Posted on 02/26/2015 7:28:34 PM PST by marktwain
I remember the bombing of the Marine barracks in Lebanon. The guards had fifty caliber machine guns but no ammo.
I actually blamed Regan because he was head of the military and should have made sure there was no such nonsense going on. I know if I was president, that would be a priority order to all military and civilian guards.
The 50 cal. could have stopped that truck load of explosives too. Also he would have had to have permission to shoot. That would have been another one of president yard-dog’s orders.
Someone might shoot their eye out!
As an Army MP back in ‘89-’91, I was issued all of 10 rounds of 9mm ball for my M9 pistol. Against regs, I kept a personal magazine of 13 more rounds close by. The location of my posting will stay undisclosed.
And no cutting and running from Lebanon either. Today it’s Hezbollah Central.
This is an upgrade from Barney Fife who only got one.
Same here, 5 rounds in my 45
This had as much to do with ammo accountability as anything else. A lost round or AD resulted in reams of paperwork nobody wanted to do, possible adverse career-impacting actions for the NCOs and junior officers in the chain of the soldier who lost the round, and a report of survey, at the end of which the soldier losing the round would see a $0.18 deduction from his next paycheck to adjust the property books.
When that bomb went off, the Grenada invasion had already started, and the Army was physically on the ground and engaged in combat 47 hours later.
I think that Reagan made the right decision to not allow his presidency and his greater global strategy against the Russian empire, to be bogged down in the Middle East.
In the future they’ll get a billy club and a whistle.
An ex-Army co-worker related that guards in Korea had no ammo in their rifles but the sergeant had 3 rounds in his pistol!
Another,an ex-Marine ,in reference to my outrage at effectively unarmed guards in Lebanon ,said”you can’t trust those young guys with loaded guns”.
WTF!!!!
LA Riots in 1992, I was issued 15 Rounds .45. Than they gave me a medic who was issued a .45 also. He got 7, I took 8. An LA Sheriff Deputy gave me about 20 hollow point .45’s, which I still have.
My troops had anywhere between 20 - 30, most brought their own as we turned in 200 more rounds than we drew. NCO’s had more than the troops, because I said so.
Than=Then
Meanwhile, the long-running Islamic threat metastasized.
As far as I can see, the two threats were really one. Look at Iran after all.
Nothing was like the threat of the Soviet Union, we literally went through decades knowing that each day could be our last, for modern man.
Petty Officer of the watch on a warship while in port was issued a .45 and a magazine with one round.
Easy enough answer: five rounds are easy to load and unload at the beginning and end of each watch. Five rounds are sufficient to stop an intruder or at least prevent anyone from taking your weapon from you. Guards aren’t supposed to engage in extended firefights, particularly since most of them are brand- new PFCs straight out of basic training.
Guards are supposed to be the tripwire who notifies the Corporal of the Guard that he has a problem and then the guard force turns out like gangbusters.
Back in the early days of my Marine Corps career, I was a guard for an ammunition depot in the hills of Camp Pendleton. At another post further in the ammo dump, a new lieutenant is the Officer of the Day and he decides that he’s going to sneak up on the guard at that post. The guard is surprised and opens fire on the lieutenant with his M-14. The lieutenant pulls his .45 and the fight is on. Luckily for all concerned, nobody was hit and they only had five rounds each, so the damage was limited.
Five rounds is just right, it turns out.
I was the company armorer for a Finance Company in Germany. Army regulations required that any remote pay activities have armed guards. However, USAEUR (IIRC) regs required that no loose rounds were allowed in arms rooms.
If it made sense, it wouldn’t be the Army.
Hm, I seem to remember something from the Army:
General Order #1Yeah, I know the Marines have different general orders — but I'd bet that [or functionally similar] is in them.
I will guard everything within the limits of my post and quit my post only when properly relieved.
So...uh...with Social Security, HHS, IRS, EPA, and every other Fascist agency stocking up on JHP ammo, what’s their standard carry issue?
Full mag and a spare, I’ll bet.
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