In the opening scene of A Debt of Honor, Mitch Greenfield, who goes by the callsign Nada, is scanning for additional threats, “his eyes following the track of his rifle and the tiny infrared dot that danced along.” This is not unlike many other action thriller scenes, but unlike Hollywood movies, this infrared (IR) dot cannot be seen with the naked eye.
The book goes on to say that Nada uses his “attached aiming laser like a flashlight to illuminate the dark recesses of the structures around him.” Strictly speaking, he wasn’t using the laser function but was activating the infrared illuminator. When IR is used in conjunction with night vision devices like the AN/PVS-15 NVG, this illuminator will work similarly to a flashlight and light up dark corners.
In this scenario, Mitch has an Advanced Target Pointer, Illuminator, Aiming Light (ATPIAL), or AN/PEQ-15 attached to his rifle. The PEQ-15, as it is commonly called, is a multifunction infrared IR target pointer and illuminator. This means it is a visible laser aiming device, an infrared aiming device, and an infrared flashlight all in one. As with the visible aiming laser, the PEQ-15’s infrared dot is zeroed to the weapon, allowing Mitch to keep his head up while scanning ahead and quickly engage targets.
The PEQ-15 has two intensity levels: high and low. On the high setting, the lasers are hazardous to the eyes and generally reserved for live operations and some live fire training scenarios. The low setting is used for training and in situations where it is necessary to avoid accidental injury. Each PEQ-15 is fitted with a removable safety screw within the mode selector dial that physically locks out the high-power settings from being selected. Learn more about the PEQ-15 here.
