all these guys werent up to the task but all it takes is one or two guys per team to weaken the whole chain ..knowing what to do in a situation does not mean once bullets start flying and ur fine motor skills go to shit that you will do it , u can hear the panic and adreniline pumping over the radio you have to be able to deal with an ambush while under live fire without having to think otherwise shit happens i can garrauntee all the survivors will do much better next time
Read the book 'The Circuit' by Bob Shepherd. He comments on how these, although brave lads had no idea how to respond to a contact. 1 Guy died in the contact and two succumbed to their wounds after. Note they exit the car on the side of the contact, its take them a while to respond with fire and pop smoke and one guy even has an MP5 which as a sub machine gun is innapproproate for that kind of work
agree this was a common ambush nothing really special a lot of these companies are hiring guys that really arnt up to the tasks required just being a soldier that has never been in combat really does not quaify u 4 this and an mp5 is a good weapon to have in an urban settingbut as soon as the ambush kicked off the mp5 should have been hung up and m4 or ak out it is very sad that some of these men died better training prolly could have saved some of them not talkin shit on ne of these guys either
If i had seen this as a layman i would have just thought "OH MY GOD".Unfortunately i now have the context provided by mr Shepherd.They are in shock and dont know what to do,as i would have been.They loiter around trying to come up with a plan,as i would have.They are a security team charged with protecting someone,something i know better than to do.Whoever put them in that situation (and i dont mean the ambushers) should have been made to answer and we can all guess that never happened.
@nlomas often the best way to respond to an ambush is to simply drive away from it, getting caught out there flat footed is a very bad situation.
The cars themselves don't look like they can stop much, and in any cases will be bullet magnets, if you're not going to drive away it's time to start looking for better cover instead of staying in them.
This was just at the start of the contractor period in Iraq. None of the vehicles had armour and when engaged and they could not drive off as up ahead the US units on the same road had encountered heavy contact following an IED attack. They should have stayed moving but bad planning and other things beyond their control caused them to be static. The whole incident showed that contractors were unprepared early on in the the Iraq conflict
@Skerne well it goes to show that before you go anywhere, it helps to do your homework.
They were also going low profile, so they lacked the usual protection that they would have had. In any case, a poor response to a tactical situation can cost dearly, so it's always appropriate the train for the right response.
@rexregum I agree, but this lot were thrown together very quickly with very little training or equipment. The result was to be expected with what they had at the time. This was early on in the contractor period and was a big wake up call to all of those who forgot Fallujah all too quickly. These guys happened to be targets of opportunity at the time.
@WoWJosh25 i wish i had the experience and credentials to say i was even on par with him, but whilst i have served in the infantry in the armed forces its nowhere near on the same level as the auther of 'The Circuit'
Whoa, what is all of this about James Yeager, can you please fill me in, I planned on buying 2 books of his tomarrow, and I ran a google and found all of this info in reference to this tape, people calling him a coward and so forth? Please do tell about this AAR you speak of...
Agreed, but these guys are acting like 9mm will bounce off people. For practical self defense purposes, it's a perfectly effective round (though I think .40 S&W will overtake it in the coming years).
Absolutely, for self defense purposes it is a perfectly suitable gun. I myself am a .45 guy myself because I like the feel of more power. But in the end, it's not really about bullet size as much as it's about proper placement.
Especially if people use hollow point rounds for self-defense, then there is a very small difference in the rate of expansion.
Huge cock up....initial contact to the right...cp member in lead veh exits left (good),cp members in 2nd and camera veh exit on the contact side (not good), covering fire too slow and why the fuck did they not bug out...i still cant believe they got into the contact in the first place....the Airport road is a hot one...why static...why 9 milly..
Bloody hell, those poor lads really should have done their homework before working on a CP team. Let's hope other Private Security Firms learned the lesson although I'm sure top management don't give a shit about their employees.
Easy as anything to critisize what people did or didn't do or shouldn't or should do from behind a computer screen. Bit different when your on the 2 way range and it goes pete tong. Then again the majority of people who have left comments wouldn't know about that so carry and tell the PMC's what they should do in the future. RIP Camel, see you in the FRV.
we both lost good mates that day.. Its unfortunate people need to die to learn hard fast lesssons. Low profile no longer works in Iraq was the way to go at first. What happened here is they seperated themselfs from civlian traffic and the miltary pushed them back not know who they were... yea 9mm is a joke why they had them i dont know... oh well Good man each and one lucky to this video and others some people lived to see another day.
This type of thing happens to contractors all the time over there but their mistake was stopping. They are not in a choke-point, so they should have just punched it and got through the ambush.
they were stopped by the US military who were infront of them about 500 metres or so, they had no intention of stopping there but they had no choice. RIP Camel, the world is a lesser place without you brother.
They went low profile and things went wrong because of the ied everyone knows the risk when they decide to take the job 3 men died god bless em and god bless everyone still over there and those that don't come home
shoulda ,woulda, coulda,...none of that shit matters..we lost 3 comrades...mistakes or not..we learn and move on...i dont think anyone who has been in contact on Route Irish can be ever classified as a coward..we all just react differently in times of life or death..we all know protocal..and do the best to stick to it. whos right or wrong doesnt matter ..whats done is done
So why didn't he cross deck into the other Vehicles then, because THAT's the drills when a vehicle is down !!!
Oh and the Armoured vehicle in the middle WOULD have given protection, should he have chosen to assist his team mates from that vehicle.....he flapped, and left his team mates out to dry, he bottled it and is now milking his experiences by running courses , shame it took the deaths of three good blokes to make JY realise what a fuck up he was.....and those that can't .......teach!!
He ran through the open in the first place so why didn't he cross deck into the Armoured Vehicle, and why didn't he take up a fire position alongside Scouse and Big S?
I didn't see the other guys who were giving first aid becoming casualties either did you?
