I’m not sure what all this is about, exactly, but it’s got something to do with the video of an ambush in Iraq. [Click here to view] If I learned one thing from the Internet it’s that haters gotta hate. Thing two: leave them be. Yeager’s “say that to my face” response to his detractors kinda misses the point. But I feel his pain.
Is it just me, or does this video give off the vibe that James would pull a gun in a mutual fist fight?
Na, I’d say it would be a one punch knockout after a verbal assault that would offend his great,great grandparents.
I have trained with Yeager several times. If I had to go into a gunfight I would be happy to have him with me.
It should be up to the people who hired him and who worked with him to decide what to do about that entire incident. They were attacked, things went bad…I wasn’t there.
With that said, he comes across as very immature. What’s the deal with threatening to beat up those who dare to criticize him? Or the proclamation (in another vid) that he’s never wrong (and thus always right)?
I’d want somebody much calmer, collected and level-headed next to me if SHTF. Too much childish behavior from this guy. Too risky.
Agree. Stay silent and take mature route. Whats the point of stepping down into the ‘mothers basement’ crowd.
What do you know about a gunfight.
Yeager is a loudmouth punk and a coward.
And apparently, from what i’ve read, a man prone to “exaggeration” about his credentials. And a man who fails to mention being fired from both of his small town police jobs…aside from his amateurish performance in Iraq. Just my opinion, of course… 😉
In any case, just watch his YouTube vids. Do truly “bad-ass” men film themselves lifting weights and talking like fools?
What a sad sack. The epitome of the inadequate male…
Regardless of what he did on the video, Yeager is an arrogant tool. I’ll be glad when he’s forgotten.
I have watched the video a couple times. It would be tough to categorize him as losing his ability to function. He was generally doing what you would expect from a soldier of fortune. He found concealment/cover and returned fire. Once there was a lul in the action he left the cover to tend to the injured. That is what you want.
There was nothing gravely wrong with his performance that would warrant a coward tag. He was a little slow to exit the vehicle and get his rifle into the fight, which is why I am not about give him a metal for his performance. But it wasn’t like he just crumpled under the pressure.
Been reading up on the ambush and Yeager. He is a weird gun dude and a bit arrogant, but as long as he is certified to legally train firearms snd tactics and doesnt cause injury or commit a crime, let the guy alone!
Also as a 30 yr retired LEO , and security contractor. I take offense to posts by many former military and “three gun ” gurus alike who run down police officers . Many current tactics taught to military personnel are taught to police officers. In my time I have attended multiple tactics and operation courses by top notch major depts that had-with no surprise, active duty special operations military personnel either as ATTENDEES or INSTRUCTORS.
Any fool that thinks every police officer is some overweight ticket writing tool is sadly mistaken. I survived several shootings with suspects that clearly outgunned me, and know quite a few officers also in my category- we do not brag about OIS incidents, and many train hard for such occurences.
In my career I have also worked with many “combat veterans” who have transitioned from the military to civilian L.E. while many were decent hard working people, I have met plenty who were pure POS and watched as they chokedin critical police related incidents as well as common day to day calls- it simply depends on the individual, their mindset and training.
On another primarily military site, several commented on Yeager not knowing “what to do” and attributing that fact to being ” just a cop”; funny thing is if that is him in the video, he did EXACTLY what I remember being
Taught- GTFO of the car and kill zone!!!thecar isnt ARMORED like a bradley or even modified humvee- the contractors with Yeager were stupid, no convey security,no cover and movement, and the video shows general panic and confusion. For all the derisive comments, any TRAINED soldier or “police officer” would have known better to stay in that position- maybe call of duty game
rs or paint ballers who have never seen real gun related death would be dumb enough to stand and trade shotswith an attacker at a set ambush position.
What I saw in that video was a condition “white” mindset that let the contractors act like they were taking a simple daily drive. With the road blocked ahead ,they sat in what is known as an “L” shaped ambush( somethig that is taught as a tactical issue in MANY police academies across th.e nation) given what is in the video, Yeager did the only sound tactical option available- get away from the non moving vehicle( a target to focus on) find cover and concealment,then assess and ID target, then neutralize target if possible.
The contractors dont have artillery support, air cover,grenades, mortars, heavy machine guns, or MGs mounted on APCs, they had simple civilian cars, and a mix of small arms. They were armed to provide security, not engage in combat that has often taken the lives of BETTER armed and equipped soldiers and marines
The difference between cops and combat experienced veterans is just that. Cops that weren’t prior vets have never seen combat, and never will. There might be a handful that have been involved in urban events where there is a shootout, but they will never be on the same level as a vet who experienced firefights on a daily basis for an entire deployment.
I don’t think Yeager should be called a coward, but the fact that he was a cop, not a soldier was very evident from the AAR report from the ambush. He panicked during the event. His main responsibility was as the driver of the lead car. He got tired of holding in the clutch so he put the car in neutral and pulled the emergency brake. The SOP for their unit under an ambush was was to flee to a safe area before engaging, and he by his own admission he forgot he had engaged the emergency brake and incorrectly assumed the car was rendered inoperable by the initial strike.
