American Captain Free'd

[Tree Pig]

I know this has nothing to do with this forum, but as a proud American and a former sniper I just want to say a few things

First I want to say how proud I am of Captain Phillips who acted in a manor that honors the history of US sea captains by offering himself to free his crew and in the great spirit of American POW's made attempts to escape his captors.

And of course to the snipers that took the shots. Preliminary reports appear that SEAL snipes took 3 simultaneous shots, at a moments notice when it appeared Captain Phillips may be shot. Three perfect headshots (on moving targets) later and in a short time Captain Phillips was on the USS Bainbridge.

Great job by the Commander of the Bainbridge for ordering the assault and lastly I guess I have to give a salute to the president (from a Republican) for signing the presidential order ahead of time to okay the whole thing.

To celabrate this whole thing I had to get some alone time. So I went out side and split a half cord of Ash. Overjoyed and full of pride driven energy I left the splitter covered and axed through it all in record time.

Salutes all around.

Its a great day to be an American

 

[ericjeeper]

This is great news.

Now we just need to make sure none of our Americans get in this situation again.
Maybe we need a few armed military men on every ship? And make sure no one is allowed to try to board a ship out in the ocean. Drop a little sumptin sumptin over the side into their boat maybe?
You know a sort of "going away gift".

 

[Tree Pig]

I would be willing to bet it is going to open up a whole new private industry for former Spec Ops guys in the civilian side.

 

[tomtrees58]

I would be willing to bet it is going to open up a whole new private industry for former Spec Ops guys in the civilian side.

open season tom trees

 

[Tree Pig]

open season tom trees

I may be willing to pull my shooting eye out of retirement.

 

[woodguy105]

I know this has nothing to do with this forum, but as a proud American and a former sniper I just want to say a few things

First I want to say how proud I am of Captain Phillips who acted in a manor that honors the history of US sea captains by offering himself to free his crew and in the great spirit of American POW's made attempts to escape his captors.

And of course to the snipers that took the shots. Preliminary reports appear that SEAL snipes took 3 simultaneous shots, at a moments notice when it appeared Captain Phillips may be shot. Three perfect headshots (on moving targets) later and in a short time Captain Phillips was on the USS Bainbridge.

Great job by the Commander of the Bainbridge for ordering the assault and lastly I guess I have to give a salute to the president (from a Republican) for signing the presidential order ahead of time to okay the whole thing.

To celabrate this whole thing I had to get some alone time. So I went out side and split a half cord of Ash. Overjoyed and full of pride driven energy I left the splitter covered and axed through it all in record time.

Salutes all around.

Its a great day to be an American

Thanks for your service to this great nation of ours Stihl-o-matic! Ditto to the rest of you military men and ladies.

 

[harrybeaver]

I am writing this e-mail from the Sealand Mercury another Maersk Line Limited ship. I personally haven't worked with Captain Philips but many of the people I do work with have. I can tell you all of us were very happy to hear that Captain Philips was rescued. He has set a bench mark of bravory for others to follow. It takes alot of courage to go through those waters without any weapons onboard, I didn't like it when we were in the Mallaca straights or when we were sent to the persian gulf for the start of the PGWII. Volunteering to get into a lifeboat with armed terrorists goes beyond the call.

 

[husky455rancher]

excellent news. i got a cousin whos a sniper at the white house right now. well he was a few months ago. i dunno how long hes doing it for. also today my dad was telling me about this and he told me his dad did the plumbing in the uss bainbridge and the uss longbeach. suprisingly hes never told me that before. i never met his dad as he died before i was born but from the stories ive been told he was a great guy and he was a navy man.

 

[ericjeeper]

I am writing this e-mail from the Sealand Mercury another Maersk Line Limited ship. I personally haven't worked with Captain Philips but many of the people I do work with have. I can tell you all of us were very happy to hear that Captain Philips was rescued. He has set a bench mark of bravory for others to follow. It takes alot of courage to go through those waters without any weapons onboard, I didn't like it when we were in the Mallaca straights or when we were sent to the persian gulf for the start of the PGWII. Volunteering to get into a lifeboat with armed terrorists goes beyond the call.

I am assuming that firearms are not allowed? If that is the case.. It sucks. Home made tatergun? you know a sturdy piece of pipe and some ripe potatoes laced with machine shop floor sweeps? Propellled by an air compressor.

 

[Tree Pig]

I am writing this e-mail from the Sealand Mercury another Maersk Line Limited ship. I personally haven't worked with Captain Philips but many of the people I do work with have. I can tell you all of us were very happy to hear that Captain Philips was rescued. He has set a bench mark of bravory for others to follow. It takes alot of courage to go through those waters without any weapons onboard, I didn't like it when we were in the Mallaca straights or when we were sent to the persian gulf for the start of the PGWII. Volunteering to get into a lifeboat with armed terrorists goes beyond the call.

I agree 100% it takes guts to float around out there unarmed. I will raise a beer in your and your shipmates honor tonight. Then I hope you all will join me in raising one to Capt. Phillips and the Snipers.