What if... they should of.... why didn't they..... The fact is that when an armoured SUV with a MG opens up at you with AP rounds at close range From a raised position ( an overpass on ramp) all your SOPs go out the window, the rounds were plowing through everything, including the cars, and the 9mm and 5.56 they had were doing nothing> i Lost a good mate that day and i'm sick of people going over this again and again
i read about it in a book called 'the circuit' by bob shepherd, its now used for training as ways not to do things. highly recommend the book, it explains why things like this happen all the time
17 seconds to return fire from they first had the contact, 99 seconds to depoly smoke, mp5? wrong gun for that place, again they got out on the side they were being fired on? they had stopped there cos american army were ambushed with a ied further up the road,the US army shut the road but instead of going back to base they choose to sit and wait for the road to reopen. is it the guys on the ground fault? or the company that is sending guys who no little or no training for that enviroment?
The guys jumped out on the side the were contacted on, some of them at any length, why ? you never do that NEVER, i ain't knocking them but they could hae reacted better, it took to long for accurate return fire and as some have said they should never have stopped on irish.
Shut up he isnt running away its a contact right so he is getting ont the safest side of the wagon. In a contact you flap no two ways around it your heart will race and everything around you will be going so fast. The story behind this is they are on a low profile job on route irish and behind an american convoy. They shouldnt have stopped like they did it gives away what they are doing and who they are.
The guy who runs away,James Yeager, has now released dvds of "High Risk Civilian Contractor" or some shit like that which seems pretty stupied. Yeager has no military experiance and was a police officer for 12 years He has gone on to blame the deaths, which were in due to his part of putting the car in park and ebrake, of his comrades because they didnt react right and has started a site against the company that employed him. His reason for putting the car in park? His leg was cramping.
you dont know james yeager and you dont know what happened. you are a coward hiding behind a keyboard and would never say it to his face. do the world a favor and kill yourself. you're breathing up my air.
Like yourself? I know about 5 or 6 members of the 75th rangers who watched this video and saw clips of his dvds and they called the guy a fucking moron. I dont know him nor pretend too, but it seems to me that to throw your insulting your dead comrade is a highly arogant and fucked up behavior.
like i said, you dont know what happened. i dont care if you know 300 members of the 75th rangers and they all analyzed the dvds in slow motion while you guys jerked each other off into a tub of popcorn. they dont have a clue what went on and cant possibly give ANY kind of credible reason as to why he is a "fucking moron" other than "we do this differently in the military". GET EDUCATED OR SHUT YOUR MOUTH. your speaking all kinds of jibberish
I understand what your saying. I wasnt trying to project that I knew the extent of the situation that happend. I still standby my opion though that all the bad mouthing this guy did makes him a douch in my mind.
If someone even thinks about hurting an amrican that means they need to die. It doesn't matter if we are in their country. If they want to live on this earth, they are not aloud to do anything to american, or friends of americans. We just need to keep killing them, and everyone around them until there is nobody else that resists.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
u r all retarded, why kill these "ragheads", what did they do to u, you came in their country and profit off of killing their fellow brothers and sisters and then you say they deserve to die and you would want to "bag" more of them? don't you see, you are the one thats truly evil and wrong, and btw i am in the army so fuck off ne one who wants to call me a civilian
uhuh im soooo sure bet you volunteer with kids too right? what unit were you in? what base you assigned too? what was your job in the military bet your some POG
listen son you are entitled to your oppinion of course, im don't care if you have ever been to the box or not, but untill you have experianced the shit in this video you will NEVER understand, and most don't care if you ever do. the fact that what you wrote "brothers and sisters" just tells me you don't yet understand. maybe some day, hang in there.
I did 2 tours in the Anbar Province with 3rd battalion 7th marines so I have fired many shots, and have had many shots fired back, but I would still kill to be able to get back over there to make the money these guys are making, and they get their hunting tags. It'd be nice to just bag a couple more of those douchebags..
fuck all you pricks who come on here and have never fired a shot in anger at some fuckin rag-head hodgie. God Bless these men in the video, and the ones here who do comment and know the reality of this shit. fuck i hate ignorant civillians who think they know the war, go watch CNN and fill your head with that bull shit some more.
I feel sorry for them; the sheer number of errors made and time taken to brake from contact is just appalling.
stripe62 6 days ago
I want this video on my GD900 Crystal phone.
billconner718 1 week ago
Consider that in many of his larger training classes, the final "test" is a scenario similar to this one.
I think his training program is Yeager's own, strange way of trying to atone for what happened. I think he relives this five minutes every day of his life.
CarolusIV 1 week ago in playlist training
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This video is a favorite on Santo Domingo
cleogonzalez614 3 weeks ago
What bothers me is his lack of caring for his fallen brothers. Not once in any of his "videos" does he offer a dedication to them. I think he's a selfish prick that had the opportunity to stand tall, but chose self preservation over sacrifice for others. That's what separates the great from the mediocre. He survived that day, but he did so in a manner that does not constitute valor. I would be ashamed to train people had I acted in that manner. His AAR was scathing against his comrades in arms.
txcombatvetx2 1 month ago
Ever hear the phrase like shooting fish in a barrel? Anyone who says they should have stayed in the car is an idiot. A 9mm will penetrate a car straight through, let alone a 7.62X39. The only two places that are somewhat safe on a car in a firefight is the engine block and the rear axle. Staying in the car puts neither of those two pieces between you and the BGs in a broadside ambush. All staying in does is limit your movement to the interior dimensions of the car.
Sleeper362 1 month ago
Yeah I agree GunnyClint,it looks bad admittedly especially when it turns out his was the only vehicle in the end that could've cleared the ambush but he forgot what gearboxes were and how they were used. Having said that I dont suppose there's much future using unarmoured vehicles for cover when rounds are clearly slicing through them next to you.Someone got hit right next to him and he clearly wasnt prepared/trained for such an occasion.
26wordy 2 months ago
The group was being spotted by a bad guy and I think they knew it. When the shooting started the lead car was in nuetral with the brake on, he mistakenly thought it was "down" because it didn't move when he tried, so he bailed. (his words from a statement he made) No plan apparently for the other 2 vics to support maybe, but another ended up actually down in the end. Can't pass judgement it wans't me taking fire at that minute. Real easy to armchair it.
