American Sniper Dress Up to Play

This is the story of an American who was born in a Texan town, grew up on a farm with a rifle in his hands (his first Springfield was given to him when he was 8 years old), and went to university before his promising sport career was cut short due to injury. It all sounds like a cliché from a Yankee movie, only this time it wasn’t American football, but rodeo. Of course, remember we’re talking about Texas. 

 "CHRISTOPHER KYLE, EL “AMERICAN SNIPER”

CHIEF PETTY OFFICER
08/04/1974 - 02/02/2013   

Years of service:
1999 - 2009

Branch of the armed forces:
US Navy

Unit:
Sniper of platoon “Charlie”, SEAL Team 3

Decorations
Silver Star Medal (x2), Bronze Star Medal (x5), Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (x2)

Deployments:
Irak (four deployments) 

Nicknames:
 “Shaitan Al-Ramadi” o “Legend” 

Rejection
Like many patriotic Americans, he wanted to serve his country and tried to enlist in the navy to become a SEAL, but he was hindered by the injury that he had suffered when he was younger. However, the 9/11 attacks changed things.

Second chance 
The recruiters who had rejected him were the same ones who called him up and he accepted the invitation, keen to prove himself and see if he could go beyond his own limits. He passed the course, got into the SEALs, specialized as a sniper, was deployed to Iraq and accomplished feats typical of Hollywood. 

The sniper 
He successfully took out an insurgent from over 2,100 m: a mixture of training and luck as he admitted himself. He took out more than 40 insurgents in one day during the Second Battle of Fallujah, the deadliest battle in Iraq. 

Also known as… 
Because of everything mentioned above, his comrades called him “Legend” with a hint of irony and jealousy mixed together in equal parts. However, his enemies called him “Shaitan Al-Ramadi” (“The Devil of Ramadi”) and also put a $180,000 bounty on his head. Now that’s popularity! 

Achievements

After four deployments, two Silver Stars and five Bronze Stars (five for bravery), with a wife and two children waiting for him at home, he was forced to make a tough decision: join up again and complete the years of service needed to get his pension or leave the armed forces and take charge of his family, who he had not spent time with for so many years. 

Over and out 

In the end he chose his family, leaving his SEAL Team 3 comrades with a heavy heart, and set up a school to pass on his experience and knowledge to other snipers who needed it. Unfortunately this was where he ended up dying when he was 39 years old at the hands of a 20-year-old ex-Marine, for reasons still unknown to this day.

Did you know that…

Here is some information that will be useful for you to know so you can show off when talking about the film.

David O. Russell (the director of Three Kings) voluntarily put himself forward to direct the project although he ended up pulling out and directing fell into the hands of Steven Spielberg (Saving Private Ryan). But Spielberg also ended up pulling out because he claimed that the budget was too low and directing therefore fell into the hands of Clint Eastwood.

Although a great deal of the film was shot in the United States, some scenes were filmed in Morocco, like Black Hawk Down. Coincidence?  

Bradley Cooper was not going to play Chris Kyle; it was going to be Chris Pratt. Cooper was just going to produce the film. But the more he got into the project, the more he admired the SEAL and he ended up playing Chris Kyle himself.

To become Kyle, B. Cooper had to lift weights and eat the equivalent to 6000 calories, putting his health at risk in order to carry out the brutal transformation to get into character.

One detail that the critics have not missed is the scene in which Kyle is holding his son, where a doll is clearly used instead of a baby. A production problem which ended up becoming viral on Twitter with accounts like “American Sniper Baby”. 

Confirmed Deats

Kyle became a living legend for having killed 255 insurgents, even though The Pentagon only recorded 160 confirmed deaths, making him the deadliest sniper in the United States.  A lot of documentation has to be filled out to confirm a death, and evidence and witnesses have to be brought forward which can often be really complicated in combat situations. 

Equipment

He wore the regulation uniform, the DCU (Desert Combat Uniform) or “three colours”. And as Kyle says himself in his book, in the pocket of his right trouser leg, underneath the holster, he carried his individual dressing kit  (a small first aid bag with the essentials to dress bullet wounds). 

Talking of holsters, in the first two missions he opted for a leg holster (Safariland 6004), but he ended up replacing it for a hip one. 

For personal protection he had the MICH 2000 helmet, with a Norotos mount and MS2000 strobe marker light, but he found it uncomfortable for monitoring missions and it didn’t even stop pistol bullets, so if he didn’t have to use night vision (NVG PVS 15) he opted for a baseball cap with the Cadillac logo or one with the logo of the 9/11 New York firefighters. 

In his first mission he wore a MOLLE bulletproof vest, but in the following missions he replaced this for a PACA Body Armor bulletproof vest, and a PECO as he says in his book, although in the film we can see him with an RRV. 

Basic Mechanix gloves, a black G-Shock watch, a GPS on his wrist, a spare one on his vest, a compass, a Microtech knife and Emerson and Benchmade machetes. And Merrel knee high boots for his feet. These are some details that complete his equipment. 

Armament

As a SEAL he was trained to use all types of weapons, as his training was extensive and it became even broader following his sniper training. But let’s focus on the rifles that he talks about in his book:  

The Mk12 is basically an M4 but with a longer barrel. It fires 5.56 ammunition, therefore more than one shot might be needed to take out the target. It is also completely interchangeable with an M4, which is why Chris chose to mount the down receiver of an M4 in the upper of the Mk12 to get a foldable stock and be able to fire automatically. At this time stocks were compact and weren’t handy for firing before and using indoors and in tight spaces. 

The Mk11 Mod X or SR-25, a really versatile model as he could patrol with it or use it as a precision rifle. It was semi-automatic and fired 7.62 ammunition, which offered greater stopping power. However it had a bad reputation for how easily it got stuck in the ground, which meant that it was never one of Kyle’s favourites, as he admitted himself. 

7.62 length is the name of the ammunition but it also refers to a rifle with a Remington 700 body, Accuracy stock and personalized barrel. Accurate at one thousand metres or more, and the weapon responsible for most of his confirmed deaths. 

Suppressor Vs Silencer 

The Mk-12 and Mk-11, both with suppressors. These shouldn’t be confused with silencers, since suppressors only hide flare-up and reduce recoil as well as enabling greater precision, while silencers reduce sound. 

We will list another three supporting weapons: the issued SIG Sauer P226 which in 2004 he changed for the .45 Springfield TRP Operator based on the 1911. And after stopping a piece of shrapnel, it was replaced for the SIG Sauer P220, similar to the P226 but with a .45 calibre. 

And we can’t forget about the M16 too, which he swapped with a Marine for his Mk11 to be able to go down and clean the streets with the Marines because he was fed up with the insurgents hiding from him, as they were warned of his presence. Although he also got told off for this and one of his comrades ended up lending him his M4 in case he wanted to keep going with his crazy ideas. 

Kit List