But as you stated what Captain Phillips did is something that legends are made of, no wait I take that back, its something that American legends are made of.

Maybe we can get Phillips to take Sarah Palins spot on the next republican ticket.

 

[Tree Pig]

Thanks for your service to this great nation of ours Stihl-o-matic! Ditto to the rest of you military men and ladies.

Thanks that is greatly appreciated by myself and all active and vets that read it.

Not to take credit away from the deserving, this wasnt meant to be about me.

 

[Tree Pig]

I am assuming that firearms are not allowed? If that is the case.. It sucks. Home made tatergun? you know a sturdy piece of pipe and some ripe potatoes laced with machine shop floor sweeps? Propellled by an air compressor.

I believe there is a UN security council resolution that prevents most container ships from being armed. I think tankers and sensitive cargo and have armed guards.

Well if this is correct its time for a change.

 

[harrybeaver]

I believe there is a UN security council resolution that prevents most container ships from being armed. I think tankers and sensitive cargo and have armed guards.

Well if this is correct its time for a change.

Actually it is company policy. Even though pretty much everyone onboard has had small arms training and I personally love to target shoot we are not allowed to keep weapons onboard. In the past we kept shotguns for shooting skeet but that isn't even allowed anymore. I am hoping these recent events will change the current policies. I am afraid that the pirates will be more aggressive in the future and we will need more deterance.:monkey:
As far as armed guards. We really do not have that much extra room for them. Its just a limitation when they design these ships they try and keep the accomodations to a minimum to keep costs down.

 

[Tree Pig]

Well I believe now that the Navy has become actively involved in a high profile way, there should be no way to back down now. The Navy is going to be forced to increase attempts to prevent these situations in the future. Your company may need to rethink their policy. If these pirates thought there was a chance they may face an armed adversary they would probably pick another target or occupation.

Yeah didnt think about the lack of living space. I am sure you guys could defend yourselves, may require a little training on certain things. To protect yourself you may need access to a shoulder fire rocket system of some type. I know these pirates are using them to threaten their targets. Well Just blow one of them POS skiffs out of the water when he gets too close and watch how fast the rest turn and run.

got room to strap one of these down.

 

[tree md]

Great news. I agree Capt. Phillips is a brave and honorable man. I'd raise a beer to him if I wasn't so dang full of ham and green beans. I'll raise my coffee mug in salute!

Hopefully they will get a handle on the piracy issue on the African coast.

 

[harrybeaver]

Well I believe now that the Navy has become actively involved in a high profile way, there should be no way to back down now. The Navy is going to be forced to increase attempts to prevent these situations in the future. Your company may need to rethink their policy. If these pirates thought there was a chance they may face an armed adversary they would probably pick another target or occupation.

Yeah didnt think about the lack of living space. I am sure you guys could defend yourselves, may require a little training on certain things. To protect yourself you may need access to a shoulder fire rocket system of some type. I know these pirates are using them to threaten their targets. Well Just blow one of them POS skiffs out of the water when he gets too close and watch how fast the rest turn and run.

got room to strap one of these down.

I think a dozen Bushmaster 450's would do. We have tremendous advantage because of our size (957') and speed (26kt). I have seen pictures of other company ships that were hit by RPG's and it aint pretty, luckily they aren't smart enough to try and hit the bunker tanks. I just gotta wonder how these Somalians have such a limitless number of RPG's at their disposal?
We could strap the unit down that you have shown but putting armed guards on would also take away my chances at nailing one of these SOBs!

 

[bassman]

I was happy to hear this as well and also to have it explained to me why we have a no ransom policy.

I used to think that we should hand over some cash but in doing that we are just funding future kidnappings!!

now there will be a strong message sent to anyone trying to pull this type of thing again.

 

[windthrown]

Just what I was thinking should happen the day before yesterday.

Good job Seal Teams!

 

[sbhooper]

That was good timing and outstanding planning to get all three of the skinnies at the same time. The shots themselves were chump shots for snipers as they were only 30 meters away. The timing was impeccable, though.

It is irritating to me that this can even continue. Those people need to be slaughtered like the dogs that they are. Ship's crews are going to have to be armed. Those are big ships and it is inexcusable that they are being taken over by people in small boats just because they are armed and the ships aren't. :angrysoapbox:

As far as the RPGs go, they are cheap and available by the millions. All the countries that are playing coward and paying ransom money are paying for the RPGs. They are a cheap and effective weapon. (I know. I almost got taken out by one in Iraq).

Capt. Phillips performed above and beyond the call of duty as did our military (as usual). This just shows that in spite of all the pathetic people that seem to be rising to the top in this country, there are still people out there with the true spirit on which this country was built.

 

[HuskyMike]

They are a cheap and effective weapon. (I know. I almost got taken out by one in Iraq).

:

Thank you for your service! Glad you are well and made it home!!

I am very glad that the capt is A OK!! The Navy did an awesome job and I a proud (as always) to be an American. And yes, as said before (from a republican) Thank you Obama for letting these guys get what they need!