I had no idea there was a shortage of optics that they can issue out? :eek:
What is wrong with this picture, indeed…
Okay, looks like Firefox didnt trust the website.
It is quite possible that there arent enough optics to go around. I’ve heard from friends that have done tours over there that the guys in charge of that stuff are for some reason hesitant to hand them out, and feel they are better off in the ConEx…
Looks fine when I view it in Firefox?
As usual, Supply and Arms Room personnel likes to play “God” by holding back equipment that are meant to be issued to those who need them.
I freaking hate pogues!!
10 to 1 he’s one of the guys who was using his AA battery from his Aimpoint M4 for something other than his Aimpoint M4…So they yanked his Aimpoint M4 because they thought it was defective, just sayin’.
The citation to accompany the pic:
“Spc. Xxxxx X. Xxxxxx, of Duncansville, Penn., a rifleman for Company D, 1st Battalion, 110th Infantry Regiment, Nangarhar Provincial Reconstruction Team, Task Force Mountain Warrior, pulls security during a visit to the markets of Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, April 26. The Nangarhar PRT civil affairs team conducted a market assessment to help determine community infrastructure needs and the status of the local economy. Photo by: Staff Sgt. Gary Witte. (Photo by U.S. Army)”
In all honesty, there are a plethora of possibly valid reasons why his rifle isn’t sporting an optic, right, wrong, or indifferent.
- Maybe he doesn’t like a RDS.
- Maybe his is broken, as discovered on current mission, and hasn’t had time to replace it yet.
- Maybe he wasn’t issued one. These things are property book items and there is not a RDS to every single Soldier in theater. While the Army has made leaps and bounds to equalize equipment differentials between Active Duty and National Guard, that still doesn’t guarantee a RDS for each Soldier.
While it is very possible (though I think it unlikely) that someone higher up may be of stingy disposition, it is surely not something we can state with any level of certainty.
Not trying to be argumentative, just fair.
I was intrigued because he actually has a light mounted. He’s providing Security for CA pukes like me and IMHO, it’s one of the worse assignments because you’re gonna be in situations that are not the most comfortable or advantageous.
Completely agree, CDJ. I’ve just noticed that too many times there is no rhyme or reason for the things you see in theater. Stupid, I know. But it’s just the way it is.
supply and arms room pogues usually are company internal so they may or may not be pogues… but yeah i see what your saying i grabbed a peq15 and put it on my weapon then was reprimanded cause we still had peq2s…
also mtoe and other factors are at play- when in Iraq in 04-05 I was assigned on the books only a pistol. I was provided the opportunity to draw a rifle which of course I did. All our door kickers had m-4’s and the spare m16a4’s were just sitting. they did not have any spare optics however. so I ended up going irons the whole time. While in Afghanistan in 08 did have an m-4 with a aimpoint. Some times individual augmentees or replacements go thru a very quick issue of gear and train up. While the current standard is to issue m4 and optics to all deployers, it just doesn’t always happen. I saw m16a2 rifles as late as last year in Afghanistan. They were very much in the minority. Unfortunately some units (not mine thankfully) have been assholes about issuing gear- only giving acogs to higher ranks or not ordering spare optics- some s4’s think they will get some sort of medal if they go cheap and spend less money!
I hated that shit about issuing gear based on rank. It should be who needs the stuff…in my last unit before I got out they had plenty of M4’s just sitting there but they were only for E5 and up. The rest got A2’s. The 1st time we went to the range I had to show an E6 how to operate his M68. He had never touched one…
I know rank has its privileges but that should not include gear like this, and especially not when you’re leaving better equipment sitting unused in the arms room.
And yes arms room & supply people tend to like to piss the entire unit off. Only time Ive ever seen an E8 chew out an E7 was our 1SG got so fucking pissed at the supply room NCO because this dude would hoarde shit we needed, and then when someone asked him for something he’d try to make them do his dirty work to get the shit. Like you’d go ask him for some supply our team needed, and he’d make the person work for him doing his shit for 30 minutes or more before he let you have it. Other times he’d say he doesn’t have something when you damn know well its in there. They stuck his stupid ass in that spot because he was about to retire, and was just pissing away time. When he finally did leave we found tons of shit in the supply room people had been waiting on forever.
HQ/HHC platoons or companies generally suck. I always hated dealing with them be it the mechanics, cooks, orderly room, supply, arms room, CP, etc. They all act like doing their job is doing you a favor but they all had it so easy compared to everyone else. The worst was our BN making us stand at an awards ceremony not a week after we got back from deployment (only my co deployed) to see all these rear-d faggots get the same awards we got for deploying. All they did was typical rear-d shamming. And one of these cats getting an award got a DUI and pissed hot while we were gone. Talk about making what you just did feel worthless…
I have endless stories about HQ/HHC screwing people over…:rolleyes:
Could be one of several reasons. From the big Army perspective there should be a optic on his rifle even if you are in the PA National Guard. He has all the other issue gear, PEQ-15 and a light so dollors to donuts he was issued a optic. Plus he has a MagPul CTR stock on his rifle. I have had a few recent discussions about color blind soldiers not being able to use the Aimpoints or the red or green reticle ACOGs. This was also breifed by the Soldier Requirements Division at the Infantry Industry Day last month. The breifer was color blind and only used the iron sights on his rifle for multiple deployments.
If you think the Army’s short on optics I can show you hundreds of hundreds excess sitting in foot lockers in arms rooms because they have more optics then weapons to mount them on.
For the reasons listed above, I enjoyed the shit out of getting Headquarters Command. I knew enough to short-circuit the dudes trying to sabotage me and had just enough allies in HHT to clean house.
It was a beautiful thing…
This. Concur wholeheartedly.
That would piss me off.
Sadly even dealing with shitty guys like that would mean I had the privilege to join the Armed Forces.
Sadly… I never will.
Good on you. 
Funny - my first thought was that he was issued an EOTech…
j/k
You know, he could’ve broken the optic. At least he’s got his BUIS flipped up.
Looks like a target-rich enviroment! Guess you don’t need 'em when EVERYTHING’S a target? 
I thought someone was going to say how he was holding his vfg.
I cant see the picture but from the sounds of it some guy dosnt have a optic on his M4.
I have seen this alot while in A-stan. I am a C-130 mechanic so I watch alot of people getting on and off our planes all day long. There are a lot of people who were running slick M4’s (most might be issued them but not carry them???). Now the more High speed soldiers all seemed to be running a Aimpoint/Eotech. I cant for the life of me understand why all the office people had Aimpoints on there A2 rifles, and then some people had no optic on their M4.
I did see about 100 soldiers from the big red one that were all runing opticless rifles, but they all had IR illuminators and stuff so I figured they had to have taken their optics off for the ride home?
Who knows anymore. There seems to be little rhyme or reason behind what units have what. Some get tons of ACOGs, and some get Aimpoints. When I was still in our BRT (scouts + fisters) had MARS, Aimpoints, Eotechs, and ACOG’s.