The second SOP in event of an ambush was for them to exit the car if it isn’t able to drive off, then establish dominant cover fire before leaving the area vehicle. He shot half a clip off in a random area and then ran into a median ditch area and took cover. I actually agree with his choice to take cover, but in the report it clearly states he was under cover in an area that didn’t have direct line of site toward the target. Everyone else in the unit was firing upon the armored white Suburban, but he never even saw the thing because instead of calmly reacting he panicked. If he had gotten cover behind the engine block, communicated with his unit, then he would have been able to choose a superior choice of cover in order to engage the enemy. Instead he was neither able to render medical support or help defend his comrades position.
The point I’m making is that cops don’t have the experience to think clearly in a combat situation. Do they partake in similar training as the military? Yes, but that isn’t a replacement for combat experience. I’m not trying to take a shot at cops, I’m not saying that they aren’t skilled, trained, and good at what they do; however, this type of situation was an entirely different ballgame.
It should also be noted that the mistake of siting exposed on one of the most dangerous strips of highway in Iraq was a grave blunder that the mission leader made, which was obviously no fault of James. Also, the commander choose to expose his convoy by distancing each vehicle in the convoy by 20ish meters, then firing upon civilian cars that approached their convoy. They basically had a giant flag that said “Contractors” on their vehicles. If they had chose to remain blended in with their surroundings then the insurgents likely would never have identified them. But he chose to expose them and let them lie there as sitting ducks, it was a grave mistake.
After watching I’m not sure I would spend my with him but after 10 yrs in army 101st airborne not judging just not impressed
Medal*
I like his example of the people playing call of duty and then ripping on him. So few of us have ever been in combat that it really is ridiculous for most people to call him out for something they don’t have any firsthand knowledge of
+1000 to Phil.
Ok not really up on the whole reply to hate mail thing. He should be above that, so tisk tisk on that front.
As far as what he did, why etc, until you have sh!t your pants because you are getting shot at, STFU. I am not sure exactly where he ran too, maybe get a better position? Sometimes when you are in the thick of it, it isn’t until later that you review what happened, and you do a few palm plants on your forehead, or review how it could have been handled better.
This. The only people who should be opening their mouths are those that were there. I’ve heard of people jumping on the hate JY bandwagon for a long time. I never really looked into it extensively. If his fellow contractors hate him fine. That’s their business and they’re in a position to judge. The rest of us are not, especially those of you who have never been fired at in your f*cking lives nor are you likely to. For the record though I am not defending his actions on contact; he could very well be a coward for all I know. But this just smells like the typical TTAG dig pile of hate.
A linear ambush is a f*cked up position to be in and generally is not survivable if the enemy conducts it well. Fortunately from the limited camera angle it doesn’t look like it was expertly executed otherwise none of them would have lived especially in soft skin vehicles. Who here can honestly say how they would have reacted? You’re all very brave in the CONUS…
How about this: if you were there, or you have survived a real world ambush then you are a SME expert; feel free to provide your input. Otherwise, maybe we should all lay off the armchair quarterbacking.
+1000 !!!!
Usually a linear ambush, if well planed and executed is a death trap. But having radio coms and a couple of A10 Warthogs on the same freq does make a BIG Difference in your survival rate!!!
Although I was Army I must say God Bless the Air Force and their pilots!!!
It’s not like people are picking on an anonymous soldier. Yeager put himself out there as the ultimate bad ass and collects some nice coin doing so. He wanted to be a firearms celebrity/guru. Some digging into his background and dissection of his actions are to be expected.
This is old, old, old news… The Yeager Iraq incident has been dissected more times than I can count. The AARs by various people involved are available to read and shed some light on the situation.
The main thing I got out of them is that Yeager is an idiot when it comes to driving and made a stupid mistake when it comes to ambush avoidance. Then the whole team failed to respond well under fire.
the whole PSD unit was ate the fuck up. james yeager (and not only him either) wrote a letter addressing the deficiencies in discipline, training, and overall attitude.
But it cracks me up to see armchair commandoes ridiculing for something they cannot possibly fathom: experiencing a ambush in a SOFT SKIN civilian vehicle while your enemy is armed with PKMs.
The video does give a valuable lesson (that was learned with gold value among the PSD world); get off the X by any means necessary.
First time I am seeing\hearing about this video of the Iraq ambush. Do I take from this video (of the ambush) that it is Mr. Yeager running from the first car clear to all the way across the street?
Yes, thats him.
Yes, that’s him; although it isn’t clear across the street. It’s a median that provides a measure of cover (earth). The AAR indicates that he couldn’t identify a specific target; so he decided to manuever to another position (where better cover might allow him to identify the threat, although whether that was on his mind is not ascertainable). Other team members suggest that the aggressors were in a big white armored SUV. The investigation suggests that there may have been multiple aggressor vehicles, which may have lead to Yeager’s confusion and inability to identify a target.
