Question from newbie : U.S soldiers with AK?
 

Hey, i am kinda newbie here, so.....Take it easy with me man XD.

I'd like to ask some questions about our troopers in the Iraq. Some of my friends(they're extremely accurate, and i cannot say they're bluffing me on this) told me that U.S soldiers in Iraq is using AK-47/AKM(or it's copy or....whatever) from iraqi soldiers because they're kinda running out of guns.


I know it is absolutely ridiculous, and it makes sense in some way. No guns.. Only available gun in Iraq widely is AK series, and Iraqi soldiers are friendly, so we might be able to have an experiece of having and shooting AK in the actual battlefield.......

What do you guys think? Is this real? or just makes me like jerk in here?


http://blogfile.paran.com/BLOG_72337...ault_Rifle.jpg

The US military is not so short on weapons that they're using foreign kit. You are talking about the best-equipped military in the world (in quantity if not always quality). That would never happen. You might see pictures of guys shooting or posing with foreign kit for kicks, that's normal. I have plenty of pictures of using an SA80, but that's not a Canadian issue weapon, I just happened to play with one during some cross-training.

Most armies have very strict rules against using battlefield pickup weapons. You don't know what kind of condition it's in or if it's going to be effective or even safe. You don't know what conditions the weapon, and more importantly the ammo, has been stored in, you don't know how it's been maintained, and even worse you don't know if it's been sabotaged.

The classic example of this was right after the invasion of Iraq. Soldiers like guns, it's no surprise, and they espescially like unusual guns - you have huge piles of captured arms, and you had alot of guys pulling out sniper rifles (some Dragunovs, but more PSL and Al Kadesihs), and having them blow up in their faces. Turned out alot of Al Kadesihs were training weapons that were never designed to be fired with live ammo, and the troops didn't know how to recognise the markings.

I've seen videos that U.S soldiers using AK just for fun in the shooting range, and i thought this misunderstanding might come from those kinds of stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9c-RXXnL-7U

I think you're right, i guess i was just being bluffed by people i know XD

The guy probably took it from a dead Iraqi and kept it as a souvenir, They do that ALL the time. US Troops are also training with AKs more as to familiarize themselves to the weapon system of the enemy.

The US military isn't running out of M16s to give to troops. We got stockpiles of them here. the M16A4 has recently been issued to troops, replacing the A2, so if they ran out of A4s in armories, they'd go back to A2s.

A few months ago, I saw Iraqi military trading their AKs, some even look customized for M16A4s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_teTvdAMX4

Unfortunately they can't take them home. In fact the ruling just came down that they can only bring home muzzle-loaders. Until now antique cartridge rifles were still ok. Their rules are now stricters than ours, which is a first.

That's just for canada, right, because I think the US military doesnt allow any weapons to be brought home.

US troops used to be able to bring home antique (pre-1898) firearms they bought at the KAF market, now it's only muzzleloaders. We can bring home firearms that qualify as antiques under Canadian law (pre-1899, single shot, and of calibre larger than 8.3mm for rifles; pre-1899 and not in a caliber commonly available for handguns). Issue for us is that we have to prove they're originals and not Darra-made clones.

Of course we can't compete with the quality of the Canadians ;)

But back to the OP's question.

I am NOT in Iraq (obviously) but I know a lot of guys who are.

1) There is no way that U.S. soldiers are running out of guns. That is just ridiculous. Who said this? Teenagers from Europe?

Also U.S. Soldiers are not authorized to pick up and use foreign weapons except in times of absolute necessity (i.e. in an active firefight you grab whatever you can that works and that has ammunition) or specific operational doctrine (like training Iraqi army). Currently soldiers have a wide leeway as to the customization of their weapons (i.e. aftermarket scopes, sights, rigs, etc.) but the general weapon must be serviceable by the company armorer (and I mean military, not movie). Snipers are given a wide leeway in what sniper rifles they can use, but there are limits. Models must be approved for use which is why you can see anything from an M40 to a Barrett M82A1 or a Cheytac or a TAC-50, but you probably won't see really oddball or commercial hunting rifles. I always wondered if the army would EVER let a sniper or designated marksman use an Mosin Nagant M91/30 Sniper with PU scope in the field, just to see how they fare.... :D

2) Elite units have a different doctrine. NAVY SEALS and others in the mountains of Afghanistan have used indigenous weapons, as have other elite units in other wars.

Hope this helps.

BTW: nice AKM pic. What site is that from?

I would expect units like the SEALs to maintain just about every AK variant in existence in their armories.

They're special forces and special forces can use where ever they want