Interesting NY Times article on NYPD revolvers.

[Nyles]

I'm actually a FIG as well, and a reservist at that, so I get to the range once a year. That said I was attached to 1 PPCLI for almost 2 years when I deployed, and they didn't seem to get to the range much more often, maybe twice in 9 months of work-up. The modern infanteer has a whole host of skills to learn (first aid, radio procedure, calling in fire, vehicle operation & maintenance), almost all of which are more complicated than firing a rifle.

As for weapons, I had a C7A2 and a 9mm in theater. Most of the guys in the rifle companies wouldn't have had the pistol, didn't need them. C8s were pretty much reserved for LAV drivers, gunners, and commanders, recce platoon and M203 grenadiers. Even the commander had a rifle. In my home unit at the to time (2009) I had a C7A1, we've since upgraded. No pistols in the militia though.

Standard optic across the CAF is the Elcan, but some (maybe 50%) of the C8s in theater had EoTechs. Out recce guys ditched their EoTechs for Elcans since the insurgents kept shoot and scooting them from about 100M and the Elcan was more precise at that distance. BUIS are supposed to be issued with every rifle but they're uncommon in the regs and unheard of in the reserves. I don't know why, but I've also never seen an optic fail. In theater most of the guys in rifle companies (but not drivers) had lasers and lights on their rifles, guys in support trades or HQ coy didn't. Everyone got a vertical foregrip, I hated mine and took it off. I've never seen one in the reserves.

[MoviePropMaster2008]

Originally Posted by Nyles

I'm actually a FIG as well

What's a FIG? Not an acronym I am familiar with.

[Nyles]

Fu**ing Int Guy.

[MoviePropMaster2008]

Originally Posted by Nyles

Fu**ing Int Guy.

SIgh. Okay. You got me. What is INT?

[commando552]

Originally Posted by MoviePropMaster2008

SIgh. Okay. You got me. What is INT?

Intelligence. I assume the whole military FIG thing is a bacronym from the Field Intelligence Groups that the FBI has. Recently I have seen some British police forces using the term FIG (as is Field Intelligence Group) for some undercover operations, I assume because they want to be cool like the FBI.

[MoviePropMaster2008]

Originally Posted by commando552

Intelligence. I assume the whole military FIG thing is a bacronym from the Field Intelligence Groups that the FBI has. Recently I have seen some British police forces using the term FIG (as is Field Intelligence Group) for some undercover operations, I assume because they want to be cool like the FBI.

Thanks commando552. I only ask because that's NOTHING like the acronyms we have in the U.S. Military and knowing he's a Canuck, led me to want to know MORE about his acronyms (which mean NOTHING to us). Since the discussion was about INFANTRY roles, I thought it was something like FNG, a generic term (like FOB). Thanks again. You know what they say about 'military intelligence'

[Nyles]

I think you may be dramatically overestimating how much the Canadian military cares about the FBI. We've been FIGs since at least the 80s, long before the FBI had Field Intelligence Groups.

It's a fairly straightforward acronym - intelligence operator = Int Guy, throw in Fucking and you have FIG. Figs are fruit, infanteers tend to consider anyone not in the infantry to be lesser soldiers, it just makes sense.

I know we've been abbreviating intelligence as Int since at least the 40s (Canadian Intelligence Corps was abbreviated C Int C from 1942-1968, the modern Intelligence Branch has worn INT shoulder titles / rank slip ons since it was founded in 82.), I suspect even longer before there was a separate Intelligence trade