Yeager is understandably sore about the incident. While I don’t believe he acted cowardly, he’s being called a coward for his actions in an incident that resulted in the deaths of three of his co-workers. And he probably does blame himself for at least a portion of the trouble, as his error in operating the lead vehicle meant that it could not break from “X” on initial contact. (Of course, vehicle two was effectively disabled during intial contact when armor-piercing bullets damaged the vehicle’s transmission; and vehicle three was disabled when the driver was struck in the head and killed instantly. So even if Yeager could have moved the lead vehicle away, he probably would have had to maneuver it back around to provide cover for the other two vehicles.)
Big thank you! Very informative.
Really? As a business owner, I cannot fathom doing something this dumb and expect any customers ever again. I just listened to a prank call response to that video and he’s saying he’d kill the caller?
Is Yeager’s response something his type of business customers expect or respect? Wow!
…if he’s secure in his actions, he doesn’t need to make this threatening video (towards people on the internet trying to get a rise out of him) that is absolutely in poor taste. This for one isn’t going to help his credibility or his business and he’s likely going to get more “hate mail” now.
For someone who likes to piss people off, he sure likes to dish it out but he can’t take it.
I don’t have an opinion on the video because it’s hard to tell what’s going on and it’s a far more complicated situation than what the limited camera view shows.
Irrespective of whether Yeager’s a tool or not, my feeling is that unless you have worn the uniform and/or been under fire yourself, you have absolutely no useful opinion to offer on the subject of his actions in Iraq.
This x 1,000 also any of them in uniform would tell you that you weren’t there so STFU.
FYI Jim, Yeager wasn’t wearing the uniform at the time. He was a merc in the employ of a European security outfit.
So he’s always been a scumbag? Unsurprising.
“FYI Jim, Yeager wasn’t wearing the uniform at the time. He was a merc in the employ of a European security outfit…”
which was contracted by the US GOVERNMENT TO PROVIDE SECURITY SERVICES IN IRAQ.
you cant have it both ways. you either downsize the military or you stay out of war. a clinton-ized military in a major war will only yield more private military contractors.
@WLCE, I’m not disagreeing with your either/or proposition. My comment was addressed to Jim who wrote favorably about those who wear the uniform. All I’m saying is that Yeager didn’t wear the uniform. He was there for money. Which I also don’t mind, but he gets no special cred for it.
Ralph, I didn’t know whether he was or not at the time which is why I said “wearing the uniform and/or been under fire.” He certainly was under fire. My point being is that only guys who have truly been in a similar situation have any business criticizing Yeager or anyone one else for that matter. None of us know how for sure we will react in a given situation until it happens.
He wouldn’t have lasted long in our unit. Someone would have beat his ass for that little stunt of running all the way overto the other car like he did.
And who was the tool standing up and waving his arm in the air?? Dumbass!!
In Vietnam, SOP was to move away from stopped vehicles which were magnets for incoming small arms and rocket propelled grenade fire, ricochets and shrapnel from vehicle hits was dangerous.
That seems very logical. In the video of the incident, he can be seen running to the median for cover and goes prone to try and engage the enemy. If the enemy heavy machine gun has the distance to the vehicle dialed in, what would be the logic in staying at the immobilized vehicle? Unless the vehicle is hardened, that seems like the worst tactic.
I guess the only question is whether, if he had wounded comrades in the car, whether everyone’s best interests are served if he drags them out first, which means it’s going to be longer before he returns fire, or first runs to where he can return fire (and/or draw enemy fire away from the vehicle) and deal with the wounded later. That’s purely a judgment call with no right answer.
It seems to me that in any gunfight rule #1 or close to #1 is don’t get shot. Staying in an unarmored disabled vehicle under heavy machine gun fire does not seem a good way to accomplish that objective. Now, as to how the vehicle became disabled, well that may or not be an acceptable brain fart, but cowardice? I don’t think so.
AAR says that he followed SOP. It also said that one must establish a superior base of fire before breaking contact to maneuver. (Whether or not that bit of advice was SOP isn’t stated; but it is certainly a lesson to take away from this incident.) If he didn’t know what to shoot at and he saw that their AP rounds were penetrating the soft vehicle; moving behind good old fashioned dirt seems like a smart move. Only he knows what was going through his mind … If anything … Sometimes the fog of war is such that you don’t remember things straight. There’s a good chance he doesn’t even know what he was thinking at the time.
exactly, and hindsight is always 20/20. “he should have done this, he should have done that” is irrevelant unless you were there and saw the whole situation. as somebody who has had buddies pass in that part of the world, it is kinda sad that his name is out there and talked about, but the names of our fallen brothers are only briefly mentioned for a day and forgot about the next. its a terrible backwards world we live in.
+1000
What vehicles are you talking about? Combat troops operating in FOBs took Hueys, Chinooks, or Cobras into and out of most LRPs. Talking about about using vehicles for cover/concealment is nonsensical. Because there were no vehicles situated in the field of battle. If the LZ was hot you were fast roping in from 25 yards up. The only vehicles were in the rear, where there was generally no danger except what we now call terrorist attacks.
The MOS with the highest casualties in Iraq was 88-m, aka truck drivers. There were/are a lot of convoys in both Iraq and Afghanistan. There where Stryker units driving Strykers, and others that traded their Strykers for vehicles that did better with IED’s. There were heavy units in Bradley’s, and armor units in Abrams. There were even artillery units in Iraq the patrolled in their Paladins because there was no use for artillery in urban warfare. There were certainly air-assault units and missions, but there were far more mounted.
