Stationed in Iraq at Forward Operating Base, Iskandaryia, Sgt. 1st Class Brandon McGuire of the 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment was tasked with tracking down insurgent teams firing mortars at both them and Iraqi civilians. During the mission, two members of his group were wounded, one critically, by an IED on a road that had been the site of numerous attacks in the past. McGuire and his team decided to stick around see if they could help out there. Setting up in a location with an excellent view of the road, after a few days McGuire and his team spotted a man along the road digging up a mortar tube. Once he had received clearance to engage, he set up with his .50-cal Model 82A1 sniper rifle. His spotter called the distance as 1,300 meters, an extremely long shot. In addition, there were high winds. All that aside, McGuire was determined to take the time and try to make this difficult shot because he knew lives were on the line. Keeping him in his sights for more than an hour, McGuire waited until a solid shot presented itself. When he pulled the trigger, his position was engulfed in dust from the powerful shot, but his spotter had kept the target in sight when he fired and said that he had scored a hit.
Although the target was more than a mile away, McGuire had managed to pull off the shot—a feat that would become known throughout his unit as the “million-dollar shot.”
