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Helicopter Door Gunners are Awesome – Aerial Gunnery in UH-1Y

Sgt. Ryan D. Peek, a UH/AH-1 helicopter mechanic and Lubbock, Texas, native, with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 365 (Reinforced), 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, fires a mounted M240B machine gun from a UH-1Y Huey in Djibouti, March 8, 2015. A contingent of the MEU was ashore in Djibouti conducting sustainment training to maintain proficiency at the beginning of March. The 24th MEU is embarked on the ships of the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group and deployed to maintain regional security in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Joey Mendez/Released)

Watch the Marine Light Attack Training Squadron 303 in a UH-1Y Huey helicopter give close air support as part of a training exercise on February 12, 2013, at the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Arizona. The crew of the Huey fire the .50 caliber GAU-21 machine gun as well as a M134 mini-gun toward simulated targets located in the desert of California.

A six-barrel machine gun with a massive fire rate, the M134 mini-gun is a 7.62x51mm NATO that can discharge between 2,000 and 6,000 rounds of fire every minute. It has Gatling-style barrels that rotate along with an external power source, which is often an electric motor. The name “mini” results from the comparisons of guns using similar mechanisms for firing but larger shells. An example would be the 20-mm M61 Vulcan by General Electric.

Main image: U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Joey Mendez/Released
Video: U.S. Marine motion imagery by Sgt. Chad J. Pulliam

Next Read: We Were Soldiers: Sergeant Major Basil L. Plumley - Veteran of WWII, Korea & Vietnam »

Joris Nieuwint: Joris Nieuwint is a battlefield guide for the Operation Market Garden area. His primary focus is on the Allied operations from September 17th, 1944 onwards. Having lived in the Market Garden area for 25 years, he has been studying the events for nearly as long. He has a deep understanding of the history and a passion for sharing the stories of the men who are no longer with us.

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