From the AAR I read, Yeager may have had a brain f@rt when he left his car in neutral with the emergency brake on and then forgot how to move it. In no way does that make him a coward.
Brain fart, for sure. Of course, he never should have been sitting there for more than an hour. That’s on his team leader. I can understand why, when stopped for so long, he’d put the car into neutral and engage the parking brake, rather than keeping it in gear with a foot on the brake pedal. (As most of you know, a parking break alone isn’t sufficent for stopping some vehicles if they are in gear, as some idling engines are plenty strong enough to overcome a parking brake.)
Awful situation to be in. Now he’s branded a coward; and even if he rejects that notion, he still has to live with the brain fart that might have contributed to the deaths of his team mates.
I don’t think lashing out on his “haters” serves any useful purpose, but I can see why he would do it. Coward or not, I’ll get my “tactical” advice from someone else all the same.
I aint got a dog in this fight. But can I say this is what is wrong with the gun community today. Somehow it has gotten twisted up with HSLD folks, the wars in the mideast, terrorism, etc. I just pity the HS kid doing scholastic clays, a competitive shooter like Kim Rhodes, some old lady defending herself, a collector, hunter after ducks, etc. They have to explain to others how their interest, sport, or 2A rights are hooked up with this stuff. Just beats me.
The AAR cleared James, it may seam a simple thing to do, put ones car in gear and get clear of the ambush, but when one is taking heavy weapons fire from two different areas and you have dead and dying friends/team mates on the X, simple mistakes become simple to do.
I don’t have an opinion about the whole Iraq incident, etc. But it does not strike me as being very immature to challenge the world to some sort of vaguely worded “fight.” As an initial matter, depending on the way things go down, it may negate any grounds that a person might otherwise have to claim self defense. But beyond that, it doesn’t seem smart because there is always someone bigger and badder than you lurking out there.
as in any business, yeager is a victim of his own success.
in any successful business and enterprise, there will be the chuckleheads that jab and insult with nothing to backup their assertions simply because they can. they’re financially broke, physically weak, and drowned in improper philosophy.
of course they havent been in combat or any environment where they had to carry a gun for something besides shooting paper (if at all). its best to ignore these idiots because calling them out will only give them attention and they will do what they do best: nothing at all.
personally, i would have left comments disabled. youtube is a bathroom wall and its best to not let anybody comment. believe me, the youtube culture is one of the reasons i hope the internet and civilization collapses 😀
believe me, the youtube culture is one of the reasons i hope the internet and civilization collapses
It’s nice to see you doing your part.
proudly 😀
Look… I like some of his videos… Some are knowledgable, and entertaining, specifically ones regarding training and technique. That said…
He seriously needs to stop with the *tooting-my-own-horn* videos.
Dude , it’s the internet. There is absolutely no need for this lack of professionalism. I’m sorry, someone has to say it. I have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING AGAINST HIM.
Videos where he threatens to push peoples faces in, kick their ass, “say it to my face”, defending his honor (on the internet *eye roll*), and the excessive cursing and use of otherwise foul language…. Is unprofessional. Sorry. It’s true. We are, well most of us are, adults. We don’t care what some internet troll said to you, and we dont need to hear nonsense about how you’e going to push someones face in. Good god man, please focus on the tasks at hand. Professional grade training for professionals. The internet is like the elementary school yard. Dont stoop to their level brother. Let em say whatever they want to say, and if you know it to be false, keep it to yourself and carry on. No need to fan the flames or pour gas on the fire.
F*ck.. I needed to say that. It drives me nuts when I see people on the internet “defending” themselves from trolls.
A question I’m left asking is this..
Who’s the competition? Why do you have to so bravely defend your honor? Who hasn’t been called a pussy or a coward at some point in their life? I dont get it. I really dont.
Person A is a pussy, they say “whatever dude.”
PersonB is called a pussy… “Hey man, you think I’m a pussy? You think you can say that to me? Say it to my face! I’m gonna push your face in! I’m gonna pay you to say it to my face! I’m not a pussy! You’re a pussy! I dare you!”
Ok… Now which one doesn’t sound like a meat head jock with something to prove.
That’s what I was thinking. He basically just served up a Thanksgiving feast to the trolls.
James isn’t a coward but he is a tool.
Yeager calls himself an asshole, but I’ll call him a marketing genius. This is exactly the kind of video that generates huge views and comments. It’s just more publicity for his training company… which, by the way, gives great training.
And don’t forget that this is precisely the kind of video that gins up a lot of views, and since he is a YouTube partner and getting a lot of views he is making hundreds if not thousands of $$ a month from them.
More power to him.
He has the last laugh!
I don’t blame Yeager for this incident. His internet reaction is pompous, but nobody else was there. That said, as a Company Commander in Iraq, this doesn’t surprise me. The “contract” security types were reckless, trigger happy, and arrogant. They were constant disruptions for us as the battle space owners. We had to clean up their messes countless times, and they rarely coordinated their movements with us. There are plenty of them that are good men, but on the whole I wouldn’t say his experience there, alone, qualifies him to be as arrogant as he seems to be.
