In 2003, I carried an M9. Officer’s and SNCO’s weren’t issued rifles. (This was a mechanized unit, not straight leg - regular infantry staff NCO’s and officers carried rifles/M4’s depending on which unit they were in.)
After the first go round we all wanted rifles but the new BC said no - that if we had rifles we would get too involved in the fighting, nevermind that each vehicle commander has a roof mounted 240 to get involved with.
Fortunately a big directive came down that everybody would have a rifle - the Marines got A4’s and SNCO’s and officers got the old A2’s.
The earlier comments about the career importance for scoring on the RR are spot on.
I would like to keep my pistol. I almost turned it in in 2005 and just carried the A2, but I finally decided to keep it. On a practical level, in a perfect world - EVERYONE would have pistols, with all the requisite training time and ammo, but that’s not going to happen anytime soon.
There is also a safety issue. These young men carry all matter of deadly weapons 24-7, but there is something about pistols that causes jackassery to ensue. A year or so ago, a proud parent at my church showed me photos of here lance corporal clowning around with an M9, pointing it at the cameraman and waving it around.
Don’t get me wrong, if I were a platoon commander again with absolute power I would give everyone pistols, but some higher-ups would have visions of ND-fests and card game shootings. Not saying I agree, just telling it like it is.
We need to just put an A1 or M4 stock on the A4 and i think the portability issue would be solved.
Maybe they figured it out that most of their battles involve CQB operations and exiting out of vehicles. Why don’t they just issue the M-4 to everyone.
On a perfect the Marines would have a choice of M4 or M16A4 and a sidearm for everybody, but i don’t think we have the budget to outfit everybody with two rifles and a sidearm.
I think there is a need for a couple of guys in the squad having a M16a4 with a good piece of glass(ACOG) to use as a DMR or over watch and the rest of the guys M4 for the up close and personal, and a side arm of some kind.
I believe there is a need for both rifles and a hand gun as a back up, in case Murphy wants to come around.
Clearly this decision was made by the non gunfighting, non combat experienced… senior ass bags. I used to cringe watching young Marines exit vehicles & clear bldgs with the ridiculous 2x4 they’re issued. These kids have to cant the 16 sideways & put the stock way over they’re shoulder to facilitate crossing threshholds… I’ve rolled up on a vehicle (early days w/o armored vehicles) with everyone KIA apparently trying to get the full size POS to bear w/o success.
It’s an issue about hitting 500yd supersize targets with Irons… WTF how about making a relevant course of fire for m4’s with aimpoints &/or ACOGS. And, gee wizz, the time spent training for this qual would be relevant to combat use of their weps… unlike the Iron sight masterbators.
And then there are places like Afghanistan where a longer range weapon is a big plus. A standard issue military weapon must be a compromise. Special Ops types can select a different weapon for each mission, Grunts can not.
Remember in WWII there was plenty of MOUT work don’t with M1s.
No argument here on the rifle range. The KD range is great for teaching the basics of marksmanship, however it does little when it comes to MOUNT. It would be nice to see a couple more range quals (that factor into promotion) added to the KD range.
If their were money and time (don’t forget annual training on AIDS awareness and EO!), everyone would get a pistol as a secondary weapon.
Realistically, I think we could give every squad leader one (maybe with a light attached) for certain niche jobs requiring extreme compactness and maneuverability.
While I really like the M4, we won’t be fighting house to house in Iraq forever. As a previous poster said, a basic infantry rifle needs to be able to do a bunch of things. I think we can fix it by tweaking the stock on the A4. There is no earthly reason we retained the A2 stock when we went to the new rifle.This fix is conjecture on my part - maybe the balance would suck.
Also, my old Bn gunner said accelerated wear on M4’s (over a bajillion rounds) was a factor. If history is any indicator, the USMC will be using these A4’s whent eh Army goes to plasma rifles in 40-watt range. This might have been a factor.