GunnyClint 2 months ago
I don't understand why people are calling James Yeager a coward. Can someone explain it to me? He got out of the car which was an immediate death trap (Unarmored) went prone and returned fire.
gearbox011 3 months ago
gearbox011....maybe it was due to the wounded in the car being abandoned. I think its understandable he fled from a position that didnt provide cover, but the fact 2 men basically bled to death makes me wonder at what point he(and the others) did actually get around to rendering aid. Hits to the femoral artery are tricky and very often fatal, but 2 out of 2 dying from this makes me skeptical that appropriate aid was rendered. Cant tell from the video though.
vikingbloodUS 5 days ago
@huntwithairguns
Maybe you should stick to "airguns". Given a choice between sitting behind a unarmored car door and prone behind a sand berm any sane person would take the better cover. Even 9mm pistol rounds will go through the thin sheet metal of a car door with ease, never mind 7.62 x 39 rounds. If you can't movethe vehicle immediately you better dismount and return fire, Any cover is better than hanging your @ss out in the open. How do you patch up a buddy when your dead?
dfawildcat 4 months ago
1. they should NOT have moved from behind the cars (providing they are NOT soft skinned (not armoured) and they should have been back in the vehicles and leaving the scene after the first lull in the fire (13-16 seconds in) they could have defensively returned into the cars.
yeager should have known better, and people refused to hire him for a long time following the incident. This video is famous for a reason. A fuck up, not how successful or good of a gun fight it was. terrible conduct.
kaibeecee 5 months ago
Who the fuck was that in car #1 running away from the firefight into the median?
WTH...WTF?
jdl76543 5 months ago
@jdl76543 James Yeager, he now teaches gun fighting classes and he is a fucking coward. -_-
huntwithairguns 5 months ago
@huntwithairguns I have no idea where you took your training but Yeager made the right move! Staying with the vehicles was NOT an option! Driving away was NOT an option! Get educated you armchair General!
SirJohnA 4 months ago 2
@huntwithairguns I have no idea where you took your training but Yeager made the right move! Staying with the vehicles was NOT an option! Driving away was NOT an option! Get educated you armchair General!
SirJohnA 4 months ago 2
Cars are not good cover, especially in an ambush.
valflyinf 5 months ago
Everytime i show this video to people they can't believe how slow and stupid the reactions are. there was a good 40 seconds of contact there when they should have broken contact within 15-20 and in the vehicles and gone by 30!
no structure to the response, non assertive when contact breaks out.
And they get out of the cars on the side of fire! seriously blokes, i wonder if some of the operators in this video are still working in the ME...
kaibeecee 5 months ago
what is the email address for this company, does anyone know it please?
pinkmedusa1 6 months ago
Yaeger appeared last night (July 13, 2011) on a Discovery Channel show "One Man Army" and pretended to be some kind of a badass... and he lost to some gay dude. LMFAO!
KiloSierraAlpha 6 months ago
@KiloSierraAlpha
Isn't this the same guy who taught Tex Grebner how to shoot himself...?
155Millimeter 6 months ago 2
@155Millimeter LOLOL.. yeah, thats him. He even replied to Tex's "I shot myself" video.
KiloSierraAlpha 6 months ago
@KiloSierraAlpha
OH! I meant "Is this the guy who taught Tex how to shoot?"
(Dang I hate these these stupid computer sticky keys!)
155Millimeter 6 months ago
@Parson5255 0:17 you see 4 muzzle flashes from Yeager's rifle while using his car for cover 0:23-0:26 he breaks cover and goes prone in the roadside ditch. 0:28-0:31 his muzzle is kicking up dust from the ditch. I don't know what his problem was with stopping the car but everyone there should have been in that ditch with him returning fire and treating their wounded instead of standing around on the road making great targets for PKM fire. All basic Infantry School graduates know this procedure.
FromanMD 6 months ago
how can british company like aegis have guns if they have the tightest gun controlls in the world????
GlaBurnzUrHouseAK47 9 months ago
Only one of the cars were armored and the drivers confined themselves which is one of the big reasons for such a bad attack
spidermonkey237 9 months ago
This is the same company that had a policy that they wouldn't hire ex Blackwater guys...as you can see they probably could have used some
arvydas0069 9 months ago
wow
usherS2x 9 months ago
do u hear the crowds singing? there song fits great with the AK47s! IRAK ALL THE WAY! run forest RUN
MadeinBaghdad 1 year ago
This is what happens when u fuck with Alibaba!! Nobody invited you to Aladdin cave u sick fuckin redneck! it's not my fault that u decided to die so Chevron nd shell can pump gas into you soccer mom's SUV bitches! Proud to be Arab! Where no stranger walks around my streets without $1,000,000 armed MRAPS
MadeinBaghdad 1 year ago
yall should read the book hidden soldier. it really depends on employers and contracts.a pmc group can go a while without gettin hit but if u accept the wrong contracts you will get smacked. when ur employer wont give u grid refrences say no, left and right instruction dont do. lol live and tell the tale
Sbone30 1 year ago
Amazing how some of the guys - sound American to me - seem to be totally under control. Calm as can be! Nerves of steel!
catexan 1 year ago
Hey is this the same James Yeager I see all over the youtube?
RahRahRaharu 1 year ago
RIP CAMEL THINKING OF YOU THIS CHRISTMAS
pressurehead2 1 year ago
Its nice to know I had ridden in that Mercedes several weeks before this incident....
tjenk712 1 year ago
Seems that there's a lot of monday morning quarterbacks commenting on this video. I'd like to think that a professional security company, with millions of dollars invested, would know what weapons would be effective in roadside ambushes. The Mp5 argument seems to obvious to me. Meaning, the commanders of this group would have definitely pointed out that the Mp5 would be ineffective during training, meetings etc. Just my humble opinion. Regardless, RIP to the guys who lost their lives that day.
