Search Global Recon Podcast on SoundCloud, ITunes, or click the link in my bio. GRP 69-This episode is co-hosted by Chantel Taylor. We have the honor of having the youngest Command Sergeant Major in Iraqi Military history on the show, Hamody Jasim. CSM Jasim was recruited by U.S. Intelligence after saving an American Military officer who was nearly abducted by al-Qaeda. His intelligence information changed the battle for the Marines in the Fallujah/Ramadi area by taking out one of al-Qaeda’s main operatives. On this episode, he shared several stories of his time in Iraq. CSM Hamody Jasim: I was sent on a few missions with the first Iraqi Divisions. I was sent to Bagdad. We went on a mission to recover the bodies of 25 dead Iraqi military recruit’s. The terrorist was coordinating with the Bus driver who had taken them into Haifa Street. They were all executed. I took about 30 of my soldiers. We had pick up trucks to load the bodies up. The terrorist aim was to capture Iraqi soldiers alive and behead them on TV. We drove into Haifa Street. It is normally a very busy street. It was like a ghost town that day. We immediately felt that something was wrong. In 2004 this was probably the most dangerous 2 miles in the world. I told my commander something doesn’t look right about this. The plan was to load the bodies and leave as soon as possible. We were ambushed. They had a sniper up in a tall building for anyone who got out of the initial kill zone. We were there for about an hour and 45 minutes. Our QRF left the Iraqi base to come support us. They immediately hit an IED in Haifa Street. Most of us ran out of ammo. It took an American unit about an hour to get to us. We had 9 soldiers left by that time. I was shot in the knee. I had a shrapnel would above my right eye. That day will probably be the worst day of my life. Losing my guys. I slept next to these guys. One of my best friends was shot by the sniper trying to recover one of our soldiers. It was rough. My Platoon commander was captured alive, and as I was leaving I saw his body was beheaded. #GlobalReconPodcast #HamodyJasim #Iraq #terrorism #combatstories #BattleWorn @mission_critical

Petty Officer Michael A. Monsoor, United States Navy, distinguished himself through conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. He was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously. He served as automatic weapons gunner in a combined SEAL and Iraqi Army (IA) sniper overwatch element positioned on a residential rooftop in a violent area. In the morning, his team observed four enemy fighters armed with AK-47s reconnoitering from roads in the sector to conduct follow-on attacks. SEAL snipers from his roof engaged two of them which resulted in one enemy wounded in action and one enemy killed in action. In the early afternoon, enemy fighters attacked his position with automatic weapons fire from a moving vehicle. The SEALs fired back and stood their ground. Shortly thereafter, an enemy fighter shot a rocket-propelled grenade at his building. He was located closest to the egress route out of the sniper hide-sight watching for enemy activity through a tactical periscope over the parapet wall. While vigilantly watching for enemy activity, an enemy fighter hurled a hand grenade onto the roof from an unseen location. The grenade hit him in the chest and bounced onto the deck. He immediately leapt to his feet and yelled “grenade” to alert his teammates of impending danger, but they could not evacuate the sniper hide-sight in time to escape harm. Without hesitation and showing no regard for his own life, he threw himself onto the grenade, smothering it to protect his teammates who were lying in close proximity. The grenade detonated as he came down on top of it, mortally wounding him. Of the three SEALs on that rooftop corner, he had the only avenue of escape away from the blast, and if he had so chosen, he could have easily escaped. Instead, Monsoor chose to protect his comrades by the sacrifice of his own life. By his actions, he saved the lives of his two fellow SEALs and he is the most deserving of the special recognition afforded by awarding the Medal of Honor. #GlobalRecon #CombatStories #Honor #MedalofHonor #SEALs #NavySEALs #RIP #RestInPeace @tag_gear @halffaceblades

Petty Officer Michael A. Monsoor, United States Navy, distinguished himself through conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. He was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously. He served as automatic weapons gunner in a combined SEAL and Iraqi Army (IA) sniper overwatch element positioned on a residential rooftop in a violent area. In the morning, his team observed four enemy fighters armed with AK-47s reconnoitering from roads in the sector to conduct follow-on attacks. SEAL snipers from his roof engaged two of them which resulted in one enemy wounded in action and one enemy killed in action. In the early afternoon, enemy fighters attacked his position with automatic weapons fire from a moving vehicle. The SEALs fired back and stood their ground. Shortly thereafter, an enemy fighter shot a rocket-propelled grenade at his building. He was located closest to the egress route out of the sniper hide-sight watching for enemy activity through a tactical periscope over the parapet wall. While vigilantly watching for enemy activity, an enemy fighter hurled a hand grenade onto the roof from an unseen location. The grenade hit him in the chest and bounced onto the deck. He immediately leapt to his feet and yelled “grenade” to alert his teammates of impending danger, but they could not evacuate the sniper hide-sight in time to escape harm. Without hesitation and showing no regard for his own life, he threw himself onto the grenade, smothering it to protect his teammates who were lying in close proximity. The grenade detonated as he came down on top of it, mortally wounding him. Of the three SEALs on that rooftop corner, he had the only avenue of escape away from the blast, and if he had so chosen, he could have easily escaped. Instead, Monsoor chose to protect his comrades by the sacrifice of his own life. By his actions, he saved the lives of his two fellow SEALs and he is the most deserving of the special recognition afforded by awarding the Medal of Honor. #GlobalRecon #CombatStories #Honor #MedalofHonor

