Letter Re: A Combat Gear Primer

Mr. Rawles,
This a reply to the reply to “A Combat Gear Primer” by WildcatActual.  While it is true that a direct hit from a high-powered rifle such as a Russian Dragunov firing a 7.62x54R will not/should not penetrate military grade body armor I would like to add to the comment of “These are but two examples of the fallacy that blunt force trauma from a bullet hit will incapacitate an individual wearing body armor”:

I have a personal experience in this.  I was in Mosul, Iraq in 2006.  Our unit was tasked to clear and old cement factory in the city.  This cement factory was a sniper’s dream, and the insurgents made good use of it for that very purpose.  Several guys had been hit in and around this area from sniper fire.  Our unit had received a “tip” that the same sniper who had, just days before, killed another US soldier was back at the factory.  Our unit rolled in there ready to take this guy down once and for all.  We thought we had a pretty good idea where he was shooting from.  We set up a perimeter inside and dismounted the Strykers.  The weapons team advanced on one of those tower looking rock crusher things and our 6, the Medic and myself took up a covering position at the back rear of the vicinity.

The weapons squad was no more than a few seconds into there bounding when I was thrown face-forward into the dirt.  It felt like someone had had come up behind me and kicked me as hard as possible in the back. I could barely breath, I had no idea I had just been shot in the back.  The next thing I knew someone was dragging me to the other side of the vehicle.  My whole body hurt, but yes, I was able to regain my composure and get back up to my knees after a minute or so, but just barely.  Was I “out of the fight”?  No.  Was I as as combat effective as I was a few minutes ago?  No way! To make long story short, we still did not catch the sniper and I had one cracked rib and a nasty bruise in the shape of a SAPI plate on my back.  One more round to the same area and I would have been done.  

Finally, I know the exact video the reader is referencing about the soldier who is shot and gets right back up, and I have some further information on this as well.  The soldier in the video was shot with a Tabuk-S Assault Rifle, which is basically an AK-47 with a long, heavy RPK type barrel.  This is not really a Sniper Rifle per se but an SDM weapon that fires a 7.62×39 AK-47 round which does not have the punch of a full-power 7.62x54r round.  So is it possible that a person wearing modern body armor can be taken down with a single hit?  Lets just say I am glad I was dragged to cover because at that point I didn’t even know my name let alone able to get there on my own. – Van  D.