ChoppedFender5 1 year ago
@ChoppedFender5 point being that most would refuse to go into a AO with a sub-machinegun. It isn't a question of 'professional' security companies. Alot of the PMC's set up in war zones during the early part of the occupation took advantage of the lack of regulations and the ability to earn vast amounts of money for contracts without adhearing to what normal people would call 'health and safety', e.g being properly equiped for the task at hand. I would love to write more but youtube won't let me
nlomas 1 year ago
@nlomas Interesting points, nlomas. Are you saying that contractors ignored recommendations by authorities and regulations put in place by their employers/companies? I'm just wondering, if the mp5 was ineffective and the contractors knew they would be, why was that their main assault weapon? Any contractor that goes into Iraq or Afghanistan can pretty much guarantee that they're going to be engaged by the enemy. Just weird to me that these guys didn't think to have a long range rifle.
ChoppedFender5 1 year ago
@ChoppedFender5 There are no regulations in place or were not at the time for PMC's working in iraq. This led to cost cutting measures by certain companies in order to reduce costs and secure bids. Consequently certain companies could not afford the most desirable of CV's such as Special Forces training or something similar. You may end up having someone who was in a rear echlon unit and who has limited experience in how to deal with a contact
nlomas 11 months ago
@nlomas Why the fuck does an MP5 matter? The guy was also carrying a select fire M4. They weren't undergunned in the traditional sense - nearly all of these PMCs had two or three primary weapons a piece. The real gap in firepower was a lack of armor-piercing machine guns, like the PKM reportedly fired at them.
John234pwns 1 year ago
@John234pwns Where was the M4 sorry, i missed that. What information are you basing the fact that they had two to three primary weapons?
Firstly a mp5 is designed for CQB, it lacks range. Secondly you've obviously never had to carry around a weapon and kit if you think you can carry and move with 3 weapons plus all the amunition that goes with them. Thirdly how would having armour piecing round have help them?
Lastly swearing isn't really needed, common sense is better
nlomas 11 months ago
@nlomas Have you read their AAR? Everything I've said can more or less be backed up by both the corporate Edinbourgh Risk AAR and the individually submitted ones. One of the drivers in fact carried an M249 on top of an RPK. The sub machine guns weren't really affecting their firepower during the actual battle as most of them had switched to their carbines at that point.
As for the AP? The vehicle that had fired at them resisted direct hits from the SAW and RPK (cont'd)
John234pwns 11 months ago
@John234pwns (Continued) Worse point being that only one vehicle was armoured and this was a low level armoured vehicle. All vehicles should be armoured and capable of stopping AP
nlomas 11 months ago
@nlomas The fact was, they hadn't a single weapon effective against a hard target, and it's a real shame they didn't consider fighting other armored vehicles when they had the excess cash to carry that many weapons in the first place. While there is no guarantee a 7.62x54r or 7.62x51mm would've done the job against their opponents, it certainly would've done better than SAWs.
John234pwns 11 months ago
@John234pwns The lack of a 7.62 caliber weapon or higher was an issue but not the underlying issue. My point was merely about the fact one of the team was armed with a sub machine gun, which is worse than an M4 for the situation they faced. The point being made was more towards the lack of knowledge: the Team Leader did not take control, the CSW was not put back into action, someone got out on the side of the contact in addition to my point about it taking 30 seconds to pop smoke.
nlomas 11 months ago
@nlomas Right, my point being that the rifles didn't do a horrible lot in the first place. I agree that lack of organization was their biggest failure. Drivers leaving handbrakes on, wounded left in the line of fire, and everything else. Though, as a military friend of mine said, "They're cheap British contractors, you can't expect them to armor everything."
John234pwns 11 months ago
@John234pwns The lack of a 7.62 caliber weapon or higher was an issue but not the underlying issue. My point was merely about the fact one of the team was armed with a sub machine gun, which is worse than an M4 for the situation they faced. The point being made was more towards the lack of knowledge: the Team Leader did not take control, the CSW was not put back into action, someone got out on the side of the contact in addition to my point about it taking 30 seconds to pop smoke. (continued)
nlomas 11 months ago
@ChoppedFender5 There's a lot of things that went wrong.
-Only one vehicle was armored.
-Everyone involved got drunk the night before and was pretty hungover at the time of ambush.
-One driver accidentally left the handbrake on; the other two were disabled by gunfire.
-There was no coordination during the retreat or care of casualties.
-No weapons on hand to defeat the enemy vehicle - only assault rifle calibers.
John234pwns 11 months ago
why they are not left in cars?
Temuil 1 year ago
Seems the Edinburgh Management was a risk to itself, I hope I never have to rely on these incompetent bastards for help.
mongoosedawg 1 year ago
The circuit is a great book, not just an insight into the job but into the security situation of several countries in the middle east. As bob shepard mentions in his book, these lads stayed static for too long on a road that the yanks closed because of an ied strike. He talks about the concerns of the lads doing the job that dont have the right skill or knowledge for....
jammyk87 1 year ago
Why does that guy have an MP5 on route Irish? Most engagements would probably be outside the effective range of that weapon system plus the 9mm round can't penetrate shit! Why are they getting out of the vehicles!? Why didn't they properly develop and train team SOPs!? Holy shit this is terrible. Its too bad 3 guys had to lose their lives because their leadership didn't take care of them properly. RIP
rltw04 1 year ago
What happened here? Please tell me.
MrCargod05 1 year ago
MISS YA JAMIE, MISS YA BRO...
MrTLS555 1 year ago
Not going to respond to what actually happens in this video, but would like to say that everyone in the company and everyone in the industry learned something from this, be it how to do things or how not to do things.
Just sad that 3 guys paid the ultimate price for it, RIP guys.
Lightemup2005 1 year ago
Hows that ditch water James ??
KIDGLOCK2 1 year ago
"EI prevents hijacking, theft, kidnapping and armed attacks mostly through careful preparation (risk assessment, intelligence review, planning and comprehensive briefing)." From Edinburgh International web page.
AnEnemy100 1 year ago
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RiiDDiiM 1 year ago
jdrandassoc im an idiot right bitch go fuck ur self ok bitch u so mother fucker i wish to see ur face i will destroy it
alzrnzkhte 2 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Report of this event is freely available.
EDINBURGH RISK AND SECURITY MANAGEMENT
AFTER ACTION REVIEW
OPERATION APOLLO CONTACT BIAP ROAD 20 APRIL 2005
BACKGROUND
On 20 April 2005 Edinburgh Risk personnel assigned to Operation APOLLO (support to the Independent Election Commission of Iraq) were engaged by enemy forces on Route IRISH (BIAP Road) during the execution of their duties.