Ramadi 2006 . The Jihadist on the roof knew exactly where the snipers had established their hide site. He hurled a grenade into the room below. Petty Officer “Bill Barnum,” the element’s corpsman was sprayed with shrapnel. As his brothers rushed to Bill’s side, al- Qaida launched a simultaneous assault on all three of the SEAL team 5 hide sites. The streets swarmed with Jihadists, rushing and bounding and firing from the hips. Soon they were hammering the SEALs with machine guns and rifles. The SEALs radioed COP Eagle’s Nest, and the Army launched four M2 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles their way. In the meantime, the operators hunkered down in the hide sites and waited for the Brads to come get their wounded brother. The snipers gathered their gear and move downstairs. One minute, bullets filled the air, spattered the walls of their building, and cracked overhead. The next, the neighborhood fell so silent it seemed like one of those foreshadowing moments in a bad horror film. The Iraq scouts, and Seals broke cover an ran outside. The other men followed and fanned out to set security. That’s when an explosion blew everyone off their feet. A Jundi(Iraqi Scout) near the point of the explosion was nearly ripped in half by shrapnel. He died a few minutes later. Bill and John(Seals) sprawled nearby, bleeding from numerous shrapnel wounds. The blast broke both of their legs.Everyone else had suffered shrapnel wounds. Al Queda dispatched men to emplace an IED near the house’s front door. The Brad crew dropped their ramp, and the first group of SEALs rushed into the street. The Brads pulled out and raced back to COP Eagle’s Nest. Given the speed at which the insurgents placed the IED by the doorway to Higgins’s house, the Brad crews expected to run into bombs, rockets, and anything else the insurgents could throw at them. Given their refusal to retreat, the mech infantry guys knew they were in for another hard fight. They never flinched. The tracks lined up at the front gate and headed out back into the storm. #GlobalRecon #Combatstories #NavySEALs

Excerpt from @markowens No Easy Day: The Evolution of a Navy SEAL. Available on Amazon.com Ray’s squadron had been in Afghanistan. His troop was assaulting a cluster of buildings behind a mud wall. Ray was one of the lead snipers and had climbed on top of a nearby building overlooking the compound where the Taliban commander was holed up, so that he could provide cover for the assaulters. As Ray set up to cover the assaulters, he took each step with care. The door directly under Ray’s position was thrown open from the inside. Then the distinct shape of an RPG poked out. The shock wave from the back blast created by the RPG was powerful enough to cause the mud roof to collapse. The middle of the roof opened like a giant mouth and swallowed Ray, dropping him in the middle of the house. Ray landed on a heap of broken wooden beams and mud. He immediately saw five Taliban fighters through the dust cloud, holding AK- 47 assault rifles and wearing chest racks carrying extra magazines. A few were lying on the floor, stunned by the RPG’s back blast. He spotted a window and crashed through it. I saw Ray fall out of the window in a heap, landing at the base of the wall. Ray yelled to his teammates, identifying himself as one of the good guys. He hoped his fellow assaulters would realize he wasn’t one of the Taliban. The footage showed Ray rolling away from the window and calmly pulling out a grenade. Crouching under the lip of the windowsill, he tossed the grenade into the house. From the drone feed, I thought Ray looked calm. All of his movements were smooth and fluid. He had a way of making something crazy look easy. Ray rolled away from the open window and dove for some cover. The grenade exploded and sent a cloud of debris out of the hole in the roof. Inside the house, the shrapnel cut down the fighters. @MarkOwenSeal #GlobalRecon #CombatStories #NavySEALs #Operators @defcon_1 @mitchell__mcalister

Part two of the story of the missing soldiers. A high ranking Al Queda leader dubbed "Muhammad" has been found to have been responsible for the attack and subsequent torture of the two Americans. Muhammad was a dead man walking, he just didn’t know it. There was no way he and the rest of those responsible for these savage killings would escape American justice. Based on intel, plus photos we had acquired of Muhammad, SEAL Team Three was ordered to kill or capture him. To the team, there was no question of capturing Muhammad. SEAL Team Three included one of the most lethal snipers in American history: Petty Officer Chris Kyle. The plan called for Kyle’s platoon to establish a hide site overlooking the primary safe house. If their target failed to show up after a week, they would switch to the secondary safe house and wait for him there. The first hide site turned out to be a bust. At the end of the first week, the team got permission to switch to the secondary target house. The CH- 53 picked them up and moved them to the alternate hide site, which was a walled farmhouse about three hundred yards from the target area. The snipers established fields of fire and handed out assigned sectors to search and target. Then one afternoon a dust trail appeared in the distance. Three vehicles approached .Muhammad had arrived. In seconds, the SEALs killed seven of the eight terrorists. Only Muhammad had survived. When the shooting started, he dove prone on the far side of the Suburban and nobody could see him well enough to get shots off. The team called in the CH- 53 and they would stage a false extraction. A few minutes later, the bird arrived. A third of the team rushed from the house and flowed into the chopper. Kyle and the other snipers remained i, waiting to see if Muhammad would react. An hour later, Muhammad’s eyes appeared as he took a quick look around. He concluded that the Americans really had left. Muhammad had made a sprint for the gate of the compound when Kyle zeroed him in and took the shot. He dropped instantly. To hit a moving target at 300 yards was a good shot. Justice served! Seal style. #IgRecon #GlobalRecon #CombatStories #ChrisKyle #Iraq