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| Snipers in need have friend in States |
| 2004-05-18 |
| Attention, deployed snipers: Your brothers-in-arms back home want to send you gear. A group of police and military snipers has started âAdopt a Sniperâ to donate equipment to deployed military members. Itâs the brainchild of Brian Sain, a police SWAT member for 15 years who works as a detective in the Port Arthur (Texas) Police Department. Sain said he was inspired by the close-knit âsniper fraternity,â whose military and civilian police members are unusually interwoven. âA lot of SWAT [members] are former military, and a lot of them are reservists who are now going overâ to Iraq and Afghanistan, Sain said. âAnd even if youâre not military, getting shot at is getting shot at, no matter where you are.â Sain said he knows âwhat itâs like not to have the equipment you need.â In 1994, Sain said, âI watched a guy hold a baby out a door through my sniper scope. I couldnât see [well enough to shoot the man]; it was dark and I didnât have night-vision equipment.â As Sain watched helplessly, the man shot the baby in the back. Sain said he is determined to make sure no deployed military sniper will ever be in that spot â unable to do his mission or worse yet, in danger, because he doesnât have the right gear. In the six months since he started, Sain estimates that heâs sent at least $10,000 worth of sniper supplies to troops overseas. Sainâs rules for who gets the goods are simple: deployed American servicemembers with a sniper military occupational specialty, regardless of branch of service. âIf they need [anything], they donât have to do nothing but e-mail me. It takes about two weeks for me to get it to them in the mail.â E-mails requesting equipment have come from all over â Iraq, Afghanistan and places Sain wonât name for security reasons. Gear requests range from long cotton-tipped swabs for cleaning weapons to ultra-high-tech electronics that only an expert could use. Among the most requested items are specialized batteries, âany and all kinds of Surefireâ (a line of tactical flashlights), and S.T.R.I.K.E. (Soldier Tactical Retro Integrated Kit Enhanced) Commando Recon chest harnesses. Almost all of the gear Sain ships has one thing in common, he said: Itâs specific to the very specialized sniper community and thus often very hard for civilian family and friends to supply to deployed servicemembers. âItâs easy for [snipers] to write home and say, âI want a can of shaving cream,ââ Sain said. âBut trying to explain a Gen 4 Molle gear to Mom is a lot harder. Sheâd gladly spend the money, but she doesnât know where to get it.â There is one problem with getting gear to military snipers: They move around a lot, especially special forces, Sain said. In fact, he has âsix huge boxesâ of expensive gear, including spotting scopes and binoculars, packed and ready to ship at the request of a SEAL team whose last known address was Bahrain. But the team appears to have moved on, and now the donation is âjust waiting for a mailing label and a customs stamp,â Sain said. So drop him a line, SEALs. âYou know who you are,â Sain said. â For more information or to make a donation, go to www.adoptasniper.com or www.snipersonline.org. Military snipers requesting gear must send their name, rank, service, date of graduation from and location of their sniper school, direct overseas contact information, and contact information for their commanding officer. All requests are verified for authenticity. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #6 "Tossing a few dollars to them won't hurt you" Done. Thanks for the heads-up, Steve. Dang, my PayPal account is drawing down. Gotta find more stuff to sell on eBay. :-p |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2004-05-18 3:53:43 PM |
| #5 Seafarious...maybe they can throw in one of those handsome thongs with cross hairs. |
| Posted by: Dragon Fly 2004-05-18 1:44:24 PM |
| #4 Kim du Toit also started something like this last week at his website. |
| Posted by: Mercutio 2004-05-18 1:01:20 PM |
| #3 Do I get a picture of my adopted sniper and a chatty newsletter every other month? How 'bout a "Adopt-a-Sniper" umbrella to go with my "Air America" tote bag? And a VHS copy of the "3 Tenors". /sarcasm I'm off to throw some change in their tip jar. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2004-05-18 11:39:58 AM |
| #2 Jarhead is correct. Tossing a few dollars to them won't hurt you. |
| Posted by: Dragon Fly 2004-05-18 9:56:48 AM |
| #1 this is f*cking cool, good for Mr.Sain. |
| Posted by: Jarhead 2004-05-18 9:35:22 AM |