I hear TN is beautiful this time of the year.
A minor point.
A gun guru= Jeff Cooper,USMC. James Yeager ain’t a tenth of that standard.Jeff Cooper was also opinionated,but he respected differing opinions.Mr Yeager does not.
I’ll standby the legitimate gun guru’s advice when he said that all you need are sights you can see and a trigger you can manage.
+1
I don’t blame Yeager for this incident. His internet reaction is pompous, but nobody else was there. That said, as a company commander in theater, this doesn’t surprise me. The “contract” security types were reckless, trigger happy, and arrogant. They were constant disruptions for us as the battle space owners. We had to clean up their messes countless times, and they rarely coordinated their movements with us. There are plenty of them that are good men, but on the whole I wouldn’t say his experience there, alone, qualifies him to be as arrogant as he seems to be.
His negligence contributed to some degree in the deaths of those men.
There’s a difference between negligence and cowardice.
Yeager is no coward.
I’d train under him. I hear he’s a good trainer.
I’d like to have him at my side if the SHTF, which is more than I can say for most internet commentators.
But he did screw up and he has to live with that for the rest of his days.
John
I couldn’t care less about what Yeager did or didn’t do overseas (don’t know, don’t care). My one and only observation is that for someone who is running a professional training facility he needs to grow up. If I’m laying down my hard earned cash for training his thin-skinned “say it to my face” attitude is very unprofessional and a huge turn off. There are too many first-rate training facilities out there to mess with a guy that can’t even brush off internet criticism.
+1
I wouldn’t take training from that guy no matter how much he might know. I try not to contribute to the success of jackasses.
It sounds like from the video, Yeager is saying that some of the British team members thought he was a coward for what happened but not the American members of the team.
like they say, the truth hurts; if he didn’t have doubts about what happened in Iraq, he wouldn’t be effected by what he describes as a bunch of key board commandos living in thier parents basement.
If he was team leader and some people died during his command, that would make you question yourself.
Everyone I’ve ever seen who second guessed someone who had been in a gunfight/combat, has never been there themselves.
I don’t know Yeager from Adam. I do know that I tend to have a bit of a bias against the ESMR, Blackwater, Triple Canopy, MPRI, and other glorified merc outfits. I don’t like guys who call themselves “Operators” who don’t belong to one of two organizations that don’t officially exist: Headquarters, US Army Special Operations Command, Detachment D (better known as Delta Force) or the United States Navy Special Warfare Development Group (better known as SEAL Team 6).
Having said that, I will say anyone who didn’t travel Route Irish back in the bad old days of 2004-2005 probably shouldn’t have an opinion. Before I went on Route Irish I made my peace with God every time. I’m not kidding, I went to confession every week for fifteen months and got on my knees and prayed every time I knew I had to travel Irish. I personally know eleven people who died on Irish and at least a dozen more who lost eyes or limbs. There was a guy on my PSD (Personal Security Detachment) who would throw up before we left the FOB if we were going out on Irish. It was that bad. If you traveled Irish regularly it wasn’t a question of “If” you were going to get hit, it was a question of “When”. To me anyone who willingly got in a vehicle an rolled out on Route Irish, military, contractor, reporter, is not a coward.
Having said all that, and actually read the AAR, in my opinion Yeager was no coward. Did he make a mistake? Yes. Did his mistake (leaving his vehicle in neutral with the parking brake on) contribute to the deaths of three men? I don’t think so. The AAR says all three were hit in the first 32 seconds, and their vehicles were disabled almost immediately. The big mistake was made before they rolled out of Victory, taking sedans. They were stuck in a bad spot and couldn’t get over the median to leave. If they were all in SUVs they could have crossed the median and never triggered the ambush. The second mistake was sitting there in the traffic jam for an extended period. Yeager had no say in that matter. He was just a driver, not even in charge of his own vehicle much less the convoy.
Coward? He was taking fire from at least one RPK, firing armor piercing rounds. (For those who haven’t experienced that joy, avoid it if you can.) Two vehicles in his convoy were disabled. He ran out of the kill box, took cover, and returned fire, per his organization’s SOP. Anyone who would fire at an RPK with an M4 is no coward in my book. Then he ran back into the kill zone, to provide cover for the medic and the wounded. I wasn’t there, but nothing in that sounds like cowardice. More important judging by the AAR, none of the guys who were with him saw cowardice either.
I can see why he’s upset. When people who’s experience with being in an ambush comes from playing first person shooter games in their mother’s basement call someone who has seen the elephant a coward, that gets under your skin. Though if I were him, I’d ignore it and get on with my life.
Nice post…very informative
Thanks
I remember route irish in a soft skin humvee…
whoever planned to have US operations in baghdad (and the whole country) based out of the airport, surrounded by city, with one main access route, should be publicly flogged, imprisoned, and retirement rescinded.
back in 04 and 05 there were not enough troops to keep the routes secure (i dont think there were ever enough). utter stupidity.
Talk about feeding the trolls!
When a rock is thrown into a pack of dogs, the one that barks is the one that got hit.
