By Cpl. Mark  Sixbey, 1st Marine Division

CAMP  HABBANIYAH,  Iraq  - Lt. Col. Patrick Looney, battalion commander for
3rd  Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, holds the last round chambered  in a
Marine M-40A1 sniper rifle, which spent two years in  enemy hands. A
21-year-old sniper from Sniper Section Four  killed the insurgent June 16.
The Darkhorse battalion plans to  mount the round on a plaque to present to
snipers of 2nd  Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment Magnificent Bastards, who
lost  four Marines and the rifle in Ramadi in June 2004.  

CAMP HABBANIYAH, Iraq (June 20, 2006) --  Scout snipers from 3rd Battalion,
5th Marine Regiment  killed an enemy sniper and recovered a Marine sniper
rifle lost  nearly two years ago during a mission near Habbaniyah June 16. 

The rifle was the one formerly used by four Marines of 2nd  Battalion, 4th
Marine Regiment who were killed on a rooftop in  Ramadi June 21, 2004.

Sniper Section Four was in a hide when  the spotter observed a military-aged
male inside a nearby parked car  videotaping a passing patrol of amphibious
assault vehicles. The  Marines saw a rifle stock by the insurgent's side.

"We were  in the right place at the right time," said Sgt. Kevin Homestead
an  infantryman from K Company serving as a spotter for the sniper team
that day.

They first radioed the passing Marines and told  them they were being
watched by an enemy sniper and to stay low. The  insurgent then sealed his
own fate by preparing the weapon. The  21-year-old Marine sniper, who
declined to be interviewed - aimed in  at the gunman's head behind the
rear-side window.

He recited  a mantra in his head. Breathe, relax, aim, squeeze, surprise. 

The enemy sniper died with the gun in his lap.

They  dialed K Company - or Samurai 6 - and reported the target was  dead.

"We then saw another military-aged male ... enter the  passenger side door,"
said Homestead,  26, from Ontario, Ore. "He was surprised to see the  other
shooter was killed."

The second insurgent scurried  around the car and jumped in the driver's
seat.

With the  sniper now spotting for him, Homestead aimed in with his M-4
carbine and put three bullets in the driver before he could start  the car.

A squad of K Company Marines came to the position  and saw the sniper dead
and the driver shot three times. The driver  died as soon as the squad
arrived on scene.

They pulled out  the sniper rifle and immediately recognized that it was an
M-40A1,  the same used by the snipers of 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment
in 2004.

The trunk of the car contained a pistol, a hand  grenade, dozens of 7.62 mm
rounds, multiple license plates and  several camcorder tapes.

"When we saw the scope and stock,  we knew what it was," Homestead said.

The rifle  was missing for nearly two years - almost to the day. Marines
believed the insurgent they killed, or those closely associated with  him,
had it all along. It is unknown how many times it was used  against U.S. and
Iraqi  forces.

"He was a very good sniper," Homestead said.  "But he got cocky and slipped
up and it was our time to catch that." 

The weapon came full circle, having originally belonged to  the Darkhorse
battalion in Operation Iraqi Freedom I, who turned it  over to the
"Magnificent Bastards" of 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine  Regiment.
Coincidentally, a Darkhorse sniper killed the insurgent  sniper, and a
former Magnificent Bastard killed the spotter. 

Darkhorse battalion had been dealing with sporadic sniper  attacks since
arriving in Iraq in January. Now,  Marines have one less sniper to worry
about.

"It's very  rewarding to take them out the way we did," said Lt. Col.
Patrick G.  Looney, the battalion commander. "Doubly rewarding that it's a
2/4  sniper rifle, even though it won't bring back the four Marines who
were killed that day."

Triple rewarding that it won't be  used on another Marine or soldier, he
added.

"The credit has  to go to Sgt. Homestead and the Sniper Section leader who
made the  kill," said 1st Lt. J. H. Cusack, Sniper Platoon commander. "It
was  more than being in the right place at the right time.

"It  was the culmination of all of the training and planning the section
leader had done up until that moment," Cusak added. "Being  absolutely alert
and focused to detect a small clue during a period  of apparent inactivity
and a perfectly executed  shot."

Darkhorse snipers have since removed the powder and  primer from the last
7.62 mm round chambered in the recaptured  rifle. They will mount it on a
plaque and present it to the  Magnificent Bastards' snipers to honor their
lost  Marines.

Looney said the ability to give some retribution for  their loss makes the
day a "grand-slam home run for sniper ops." He  credited the snipers'
professionalism and attitude in accomplishing  the mission throughout their
area of operations.

"I would say  that the guys who shot are typical of the Darkhorse snipers,"
said  Looney, 43, from Oceanside, Calif. "They're very proficient,  very
modest, very busy. They're out there almost daily doing great  things in
this AO and our old AO. The fact that they're taking a  back seat and
letting the battalion reap the benefits is typical of  the kind of Marines
they are."