RiiDDiiM 1 year ago
First, Guy's read all the reports and it will answer some of the questions you have, as far as Yeager leaving the car after action starts, all cars are bullet magnets, get away from them quickly, and as far as anyone putting down effective fire on bad guys, no one gave a direction and distance to the target for the team to engage effectively, communication breakdown led to this, if you read the reports from Yeager and others on the team that goes back to leadership.
thumper505 2 years ago
I HEARD A LOT OF NEGATIVE STORIES HOW THIS COMPANY TREAT ITS THIRD NATIONAL EMPLOYEES SUCH AS FROM NEPAL...THEY DISCRIMINATE THEM BADLY, NOT PROVIDING ANY CONDITIONS OF CONTRACT SUCH AS VACATIONS..IF SOME ONE GO FOR A VACATION THEY HIRE ANOTHER CHEAP LABOR...THEY CHEAT PEOPLE AND TREAT THEM AS sADDAM TREATED HIS NATION
JurmanMr 2 years ago
So from what I get out of my limited understanding of this situation, some guy named Yeager fucked up? Any shed somelight on this?
Thanks
CMARPAT 2 years ago 2
read the book The Circuit by Bob Shepherd. It was no one mans fault, the team were just not suited to this line of work and not trained sufficiently
WinduWarrior 2 years ago
@WinduWarrior Me too, i had to look this video up after he mentioned it in The Circuit. Still shocking to watch, i don't get why it's a "Trophy video".
PumperThumper 2 years ago
It shows deadly mistakes that you feared might happen but not to you.If you are smart, you will learn from it and,should something similat happen to you,you will put it under "another contact on the job", not as "the worst thing that ever happened to me on the job".Still, i feel sorry for these guys.Hope they learned from it.
orcsheaddriller 1 year ago
Well, Yeager messed up on the emergency brake for his lead vehicle, so it stalled and they couldn't drive off. There is some controversy over how he retreated from the vehicle to the South end of the end, which he stated that this was the plan for an ambush.
Mainly, Yeager has gotten flak for his attitude with the incident and inconsistencies in the after action report, which is pretty significant. He still teaches tactical classes, which is why people continue to argue over the guy.
John234pwns 2 years ago
@CMARPAT The hearsay is, Yeager, who runs "tactical response" is the guy you see in the tan pants run across the road and lay down in the ditch. He was driving, put the car in park and in neutral. When the contact started, he left the vehicle instead of leaving the kill zone. You can make out his legs on the screen just to the left of that fuzz ball. If you watch, he lays there the entire time, not providing aid or cover.
I wasn't there, but he was fired for this.
Hop6236 1 year ago
@Hop6236 Very true, Yeager is a coward...
Parson5255 6 months ago
@CMARPAT Yeager was the first guy returning fire in the forward right of your screen and then moved across the street to take up a prone firing position.You can see his legs to the left of the white tuft on the left of the screen.
FromanMD 1 year ago
@FromanMD If you watch the video you never see him fire his gun. He was hiding and praying he would live through it so he could get the hell out of there and brag that he was a hero.. But we all know he wasn't....
Parson5255 6 months ago
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FromanMD 6 months ago
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FromanMD 6 months ago
@FromanMD Their are 2 guys at the car. Also James Yeager was Fired for this right here in this video. take a closer look next time.
Parson5255 6 months ago
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FromanMD 6 months ago
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FromanMD 6 months ago
@Parson5255 I just watched, the chunky guy who ends up in the ditch fire his weapon, the guy who remained had no muzzle flashes(MP5 user maybe?). He fired his weapon, I know where the muzzle flash of an M4 is in relation to the shooter and the higher stanced person(the chunky guy who runs for the ditch) has the only visible muzzle flash. I stand by my assessment of the chunky guy who runs to the ditch(presumably Yaeger) is the first guy to return fire and not stand there in the kill zone.
FromanMD 6 months ago
@FromanMD he did not shoot his weapon. The man next to him did you can clearly see that. And yes he ran out of the kill zone LEAVING his men to die. He ran to the ditch to shit on his self while the two in the vehicle to the left tried to save his men. Also he got fired because of this. He hid in a ditch. The families of the people that died sued Yaeger and one because Yaeger was hiding like a pussy.
Parson5255 6 months ago
@Parson5255 I'm not here to argue with you but you aren't watching the same video I am. The second guy(who doesn't run across the road) is still in the front door well of the car while the fatty is shooting and doesn't even have the ability to take a shot from his low kneeling position until fatty leaves his spot on the trunk to bail across the road.The second guy you say is firing had his weapon lower than the top of the car door! He isn't even in position to fire until fatty is done shooting!
FromanMD 6 months ago
@Parson5255 Yaeger survived though, its good to run from death, always. This is not Normandy.
valflyinf 5 months ago
@CMARPAT
Yea...he's the guy in the front car to the right side of the video. You see him jump out the car...return fire...then bolt off toward the side of the road and offers to support to the rest of the team.
clap5 9 months ago
@CMARPAT james yeager and his company of contractors came under contact in iraq. instead of following protocal they stop there vehciles and stayed in the kill zone. 3 of the guys from his car were killed cuz of this
Airborne1224 6 months ago
@Airborne1224 Would you be standing around there in the road or would you be prone in the ditch with Yeager or would you try to get the wounded in the last running vehicle and haul ass?
FromanMD 6 months ago
@FromanMD get the wounded out and haul ass. but i wouln't stay in the kill zone longer than i need too
Airborne1224 6 months ago
Why the fuck are they exiting their vehicles on the contact side?
Rapist87 2 years ago
Correct me if i'm wrong. I read the report through "Guns For Hire" by Tony Geraghty, The report said everyone fired at least some rounds at insurgents(or an suspected area) but during the video I only see Yeager the ONLY one to fire back. Am I wrong? I just find the report misleading.
js1596996409 2 years ago
Yeager is the guy at the very beginning who came out of the driver's side on the front car, and bailed across the road. Basically everybody was firing the entire time; you can see the muzzle flashes and smoke of the guys shooting over the lead vehicle.