I’ve never heard of this idiot but then I don’t listen to so called experts much. This guy sounds like he shouldn’t even own a gun let alone be teaching people about self-defense and guns. Does he honestly think he can take on anyone in the world? He sounds like a stupid kid with anger management problems; not the kind of person I would like as an example of a gun owner let alone teacher. Idiot. Go crawl back under the rock you came from. You’re an embarrassment.
+1
He promotes himself as the greatest warrior in the entire world (in one of his videos). He’s a joke. I personally know and know of active military who would wipe the floor with this guy, hand to hand or otherwise.
I sent him (and everyone else at Tactical Response) a email saying i’d take him up on it, and provided my name and address so he could send me a plane ticket. He replied
“It will be a one way “E-ticket” so no paper ticket will be mailed. I will need your full name and date of birth for the ticket. There will be no need for a hotel.”
And I sent him that info. I wonder if i’m going to get a free tip to wherever the hell he is.
LMAO!!!!! Awesome!!!! Hilarious.
oh thatll show him!
…not.
jesus, some people never cease to amaze me.
If you may…Keep us updated
The fun part about dueling is that most states have an exception in the law for “mutually agreed combat”– meaning, whoever wins is automatically guilty of murder; no chance to claim defense. So, I suppose it’s like an insurance policy for the loser– if you lose, at least you know the state will avenge you…
Either way, we’ll follow whichever-one-of-you’s trial it is very closely.
Textbook “small man syndrome”. He needs to take a deep breath and relax. It will help with his jitters and the nervous ticks. Pathetic.
He needs a real ass kickin!!! No weapons. Just hands!
I will echo the sentiment that I was not there in Iraq so I won’t comment on that. What I will comment on is the fact that Yeager just rubs people the wrong way. A couple years ago he created a brooha with his training classes having a photographer sitting down range during a live fire exercise. I don’t care how you spin it that is simply stupid and unsafe. (Photog was actually downrange, in between shooters taking pics) Understandably people commented and criticized. Queue the ensuing defensive posturing and in your face comments. The guy brings it on himself, thats why a lot of people don’t like him.
I have no qualifications to critique JY’s actions in Iraq, but I do have a question: How is someone with no military background who spent a few years as cop in a town of 500 people, then as a deputy sheriff in a county of 16000 people, qualified to work for a private military contractor doing high risk security details?
It’s much easier to become a private contractor than people would think.
during the hight of the PMC gold grab, many organizations hired people without conducting adequate background checks. Many people embellished and made up points on their resumes (if resumes were even read due to the sickening rampancy of cronyism). In fact, that very problem was mentioned in one of the AARs (i cant remember which one).
Hell, there were contractors that got fired and then picked up by another company. that is no bullshit. The contracting mice had a hayday when the government accountability cat was away and the blatant corruption and abuse of finances was staggering. Gee Don Rummy…is it any mystery why you couldnt account for 2.2 trillion dollars???
with that being said, there were many companies and specific teams that were shit hot and did do the right thing. one shouldnt paint the inadequacies of that edinburgh risk detachment across the whole PMC spectrum. Many PMCs (that specialized in training and advising, route clearance/overwatch, PSD, and EOD) did outstanding work and they definitely earn every penny for their work.
still. we wouldnt need any of them if we would have invaded and occupied the country with 500.000 troops like we should have in the first place. you want to do PSD? throw the diplomat in a six vehicle convoy with MRAPs, crew served weapons, and heavily armored troops.
I cannot comment on whether James Yeager is a coward or not as I do not have complete information on what occurred in Iraq.
That being said, he is immature, unstable and far too thin skinned when it comes to handling adversity and criticism. This comes as a surprise since the vast majority of combat veterans I have ever known all knew how to brush off the worst news and the worst adversity with relative ease.
I’ve seen some of his other videos and he is also far too arrogant and egotistical (at least in his presentation). I personally know combat veterans and active duty Marines who have far more experience and skill than he does who would never actively advertise “I’m the sh*t and everything that I say is always right…And if anyone tells you otherwise, they don’t know what they’re talking about” Even if they thought it.
Whether he’s a coward or not…I won’t comment on that. But everything else about him is beyond annoying.
Whats funny is James will challenge people to fights on the internet, but when you give reasonable criticism about his actions (Trying to fight people online) or when he whined that a site was unfairly bringing up the fact that he is threatening to kill people on the internet, but that the website didn’t care that he trains wounded soldiers for free, because they must hate wounded soldiers, I pointed that out to him as being a logical fallacy. He then banned me from his facebook page, and then from his youtube channel.
Also if you accept his duel it mentions swords and pistols in his legal “release” (which will not hold up in court) so yeah a dude who trains in pistol and sword fighting is too much of a COWARD to fight you hand to hand.
Also he’s too much of a COWARD to defend his juvenile actions online.
Dude has potential to be awesome, but has the emotional control of a 13 year old
Yea, I would love to fight this clown one on one with no weapons. It would end in 5 seconds. F***ing redneck. Rednecks are not tough. They are scared and weapons are a front for his/her insecurities. This guy lies about his credentials!! What a clown! The civil war is over. Does he live in his mothers basement?
