Question for soldiers: why doesn't the .mil let you carry a personal pistol?

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Originally Posted by CRAMBONE

Doesn’t mean he was “supposed” to do that. I know guys that did the same thing with M9s and Mossberg 500/Remington 870s. Everyone either knew and looked the other way or didn’t suspect a thing because they were identical to issued weapons. Optic and accessories leniency was better because back in the early GWOT days we didn’t have shit.

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Not at all! He knew it was wrong when he was doing it but he wasn't really comfortable with the weapon he was issued in terms of it's well known lack of stopping power. I mean, literally it was about the same or worse than the .38's that failed in the Phillipines that lead to the adoption of the 1911. Those 130 grain FMJ's are a piss poor load and anyone that knows anything about firearms/ballistics won't really argue the point.

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Originally Posted by murphy j

I once knew a fella, along with the rest of his squad, managed to get back full auto AK's during the first Gulf War. They had gotten away clean until one dipshit took theirs to a public range and got busted. That one ended up ratting out the rest.

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Good friend of mine deployed with an Army Reserve unit out of Wisconsin to Desert Storm. He ended up guarding prisoners, shit loads of Iraqi prisoners while in Kuwait......Anyway, his unit rotates back to the states. About 6 months later they have drill weekend. They get a flat on their Deuce so they pull the spare out and put it on. Start down the road, spare goes WHOMP, WHOMP, WHOMP and vibrates like hell......They pull it off and take it off the rim- two AK's wrapped in rags. There was a huge shit storm etc...but it could never be proved who did it etc...Supposedly those AK's are on display at the Unit Museum at Camp McCoy.

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Originally Posted by SteyrAUG

Mostly standardization.

And could you imagine the war in Iraq if if 65% of the guys were running XDs and Judges. It's bad enough when a military vendor drops something substandard in the supply chain like those Checkmate M9 magazines that malf'd every chance they got. If guys could bring whatever they wanted you'd see some stupid shit with some Tapco accessories.

I question the wisdom of carrying a Gold Cup in Nam. It's an excellent 1911, just not in Vietnam.

Lots of guys who weren't issued handguns because they had a Garand liked to get handguns from home or from the enemy because there were times when you could probably get a handgun up and running faster, like when you are sleeping.

We gave those vets a lot of discretion and they generally didn't abuse it, but there were accidents and incidents from time to time.

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Or the military contractors would be unhappy and the loss of revenue and cut their lobby dollars to the politicians.

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Originally Posted by Uni-Vibe

Guy I knew that was a LERP in Vietnam said his outfit carried all kinds of weapons. He carried a Ww2 grease gun and a PPK. There was an M14, a shotgun, a couple AKs, Colt CAR 15, etc. I suppose snake eaters could carry whatever.

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None of those were unusual for LRRPs. I’d wager the PPK was a personal weapon. If you look at it, they were bleeding edge. BHPs in 9MM and Carbines. At huge risk of going out my lane....since AR-10s were not an option....I would have tried to get some scoped FALs in lieu of M14s though. But I have the benefit of 21st Century hindsight

The first time I was in combat was Urgent Fury in 1983. In the aftermath, there were Military Intelligence personnel gathering all kinds of Cuban small arms and equipment plus AA and personnel carriers. I remember the armed guards they had around all the stuff prior to loading on transport planes. At the time I didn't know the difference between a Russian or Chinese AK, but they were all fixed wooden stock weapons. I also remember the rag tag looking Angolan workers who were there under the control of the Cubans. I didn't bring home anything from that event other than a bullet wound in the right thumb and the memory of a fellow pilot killed there.

Bet that makes roping a little different.

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Originally Posted by Averageman

Bet that makes roping a little different.

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Fragmented 7.62 round into the cockpit with part that hit the right hand (thumb). Stitched up by a Navy Corpsman on the USS Independence (CV-62). Only long term issues has been arthritis in the thumb. Grenada was a time of firsts for me. First time I ever landed on a ship in open ocean.

Your story is in a slide deck for military medicine

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Originally Posted by 1168

Your story is in a slide deck for military medicine

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See, OH58D;
Mom always said you'd be famous !

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Originally Posted by 1168

Your story is in a slide deck for military medicine

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Originally Posted by Averageman

See, OH58D;
Mom always said you'd be famous !

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I wonder if that slide deck mentions that I got real nauseous and nearly puked when my adrenaline high subsided? I was a 23 year old 1LT. Only time I ever took a small arms hit to my body in all the other more interesting engagements over the years. Still have the scar on that right thumb.