Marines on Patrol in the Zaidon region of the al-Anbar province of Iraq find themselves in the center of an insurgent ambush. They respond by doing what Marines do best.

If you ever find yourself in an ambush, you have exactly two options and zero second to survive. Option one, you immediately accept your losses and move to a solid position of cover where you can return fire. This puts you on the back-foot, loses the initiative, and allows your enemy to start maneuvering on you. Option two, you immediately accept your losses, turn into the contact, and lay down an overwhelming amount of return fire as you maneuver into the ambush, surprising your enemy and re-taking the initiative in the firefight.

This footage, which was recorded during Operation Iraqi Freedom in the Zaidon region of the al-Anbar province shows Marines taking option two. As soon as an ambush kicks off, they immediately recognize the direction of the attack, and start maneuvering on their enemy. The enemy, not expecting this response, doctrinally does exactly what the Marines want. They place themselves on the back-foot and start to retreat.

Side note, apologies for the quality on this video. It was recorded in what I like to call the Sony Cybershot era of the Global War on Terror. This is an era where the best camera available to service members was sold at every military exchange in the form of a 10 megapixel handheld Sony digital camera known as the Sony Cybershot. It was small, had great battery life, and shot in a whopping 240p. At least it's in color and has sound.