We were told all about the optics and lasers and lights that were available, but we did not have any of those. It took the war to bring that stuff into the system for just the average troops. In 98 the high end units were getting all the extras. I was military intelligence. The infantry battalions were going to get the extras.
I don't remember if we were issued M4 or M4A1 carbines. I do remember that they were brand new. We got them still in the boxes and wrappers. Like I wrote earlier it was very exciting. The settings were safe, semi-auto and 3 round burst. The division's Long Range Surveillance Detachment (LRSD) was assigned to the Military Intelligence Battalion for administrative purposes. They were in our barracks and actually were very well behaved troops.
Those guys were authorized to wear the maroon beret since they were airborne qualified. They also got all the extras for their carbines. At the time we decided that the reason why a bunch of MI Pouges got new carbines (while all the other support units stayed with the M16A2) was because we had LRSD as part of our battalion. We figured it was an administrative decision. Just easier to issue carbine to the entire battalion instead of just one platoon sized element within the battalion.
Last edited by Jcordell; 11-15-2014 at 04:24 PM.
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