The PKM seems to only be firing on them for the first thirty seconds or so.
John234pwns 2 years ago
i wanna say onle the american army they will lost soon very soonnnn i will remain u when they losttttttttttt cuz iraq and afganstan and iran and all middle east thet to much about one army one army will fight with iraq and iran and afganstan and middle east that why they will losttt
alzrnzkhte 2 years ago
@alzrnzkhte. You're an idiot. An idiot who can't use proper tense, too.
jdrandassoc 2 years ago
You made no sense.
Kenny0339 1 year ago
Facts:
Vehicle 2 - Disabled transmission.
Vehicle 3 - Disabled driver.
Yeager exits car to correct side, sees others abandon cars as well. Heads for cover. If he DID drive away, Vehicles 2 and 3 could NOT have followed, so he would have been a coward then too....? He took COVER, then attempted to return fire. That IS THE SMART THING TO DO. Another guy injured/dead on the ground does no good in the fight. Sad day that more guys are lost, but they dont go thinking its gonna be an amusement ride.
Patdls 2 years ago
Sure he could have used a little more tact in his report, but hey, we aren't all perfect. What astonishes me, is that folks thing that in order to not be a coward, you need to stand in the line of fire LIKE A MAN.... wow.
Read the reports, bith Yeager's and the findings of the ERSM. They are all over the place.
They were static, ambushed, and outgunned. This contact had NOTHING good in store for them, no matter how you look at it, unless of course they had not have stopped.
Patdls 2 years ago
@Patdls Why would exiting on the contact side ever be the correct thing to do?
lordconnormcd 2 years ago
its the fastest way out of the car, sitting and waiting for the guy next to you to move is more dangerous.
NOCTURNOzombie 2 years ago
Unless you worked for ERSM and you were there when this happened most of you guys don't know what you are talking about. Just watch the video, learn from any mistakes made, and if you get over there try to not make them yourself.
davev822 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
look at the dogs loolllllllll the god with arabic people alalh akbarrrrrrr
alzrnzkhte 2 years ago
islam is a terrorist religion fuck you and your muslim people you are all swine
JukemDrawles89 2 years ago
yeah my dad was in this bullshit fucking james yeager way to go bro.
XxDynastyxX 2 years ago
i dont mean all these guys werent up to the task but all it takes is one or two guys per team to weaken the whole chain ..knowing what to do in a situation does not mean once bullets start flying and ur fine motor skills go to shit that you will do it , u can hear the panic and adreniline pumping over the radio you have to be able to deal with an ambush while under live fire without having to think otherwise shit happens i can garrauntee all the survivors will do much better next time
arkangel8419 2 years ago
Read the book 'The Circuit' by Bob Shepherd. He comments on how these, although brave lads had no idea how to respond to a contact. 1 Guy died in the contact and two succumbed to their wounds after. Note they exit the car on the side of the contact, its take them a while to respond with fire and pop smoke and one guy even has an MP5 which as a sub machine gun is innapproproate for that kind of work
nlomas 2 years ago 11
agree this was a common ambush nothing really special a lot of these companies are hiring guys that really arnt up to the tasks required just being a soldier that has never been in combat really does not quaify u 4 this and an mp5 is a good weapon to have in an urban settingbut as soon as the ambush kicked off the mp5 should have been hung up and m4 or ak out it is very sad that some of these men died better training prolly could have saved some of them not talkin shit on ne of these guys either
arkangel8419 2 years ago
If i had seen this as a layman i would have just thought "OH MY GOD".Unfortunately i now have the context provided by mr Shepherd.They are in shock and dont know what to do,as i would have been.They loiter around trying to come up with a plan,as i would have.They are a security team charged with protecting someone,something i know better than to do.Whoever put them in that situation (and i dont mean the ambushers) should have been made to answer and we can all guess that never happened.
orcsheaddriller 1 year ago
@nlomas I just read that book which made me find this vid.
assym2006 1 year ago
@nlomas often the best way to respond to an ambush is to simply drive away from it, getting caught out there flat footed is a very bad situation.
The cars themselves don't look like they can stop much, and in any cases will be bullet magnets, if you're not going to drive away it's time to start looking for better cover instead of staying in them.
rexregum 1 year ago
@rexregum
This was just at the start of the contractor period in Iraq. None of the vehicles had armour and when engaged and they could not drive off as up ahead the US units on the same road had encountered heavy contact following an IED attack. They should have stayed moving but bad planning and other things beyond their control caused them to be static. The whole incident showed that contractors were unprepared early on in the the Iraq conflict
Skerne 1 year ago
@Skerne well it goes to show that before you go anywhere, it helps to do your homework.
They were also going low profile, so they lacked the usual protection that they would have had. In any case, a poor response to a tactical situation can cost dearly, so it's always appropriate the train for the right response.
rexregum 1 year ago
@rexregum I agree, but this lot were thrown together very quickly with very little training or equipment. The result was to be expected with what they had at the time. This was early on in the contractor period and was a big wake up call to all of those who forgot Fallujah all too quickly. These guys happened to be targets of opportunity at the time.
Skerne 1 year ago
@nlomas Would you be any chance, Bob Shepard? I fucking love your books mate. Hows Patcha Khan these days?
WoWJosh25 1 year ago
@WoWJosh25 i wish i had the experience and credentials to say i was even on par with him, but whilst i have served in the infantry in the armed forces its nowhere near on the same level as the auther of 'The Circuit'
nlomas 1 year ago
"Chris was wounded through the leg first and instead of moving off the "X"
he spent the last seconds of his life telling Johno about it while he took
another round through his throat and one through his head"
A quote from Yeager's AAR. Mocking a dead comrade. Stupid fat bastard.
jkcampbell730 2 years ago
Whoa, what is all of this about James Yeager, can you please fill me in, I planned on buying 2 books of his tomarrow, and I ran a google and found all of this info in reference to this tape, people calling him a coward and so forth? Please do tell about this AAR you speak of...