Ok, I normally don’t comment but Yeager is not considered a redneck. Further more, you my friend have never met a redneck if you think they only use weapons to fight. But to your “Only Cowards fight with Weapons” mentality. George Washington, William Wallace, Leonidas, Musashi, Vlad Dracula, etc. None of these men are considered cowards by any definition yet they all used weapons.
James Yeager is an ignorant tool that would probably be that guy that couldn’t have a rational conversation to save his life and probably would pull a gun if somebody said something he didn’t like. He sure has a streak of banning people that disagree with him even if they are being completely civil. In the end he is the poster child for the Brady bunch.
You are a nut! No one is taking your guns away. If you have an arsenal of guns you are
stupid. Tough guys fight with there fists, guns are for scared cowards.
Arian, to say that people who like to collect guns are stupid is narrow minded. Some people like to have a few to many handguns, AR’s/AK’s, shotguns, etc. That is an “arsenal” to most people. Why is that stupid? Also, tough guy’s I know are quiet, intelligent men (and know correct grammar).
James Yeager is a cowardly, cum-guzzling bitch.
Speak softly & carry a small dick.
I won’t go into detail, but I will say that I have read the debrief of the incident on Route Irish. The conclusion that I came to based on the information I had access to, is that some mistakes were made, but if Mr. Yeager is a coward, it’s not shown during this incident. In fact the only mistake made by James was that he had left the parking break on and during the heat of battle forgot to remove it and thus believed his vehicle to be disabled. Once that thought had been established he moved to the rear of the vehicle and fired in the general direction of where he believed the enemy fire to be coming from. Afterwards (this is where people say he ran away) he moved to the median and took cover while still engaging the enemy. Mr. Yeager may be a lot of things but to the best of my knowledge cowardly is not one of them.
He fired 15 total rounds, not good enough.
I first learned about Mr. Yeager after his 2nd Amendment comments weeks ago when TN dept of safety supposedly pulled his carry permit. I felt like he was wrongfully attacked by the dept. The more I looked into this guy the more I am learning. Apparently he was a black water contractor. Correct me if I am wrong. The only rights this guy cares about is his. For someone who suppose to be a MFCEO as he puts it and runs a bussiness, he sure has alot of time to do YOUTUBE videos. I guess he believes in the 2nd amendment because he doesnt believe in the 1st. He will block you from his channel or his website ( get off the X ) if you say something he doesnt like. I would never attend his training school. I agree with Michael B. -For someone who likes to piss people off, he sure likes to dish it out but he can’t take it.
alot of girls here ,talking behind a mans back.we were taught to talk only to a mans face. if you cant say something good,keep quiet.
James yeager is a piece of shit. he bullshits his credentials like all the other failures that couldn’t do it for real or didn’t have the balls to join. Its like this. He was a Tennessee cop in a Podunk town. that’s it, that’s all. To all the guys defending him I say this: YOUVE NEVER BEEN TO A GUNFIGHT WITH HIM, AND YOU NEVER WILL BE. a buddy of mine from 2nd ranger battalion was in the back of the car during the ambush in Iraq and hes dead now because MR BADDASS YEAGER as he refers to himself was too much of a pussy to take the E brake off because he was busy panicking and screaming for help rather than doing his job. Ive seen the video and spoken to the guys that made it through the ambush. They all said the same thing. YEAGER PANICKED and was too busy shitting himself rather than doing his job. No wonder he talks so highly about himself, hes trying to convince himself that the whole incident wasn’t his fault. its why he puts on the hardman attitude. James yeager is a credential less fake and a wannabe. the ONE time he was ever in an active shooter incident he panicked and guys WITH CREDENTIALS and valor paid the price for his stupidity. If you follow yeager then you may as well follow obama as well. because the idiots that follow either are guilty of the same. They cant see the truth in front of their face. they just hear the embellished bullshit pouring from their mouths.
In the video, Yeager has the door open in 3 seconds and is at the rear wheel fire position and returning fire in about 4 seconds more. That includes trying to get the vehicle moving and then (maybe from what it looks like) pulling the wounded Stef out of the vehicle behind him.
That does not imply a panic or freeze reaction.
“McLeod” says above that “a buddy of mine from 2nd ranger battalion was in the back of the car during the ambush in Iraq and hes dead now because ..”
Wrong. Mark was in the back and he lived. Stef was in the right seat not the back, and was hit in the first burst that was no doubt aimed at his door.
The other vehicles were 10 lightyears away and not dependent on Yeager’s vehicle moving. Had Yeager reversed to cover (soft) vehicle #3, it would have only acted to concentrate the fire of incoming AP rounds, and if the other two vehicles were good to move, they would have done a one vehicle disabled pickup of car #1’s crew on the way out.
As Yeager could not see the enemy or get any target indications from anyone, I suggest he moved to begin the bug-out SOP and achieve a fire position where he could see something. He moved out just as Mark moved into the same rear wheel fire position, and that looks like the start of a good quick fire + movement drill. Yeager also threw smoke, then moved forward (out of cover for about 30 meters ?) to vehicle #3 when he saw that crew was in trouble.
