I had the pleasure of spending some time this past weekend with a case study of all that is good when it comes to military service.
6 months ago, in went a troubled, insecure, disrespectful , drug using 17 year old and out comes a responsible, respectful man.
I dont know this kid well, what I do know is all the trouble he has put his dad through. Now he’s going off to Afghanistan. He was telling me that the guns they trained with were old and unreliable. He said he was assured that when he got to Afghanistan he would be issued better stuff.
I want to give this kid as much of a chance as I can. We shot this weekend and he was pretty good. However, he didnt know squat about maintaining an M4. He said they were told the Armorers would take care of him.
Well, I’d rather not leave things to chance. I’d like to send him off with an M4 “reliability kit”.
I’m not ex-anything. I’m just a gun nut who has been shooting ARs for 20 years. My thought is to give him a LMT or bravo company BCG and a half dozen Pmags as a going away gift.
What do you think? is this worth while? Is there anything else you recommend?
I’ll probably include an extractor spring kit or 2.
One interesting thing when we were cleaning the guns after shooting was that he was never taught how to disassemble the bcg or the bolt. Again, this was the armorers job. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to show him how to do this before he leaves.
Finally, will he be able to bring these items with him when he goes, or will I have to mail it to him after he arrives?
It sounds condescending to say, but it doesn’t sound like he will have much use for your kindness. A few PMags would probably be more than enough, and in all reality he will be more likely to trade them for something more useful to his duties or off-time than need them to fight off hordes of Terry.
The best support you can give the kid is to write to him often and send good care packages and DVDs even more often.
He’s going in via the Army National Guard. He couldnt directly enlist in the Army because he didnt have a HS diploma. The guard helped him get a GED. Once he’s done, he’d like to join the Marine Corps.
Just a couple of things. If you really want to help him look at getting him a good cleaning kit and some lube as well as some Hoppes powder solvent.
The PMAGs aren’t a bad idea and I have seen plenty of MILPERS running around with them so I don’t think it will be an issue. He should easily be able to slip the mags in with his gear. I would not go so far as to get him another BCG, upper, etc…
Now for the bad part. I have to call bullshit on the part about not being schooled on maintaining his weapon and disassembly of the bolt carrier group. This is basic stuff and was taught to us during the first few days that we started messing with the M16 FOW. Maybe you should get him a good operators manual as well and take some time to show him the proper way to do things. In Iraq or A’stan a dirty/ improperly maintained weapon will get someone killed. In addition armorers do not clean personnels weapons. They troubleshoot and repair them.
Let me clarify about the cleaning kit. A good G.I cleaning kit (not a POS Otis) as well as some good lube/solvent as I mentioned. Also, what F2S recommended as well.
Whats an MOS? If MOS means what his job will be, he has just finished military HVAC school. So he’ll be doing that. But he was told that he should expect to go out in the field as a “rifleman” (his term, not mine) when necessary.
like I said, I’m ex-nothing, just a gun nut.
re disassembling the bcg. I’ll make sure to go over that with him. I’m just reporting what he told me as far as training on that.
Again, I have no military experience, but by my civilian experience, most Ar problems center around the bolt specifically and the mags. So that was my rationale.
Re knives. My experience as a hunter and camper is that for the price of a Strider, I could buy him 2 benchmade folders and 3 kabar style Ontario knives. So I’m not a big fan of fancy “tactical” knives. I think their value is dubious.
Thanks again, and keep the suggestions coming. I’m going to get him a good cleaning kit so far.
Don
p.s. will they let him bring his own knives? or is he issued one?
MOS= Military Occupational Specialty for example, 11B is Infantry, 18B Special Forces Weapons Sgt., etc…
Do him a favor and go over as much of the system as you can with him. Now that you told us that he is National Guard I can believe that they may have cut corners somewhere in the training.
If you want to buy him a decent folder and fixed blade that’s on you. Some units have been known to be asses about it, others not so.
I highly stress getting him a good GI cleaning kit of his own along with patches, etc… as well as some solvent and lube. He should have no problem stashing it in his kit along with the PMAGs.
I’ve always run my ARs sloppy wet with motor oil. They’ve given me nearly perfect service. I typically spray out the upper and bolt with clp after shooting then set them to drain/dry. Then slather on the motor oil a day later.
Thats probably not practical in the field. What do you suggest. I’ve heard negative things about Breakfree clp in Iraq.
Is it sandy/dusty in Afghanistan? Enough so the motor oil trick will be counter productive.
(I learned the motor oil trick from a friend who was in central america in the late 80s as a member of a Seal team. Motor oil was perfect for them because moisture and corrosion were their worst enemies)
He doesn’t need knives that bad. He’d be better served by some good socks, insoles, and foot powder than <insert fancy knife here>. PMags and lots and lots of letters and care packages. If you know any local college girls that would correspond with him while he’s deployed, that would do more good for him than almost anything else. A good multi tool would be handy.
I resent that if no one else does. It’s not that we don’t teach it, the problem is people forget it because they have little use for it. Even in the sandbox the only time most airmen touch a weapon is for an exercise.
I think lube and teaching him how to apply it right would be the most important thing. If he can get away with Pmags, maybe some of those as well; otherwise, you could spring for bravo company’s GI mags with magpul followers which would blend in better and work more reliably than beat up old issue mags.
I’m a former infantryman and spent a 10month tour in Iraq. Iraq and Afghanistan are two different animals, so obviously gear will differ. Get him some cold weather gear, possibly a neck gaiter or some nice socks. As far as weapon stuff yes anything he does to his weapon will be a big no no as far as internal stuff is concerned. I would get him a few pmags or something like that, maybe a nice sling. You could get him a leatherman and a nice pocket folder. Big knives really serve no purpose other than a giant mre opener in my experience. A good flashlight with a red lens filter would be good, or even better, an led headlamp with a red lens filter. When he gets over there you should send him babywipes and snacks (like jerky, tuna, trailmix, etc.) Send him candy to hand out to the locals, winning hearts and minds hahaha. Tell him I wish him the best of luck and to watch his six. Tell him to be polite and courteous to everyone he meets and have a plan to kill them.
Sorry, gotta call BS on this one! This kid is fresh out of his IET (Initial Entry Training), and the Guard trains in the same companies, to the same standards, at the same installations, with the same drill sergeants, as active duty. The only corners cut against Guardsmen are in issuing fewer Class A uniforms!