YJakaPINKY 2 years ago
That is the personal AAR that Yeager wrote himself. I'm sure you can find it somewhere.
jkcampbell730 2 years ago
I woulda jumped into that cowards car and have all 3 cars drive off.
VodkaKnight 2 years ago
LOL, I love the comments that call the 9mm a weak round. I'm sure you'd still be calling it weak if you were hit by it.
geofroley 2 years ago
9mm isn't necessarily a weak round. But you sure don't want to bring a 9mm to a 5.56 or 7.62 fight... You're just asking for trouble.
jkcampbell730 2 years ago
Agreed, but these guys are acting like 9mm will bounce off people. For practical self defense purposes, it's a perfectly effective round (though I think .40 S&W will overtake it in the coming years).
geofroley 2 years ago 2
Absolutely, for self defense purposes it is a perfectly suitable gun. I myself am a .45 guy myself because I like the feel of more power. But in the end, it's not really about bullet size as much as it's about proper placement.
Especially if people use hollow point rounds for self-defense, then there is a very small difference in the rate of expansion.
jkcampbell730 2 years ago
Shit is fucked up, going over there with a PMC soon, can't wait.
Xarmyranger 2 years ago
Huge cock up....initial contact to the right...cp member in lead veh exits left (good),cp members in 2nd and camera veh exit on the contact side (not good), covering fire too slow and why the fuck did they not bug out...i still cant believe they got into the contact in the first place....the Airport road is a hot one...why static...why 9 milly..
Awali63 2 years ago
What are they doing with 9mm weapons? A short AK is the perfect car weapon with a much more stopping power
solarizedmonkeyman 2 years ago
1.51 into the video, you can see a bullet hit the windscreen! Rough day for the boys
solarizedmonkeyman 2 years ago
Bloody hell, those poor lads really should have done their homework before working on a CP team. Let's hope other Private Security Firms learned the lesson although I'm sure top management don't give a shit about their employees.
romeo10alpha 2 years ago
Easy as anything to critisize what people did or didn't do or shouldn't or should do from behind a computer screen. Bit different when your on the 2 way range and it goes pete tong. Then again the majority of people who have left comments wouldn't know about that so carry and tell the PMC's what they should do in the future. RIP Camel, see you in the FRV.
colemanjurg 2 years ago 2
why did you get out the door on the side of the contact? bad SOP's man
Taylor486imU 2 years ago
we both lost good mates that day.. Its unfortunate people need to die to learn hard fast lesssons. Low profile no longer works in Iraq was the way to go at first. What happened here is they seperated themselfs from civlian traffic and the miltary pushed them back not know who they were... yea 9mm is a joke why they had them i dont know... oh well Good man each and one lucky to this video and others some people lived to see another day.
greenbeenie60 2 years ago
This type of thing happens to contractors all the time over there but their mistake was stopping. They are not in a choke-point, so they should have just punched it and got through the ambush.
blainelippe 2 years ago
they were stopped by the US military who were infront of them about 500 metres or so, they had no intention of stopping there but they had no choice. RIP Camel, the world is a lesser place without you brother.
ajshinner 2 years ago
They went low profile and things went wrong because of the ied everyone knows the risk when they decide to take the job 3 men died god bless em and god bless everyone still over there and those that don't come home
Blacklung27 2 years ago 2
The fact is that several good men lost their lives. No need to bash them here. God bless em.
Mercenary4801 3 years ago 3
shoulda ,woulda, coulda,...none of that shit matters..we lost 3 comrades...mistakes or not..we learn and move on...i dont think anyone who has been in contact on Route Irish can be ever classified as a coward..we all just react differently in times of life or death..we all know protocal..and do the best to stick to it. whos right or wrong doesnt matter ..whats done is done
ARCLIGHT06 3 years ago
All you fuckin youtube warriors calling James Yeager a coward need to shut the fuck up. You have no idea what you're talking about.
If you did you'd realize that Yeager did exactly what you're supposed to do in this situation.
Kurby1400 YOU ARE A LYING PIECE OF SHIT.
Go take a flying leap off of a tall building you cocksucker.
nighstalker239 3 years ago
So why didn't he cross deck into the other Vehicles then, because THAT's the drills when a vehicle is down !!!
Oh and the Armoured vehicle in the middle WOULD have given protection, should he have chosen to assist his team mates from that vehicle.....he flapped, and left his team mates out to dry, he bottled it and is now milking his experiences by running courses , shame it took the deaths of three good blokes to make JY realise what a fuck up he was.....and those that can't .......teach!!
cashlessgecko 3 years ago
No you're right cashlessgecko, he should have run straight through the open to the other vehicles..
Oh and then instead of returning fire he should have tried to assist his team mates in the line of fire and became a casualty himself.
You were there though, so you must be right..
Right?
nighstalker239 3 years ago
He ran through the open in the first place so why didn't he cross deck into the Armoured Vehicle, and why didn't he take up a fire position alongside Scouse and Big S?
I didn't see the other guys who were giving first aid becoming casualties either did you?
He bottled it big time!!
cashlessgecko 3 years ago
Whatever dude, you have your opinion and I have mine. I'm not going to convince you otherwise so fuck it.
They shouldn't have been in that position to begin with. It sure as fuck wasn't Yeager who put them there.
And who are you to pass judgement on someone anyway?
Unless you were fuckin THERE when it happened then your opinion doesn't count for shit and neither does mine.
I love how everybody becomes a fuckin expert on something after seeing it on the news or the internet.
nighstalker239 3 years ago
Nope, my sources were 3 of the survivors, they are the experts.
cashlessgecko 3 years ago
Yeah, them not you. When they get on here and say it, then it might mean something.
nighstalker239 3 years ago
What if... they should of.... why didn't they..... The fact is that when an armoured SUV with a MG opens up at you with AP rounds at close range From a raised position ( an overpass on ramp) all your SOPs go out the window, the rounds were plowing through everything, including the cars, and the 9mm and 5.56 they had were doing nothing> i Lost a good mate that day and i'm sick of people going over this again and again
ajshinner 2 years ago 3
Not to mention he ran off and hid in a ditch while everyone else did their job.
