Restoring faith with a single shot

And it was a nice one:

Day of the Sniper: 'Million dollar' shot clears road in Iraq
Apr 15
By Renita Foster, Public Affairs Office

The four man sniper team hardly dared to breathe. For two days and nights they had waited for the right situation, and it was finally here.

To Sgt. 1st Class Brandon McGuire it seemed that all his prior experiences such as serving on the 82nd Airborne Division's marksmanship team, being a sniper and reconnaissance platoon observer and shooting sniper weapons for a scout platoon, had prepared him for the moment. ...

Taking one last look, McGuire calmly squeezed the trigger of his Barret .50 caliber, Sniper Weapon System (SWS).

The round travelled 1300 meters - or 4,265 feet, about 8 tenths of a mile - before hitting its target.

A platoon sergeant in 3rd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, McGuire had deployed for Operation Iraqi Freedom nine months earlier and was stationed at Forward Operating Base, Iskandaryia, in Iraq.

Four days before his current mission, McGuire's platoon had been ordered to the western sector of their area of operations (AO) to locate and destroy an enemy mortar team.

Rebels were firing shells into the city, critically wounding people and destroying property. The shelling compromised faith in McGuire's unit to protect and keep Iraqi citizens safe.

Well. I'd say their faith is restored now.