So I’m looking for information on what models of M-16’s and CAR-15’s that the Air Force used in the late 70’s-mid 80’s. I am looking to build or a AR that resembles what my father would have used when he was in (KC-135 Nav.). He died in on a training flight in the mid-80’s and I would like something to hand down to my sons, just as I have my clone of my M16A4 I had in Iraq. I have a photo of him in SERE school with a M16A1 and another with a CAR-15 in the early 80’s (727ish I believe). I’m trying to get more information, only for his good friend from the time to tell me that they had “very short carbines in the aircraft” when they would fly to Italy and Turkey, or on training missions over the North Pole. Does anyone know what they might have used?
Might see if the pics you have match any here:
While there may have been a certain “issued” model, the USAF is well known to cobble whatever together at times to make functional rifles. W had a certain unit show up for training and I was simple amazed at what they had. Of course I tried my best to trade my carbine upper for what appeared to be a 629/30/39/49 upper. Looking at everything in the inventory, the Armorer wouldn’t have had a clue as to what came back other than optics and lowers of course.
Thank for this. It appears to be a GUU-5P. It has the 203 cut in the barrel but does not have the forward assist.
That’s what I’m figuring out. I assumed that they would have been a little more standard as but that doesn’t seem to be the case at all. Thanks for the help.
I was a 135 boom operator in the mid 80s and he wouldn’t of used any car 15 or M-16 135 crews didn’t even get qualified on a rifle or carbine they got qualified on model 15 Smith and Wesson revolver ‘s.
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I don’t know if he was qualified on anything. I just have an old photo of him in Colorado, were according to my mom, he helped work on something close to GPS in 83 or 84.
This.
I was a -141 flying crew chief at that time. We crew chiefs qualified on M-16a1 but were issued the S&W’s and a cheesy shoulder holster depending on the mission and theater.
In the UK in 1980-1983 we had the GAU-5/A, for Security personnel and convoy commanders.
Doubt it’s an GUU-5P. Those really didn’t start appearing in the conventional USAF inventory until the early 2000s and were generally just GAU-5’s re-barreled with an M4 barrel.
Likely it’s a GAU mod of some sort.
You were an SP?
Good to know, thanks. The more I research all the Air Force did to those guns the more confused I get.
They were a mess before they started moving towards the M4 as a carbine replacement.
Fun fact, (if memory serves) there’s only one machine in the entire USAF at Lackland that has the capability to stamp receivers with a new designation. All those “GAU” and “GUU” stamps came from the big CATM shop at Lackland at some point.
Back in 03-05 I worked on an Air Guard base doing security. In their arms room they had three rifles that looked like 601, complete with the green Bakelite, pretty awesome seeing history like that.
I had a clone of a GUU-5/P for a while.
I needed the A1 style lower for something else though, and ended up rebuilding it as a 723 clone.
Sorry man.
Don’t mean to pry but was it on a KC-135 in Panama in 1986? I was an Army grunt there then and we had a KC-135 go down after an aborted landing attempt at Howard AFB. Unfortunately all crew members perished.
No they crashed during pilot training in 85 at Beale AFB after practicing landings.
No. Us munitions folks had to carry M16’s and GAU-5’s on convoy duty. A fair number of them had the old three-prong flash suppressors and were marked “AR-15”. Probably had seen little to no rounds through them in their lifetimes.