My conclusion – no ‘cowardice’. Putting out rounds inside 7 seconds and then doing the SOP was A+.
There would have later been a pile of 2nd guessing and re running the action a million times at 0300. Pulling the body out of car #3 would be re run in colour in nightmares at 0400 a million times more. Never getting a sight picture ?? So ? He put rounds out, fired at what he thought was fall-of-shot on the barrier, did the SOP, covered car #3… Yeager won. The system worked and the enemy fucked off when the counter ambush drill started.
Their procedures ?? Everything from vehicle placement all the way through to the company official AAR was sloppy. If Yeager’s write up of the boozing and other crap is accurate, I would suggest that he was one of the better ones there.
Is he a mouth ? Yes, but he’s running a business.
Its easy to second guess from the 360 overwatch position behind the laptop.
You simply full of shit dude. He fired half a mag. That doesn’t come close to laying down suppressive fire. And his FIRST OF MANY FAILURES was taking the lead vehicle out of drive mode and applying the e-brake. Doh, incoming how the fuck do I get my vehicle moving quick time? The men who were there and survived call him a coward, should be good enough for you as they were the ones there. The men who died were hit in the vehicles, and the femoral injuries could have been managed had someone had the balls and foresight to attempt to immediately manage them. Medics do it all the time. Its what
“Arian says:
January 11, 2013 at 16:58
You are a nut! No one is taking your guns away. If you have an arsenal of guns you are stupid. Tough guys fight with there fists, guns are for scared cowards.”
>> Arian; I presume you always search your opponent prior to demonstrating your tough guy pugalistic skills upon his body, just in case he may be carrying something with a full mag of .45 ++P Monster Rockets, etc ?
Personally, I prefer being too scared to be a coward.
He’s a fucking coward. Dude shouldn’t have been stupid to take the vehicle out if gear let alone apply the damn park brake in a known area of VIEDS/ID and ambush. Convoy 101 any damn military grade driver knows hell, anyone knows for the matter.Had he left it in gear and was able to “get off the X” they would have been able to break the ambush. He was LEO in a prior life correct? Another example of he “should have known”. His brothers died because of his actions, not his actionalone mind you but in large part due to his actions. He ran like a scared coward looking for his momma to comfort him and his brothers died because of it. He’s immature and not a person I would want backing me up in any situation. Quit nut hugging, a d by the way, the AR doesn’t clear him, read it again. It actually points out his and the team leaders failures.
I was a member of Team Apollo and worked with James Yeager in Iraq.
We were not best friends and even had the odd argument about Gun laws; but we had a mutual professional working relationship. I will say that he always did his job to highest possible standard and was an honest and hardworking man.
I am about to release a book about my time working in Iraq as a private security contractor – and in particular, the ambush incident that he copped so much flak about. It’s frustrating that so much hate had been directed towards him about the incident and that the real people accountable for the deaths have essentially walked away with no known repercussions.
If you’re interested in the real story, click on mercenarymum.com or neryljoyce.com
The book, Mercenary Mum is available on Amazon as an ebook download and can purchased as a paperback from numerous sites (but not in all countries).
Sorry if this comes across as an advertisement. I just want the truth of what really happened on our team to finally come out.
The whole thing regarding him being a coward, is how he handled himself when it came to his fallen brothers. Now, I understand he was in a gun battle, but he could have shown more compassion to his brothers who might not be pulling through. I am former law enforcement (I have a longer law enforcement back ground than James), however, I’ve been out of the game for awhile. Just recently, there was a shootout among 4 unsavory persons, 2 hit. Rather than sitting back, and letting the one bleed out, the other ran off, we didn’t know about him until later that night, I waited for the primary officer and protected his 6. When I got to the kid, he was cool to the touch, and clammy, and offer 5 or so minutes, he not only regained a strong pulse, but was talking to me. I talked to him like we were old friends, gave him reassurance, soothed him, and remained calm myself, as it would then reflect toward him. Mind you, I wasn’t getting shot at myself, but bullets were being fired within 20 feet of me, by 4 people, and my adrenaline was dumping! My point is, he could have stayed more calm, if not for his own preservation, for the sake of his brothers- that’s all.
he’s a detrement, to all sane gun owners ,,proves that some people don’t need a gun ,,, dillusional, paranoid, and probably manic to boot,, all the makings of a unstable person, who is on some kind of drugs,,,,little man syndrome….got his mouth in hot water,,, like alot of rednecks do,,,,by shootin of there mouths about things they no little of… what would george washington do? thinks alot of himself i’d say,,, i’ve hunted , most species of north america,,, and never have used an ar- platform for anything,,, certanly not deer,,,maybe varmints, and the like but that would be as far as i’d care to use a 223 for,,, and as far as ccw? it should only be in case of defense,,, not offense,,,,,his misconceptions are convuluted at best,,, i can somewhat understand his concern over a few things,,, but there nothing to make the remark of ,,,, killin people,,, he’s definatley a loose cannon so to speak,,, and he is not doing secure minded gun owners any good,,, he would be alot better to speak a civil tounge and live by it,,,,,
one skirmish does not make a basil plumly
Jeager ‘static’? Guys that blow hard do the least.