imfdb.org  

Go Back   imfdb.org > The Forum > Off Topic

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #41  
Old 11-13-2014, 01:11 AM
Excalibur's Avatar
Excalibur Excalibur is offline
IMFDB Admin
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: USA
Posts: 3,842
Send a message via AIM to Excalibur Send a message via MSN to Excalibur Send a message via Yahoo to Excalibur
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jcordell View Post
When I was in the Army we rarely went shooting. Couple times a year to qualify and once in a blue moon we would go to the range to do some live fire training. Now I wasn't in the infantry (and there was a difference), but many folks in the military don't shoot as much as you might think. I do a lot of dry firing practice myself and go to the range once or twice a month for live fire. I recommend it to my fellow officers, but I'm not sure how many actually do that.
Since I'm a fan of and have a few friends who are Marines, *insert cliche Marines are better than the Army joke*
__________________

"There's a fine line between not listening and not caring...I like to think I walk that line everyday of my life."

Blessed be the LORD, my rock, Who trains my hands for war, And my fingers for battle
Psalm 144:1

“It is always wrong to use force, unless it is more wrong not to.”
Reply With Quote
  #42  
Old 11-13-2014, 08:54 PM
Jcordell Jcordell is offline
Formerly "Checkman"
IMFDB Admin
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Idaho
Posts: 1,029
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Excalibur View Post
Since I'm a fan of and have a few friends who are Marines, *insert cliche Marines are better than the Army joke*
The Marines are good troops. Mostly core (combat) and the Navy takes care of most of the logistics and support for the Marines (yes there are Marines who are in support jobs, but not as many as the Army has). The Army has a core (Infantry, Armor, Artillery, Combat Aviation, Special Forces), but also provides a huge part of it's support. I was one of the support troops (hey see how long even the toughest troops go on without beans and bullets, fuel, communictions, clothing, pay, medical, intelligence and so on). Support doesn't go to the range as much. Now here is where somebody who was in the Quartermaster Corp or Signal Corp chimes in that they went to the range twice a month when they were in.

Last edited by Jcordell; 11-13-2014 at 08:57 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #43  
Old 11-13-2014, 09:38 PM
funkychinaman's Avatar
funkychinaman funkychinaman is offline
IMFDB & Forum Admin
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Bucks County, PA
Posts: 2,621
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jcordell View Post
The Marines are good troops. Mostly core (combat) and the Navy takes care of most of the logistics and support for the Marines (yes there are Marines who are in support jobs, but not as many as the Army has). The Army has a core (Infantry, Armor, Artillery, Combat Aviation, Special Forces), but also provides a huge part of it's support. I was one of the support troops (hey see how long even the toughest troops go on without beans and bullets, fuel, communictions, clothing, pay, medical, intelligence and so on). Support doesn't go to the range as much. Now here is where somebody who was in the Quartermaster Corp or Signal Corp chimes in that they went to the range twice a month when they were in.
My buddy joined an Army Reserve band in 1996, and I think they only went to the range twice a year for qualifications. He did complain however, when their M16A2s were swapped out for M16A1s. He said he hated the fact that the A1s didn't have the adjustable rear sights.
__________________
"Me fail English? That's unpossible!"
Reply With Quote
  #44  
Old 11-14-2014, 01:55 PM
Excalibur's Avatar
Excalibur Excalibur is offline
IMFDB Admin
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: USA
Posts: 3,842
Send a message via AIM to Excalibur Send a message via MSN to Excalibur Send a message via Yahoo to Excalibur
Default

I know a guy in the National Guards and he is telling me that his unit is just now getting M4s
__________________

"There's a fine line between not listening and not caring...I like to think I walk that line everyday of my life."

Blessed be the LORD, my rock, Who trains my hands for war, And my fingers for battle
Psalm 144:1

“It is always wrong to use force, unless it is more wrong not to.”
Reply With Quote
  #45  
Old 11-14-2014, 05:04 PM
Jcordell Jcordell is offline
Formerly "Checkman"
IMFDB Admin
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Idaho
Posts: 1,029
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Excalibur View Post
I know a guy in the National Guards and he is telling me that his unit is just now getting M4s
My last unit when I was in was the 10th Mountain Division. The 10th was part of the 18th Airborne Corp which was the Rapid Deployment force for the U.S. Army. So we got M4 carbines in 1998. I remember we were all very excited. We were all very impressed with the modular concept.
Reply With Quote
  #46  
Old 11-14-2014, 10:35 PM
Excalibur's Avatar
Excalibur Excalibur is offline
IMFDB Admin
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: USA
Posts: 3,842
Send a message via AIM to Excalibur Send a message via MSN to Excalibur Send a message via Yahoo to Excalibur
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jcordell View Post
My last unit when I was in was the 10th Mountain Division. The 10th was part of the 18th Airborne Corp which was the Rapid Deployment force for the U.S. Army. So we got M4 carbines in 1998. I remember we were all very excited. We were all very impressed with the modular concept.
We're they burst M4s or M4A1s? And what was available at the time for accessories back in 98?
__________________

"There's a fine line between not listening and not caring...I like to think I walk that line everyday of my life."

Blessed be the LORD, my rock, Who trains my hands for war, And my fingers for battle
Psalm 144:1

“It is always wrong to use force, unless it is more wrong not to.”
Reply With Quote
  #47  
Old 11-15-2014, 04:17 PM
Jcordell Jcordell is offline
Formerly "Checkman"
IMFDB Admin
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Idaho
Posts: 1,029
Default

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.
Reply With Quote
  #48  
Old 11-21-2014, 01:42 PM
Nyles Nyles is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 921
Default

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.

Last edited by Nyles; 11-21-2014 at 01:50 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #49  
Old 11-24-2014, 11:13 PM
MoviePropMaster2008's Avatar
MoviePropMaster2008 MoviePropMaster2008 is offline
IMFDB Admin
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: California
Posts: 1,192
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nyles View Post
I'm actually a FIG as well
What's a FIG? Not an acronym I am familiar with.
__________________
The trouble is, one requires a specific thing to understand Liam, that thing being "serious head injuries." (Evil Tim 09-09-2011)
Reply With Quote
  #50  
Old 11-25-2014, 05:14 AM
Nyles Nyles is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 921
Default

Fu**ing Int Guy.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 11:23 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.0
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.