Luwinkle 2 years ago
adomsky121 please dont take too much heed from that book, yes this was a debacle, but that book does have some strange ideas about CP in it.
discomike2006 3 years ago
oh yeah i understand that with any book like that you just get it from one point of view, very very brave people who go do things like this.
adomsky121 3 years ago
This video breaks my heart every time I see it. Jay was a warrior.
bighitter42 3 years ago
i read about it in a book called 'the circuit' by bob shepherd, its now used for training as ways not to do things. highly recommend the book, it explains why things like this happen all the time
adomsky121 3 years ago
17 seconds to return fire from they first had the contact, 99 seconds to depoly smoke, mp5? wrong gun for that place, again they got out on the side they were being fired on? they had stopped there cos american army were ambushed with a ied further up the road,the US army shut the road but instead of going back to base they choose to sit and wait for the road to reopen. is it the guys on the ground fault? or the company that is sending guys who no little or no training for that enviroment?
adomsky121 3 years ago
The guys jumped out on the side the were contacted on, some of them at any length, why ? you never do that NEVER, i ain't knocking them but they could hae reacted better, it took to long for accurate return fire and as some have said they should never have stopped on irish.
SpLiC3 3 years ago
Shut up he isnt running away its a contact right so he is getting ont the safest side of the wagon. In a contact you flap no two ways around it your heart will race and everything around you will be going so fast. The story behind this is they are on a low profile job on route irish and behind an american convoy. They shouldnt have stopped like they did it gives away what they are doing and who they are.
mccurdytom1985 3 years ago
Is Yeager really as bad as people say?
coble0369 3 years ago
bet your ass that high drag asshole is every bit as bad
Littlehummer8812 2 years ago
The guy who runs away,James Yeager, has now released dvds of "High Risk Civilian Contractor" or some shit like that which seems pretty stupied. Yeager has no military experiance and was a police officer for 12 years He has gone on to blame the deaths, which were in due to his part of putting the car in park and ebrake, of his comrades because they didnt react right and has started a site against the company that employed him. His reason for putting the car in park? His leg was cramping.
Kurby1400 3 years ago
you dont know james yeager and you dont know what happened. you are a coward hiding behind a keyboard and would never say it to his face. do the world a favor and kill yourself. you're breathing up my air.
alltoyoumusic 2 years ago
Like yourself? I know about 5 or 6 members of the 75th rangers who watched this video and saw clips of his dvds and they called the guy a fucking moron. I dont know him nor pretend too, but it seems to me that to throw your insulting your dead comrade is a highly arogant and fucked up behavior.
Kurby1400 2 years ago
like i said, you dont know what happened. i dont care if you know 300 members of the 75th rangers and they all analyzed the dvds in slow motion while you guys jerked each other off into a tub of popcorn. they dont have a clue what went on and cant possibly give ANY kind of credible reason as to why he is a "fucking moron" other than "we do this differently in the military". GET EDUCATED OR SHUT YOUR MOUTH. your speaking all kinds of jibberish
alltoyoumusic 2 years ago
I understand what your saying. I wasnt trying to project that I knew the extent of the situation that happend. I still standby my opion though that all the bad mouthing this guy did makes him a douch in my mind.
Kurby1400 2 years ago
Just to let you know the guy driving James Yeager, had the E-brake on, and was wondering why the car wasn't moving.....
He's the reason 3 men died
piggyspizza 3 years ago
If someone even thinks about hurting an amrican that means they need to die. It doesn't matter if we are in their country. If they want to live on this earth, they are not aloud to do anything to american, or friends of americans. We just need to keep killing them, and everyone around them until there is nobody else that resists.
DrewDawg50 3 years ago
would you think that if you weren't american?
jewbacca956 3 years ago
So what you're really saying, DrewDawg, is that you think a totalitarian, facist world dictatorship would be a good thing?
Let me know if you ever look in the mirror and think about change.
bigveasy 2 years ago
I may not agree with what they are doing, but I rather support Americans anyday over some middle eastern fuks!
seth61682 3 years ago 2
I may not agree with what they are doing, but I rather support Americans anyday over some middle eastern fuks!
seth61682 3 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
u r all retarded, why kill these "ragheads", what did they do to u, you came in their country and profit off of killing their fellow brothers and sisters and then you say they deserve to die and you would want to "bag" more of them? don't you see, you are the one thats truly evil and wrong, and btw i am in the army so fuck off ne one who wants to call me a civilian
austinrb 3 years ago
lol which army the iranian army? lol
highspeed777 3 years ago 3
haha ur cute, say that to my face punk bitch, i've done more for my country than could you do in 3 lives asshole
austinrb 3 years ago
uhuh im soooo sure bet you volunteer with kids too right? what unit were you in? what base you assigned too? what was your job in the military bet your some POG
highspeed777 3 years ago
listen son you are entitled to your oppinion of course, im don't care if you have ever been to the box or not, but untill you have experianced the shit in this video you will NEVER understand, and most don't care if you ever do. the fact that what you wrote "brothers and sisters" just tells me you don't yet understand. maybe some day, hang in there.
jaredr5757 3 years ago 2
That couldnt have been said in a more correct and true way
Kurby1400 3 years ago
why are u in the armyif u hate wut its doing?
riverdave7 2 years ago
cuz its fun
austinrb 2 years ago
....
riverdave7 2 years ago
u just dont understand, i love the thrill
austinrb 2 years ago
but u disagree wth the cause...
riverdave7 2 years ago
with what we are doing in iraq, but still serving my country none the less, politicians fault not the soldiers
austinrb 2 years ago
I did 2 tours in the Anbar Province with 3rd battalion 7th marines so I have fired many shots, and have had many shots fired back, but I would still kill to be able to get back over there to make the money these guys are making, and they get their hunting tags. It'd be nice to just bag a couple more of those douchebags..
JacobSchebler 3 years ago
fuck all you pricks who come on here and have never fired a shot in anger at some fuckin rag-head hodgie. God Bless these men in the video, and the ones here who do comment and know the reality of this shit. fuck i hate ignorant civillians who think they know the war, go watch CNN and fill your head with that bull shit some more.
jaredr5757 3 years ago