Posted on 02/26/2015 7:28:34 PM PST by marktwain
No matter what the President says, the military can make their own decisions. I doubt seriously that Reagan gave an order relating to the number of rounds in a weapon.
If a General decides to not issue .50 cal rounds in order to avoid a possible bad optic, that doesn’t reflect on the president.
We spend too much time passing the buck in these scenarios.
I would wager the wives knew they didn't know, so they were open to learning (plus some fine motor control). Guys tend to think they know stuff and don't listen as well.
Performance driving school instructors have similar stories.
To believe knowledge and skill comes from a certain arrangements of chromosomes usually leads to bad outcomes.
That must be a Marine Corps tradition.
My son was in Security Forces at a submarine base one Christmas eve night. As said up thread, this was serious business.
They were posted as far from civilization as you could get and no one was ever crazy enough to get anywhere nearby. So they were surprised to see a figure approach. After the formalities he turned out to be the company commander.
"Did you men get cookies?"
"No sir. No cookies."
He said "Merry Christmas" and left. About a half hour later a harried cook appeared with hot coffee and a few dozen cookies telling how he'd gotten his behind reamed for not delivering them earlier.
I think Smokin’ Joe in Post #42 got it right.
An excellent company commander - and the cook deserved his reaming..
Transported a 155mm nuke to Nevada by helo. Two guys with .45s ten rounds between them. Nuts.
When I was on guard duty in the sandbox in 2009, we were issued M9s with 2x15 and M16s with 4x30. Every round was counted on issue and return.
Looking carefully at the pic, I think it’s one mag and three chocolate bars.
Looking even more carefully, that Air Force NCO looks like he ate a whole PX-load of chocolate bars...and finished it off with a gallon or two of ice cream.
W33, SADM 54.. W48 or W79 ?.....:o)
It was for a 155 as I was told, my association with it went as far as making sure it was secure as a load, and getting it where it was supposed to be. It was a fairly long flight, but helos being helos and no cell phones at the time, I thought ten rounds was light. Of course had I gone down, the rest of the flight would have took it and left me beerless.
Maybe. You'd be amazed at the .50-cal onslaughts I saw unleashed on dinky little cars, yet it didn't stop them. Crazy stuff.
I have absolutely no experience with any machine gun tho I once had a Beretta .22 short go full auto by accident. It fired three shots in a burst so short that I had to count the ones left in the mag to know how many actually fired.
I do remember a long video from I have no idea where. It was of the lead tank in the advance on Baghdad. A guy was manning a .50 and was half way out of the turret.
As they moved along, he blasted several vehicles and stopped them cold. I can still recall him firing just a few rounds at a pickup truck. After stopping he would for some reason have to work the action again to prepare for the next target (victim).
The tank never used any other weapon but that .50 just kept knocking everything out.
They can be effective, it just depends on where the round lands or if the driver gets the hint (that’s another phenomenon you’d be amazed by).
The “working the action for some reason” thing you refer to is the M2’s headspace and timing being out of whack. Improper headspace and timing can very easily screw up an M2 and turn it into a bolt action rifle. It’s fairly simple to correct, but it takes a precision gauge (usually on the a gunner’s keychain or something similar) and a few minutes of time without enemy contact.
LOL....been there.
W48 btw was the 155mm...... all dismantled now.
One round? When was this?
Our quarterdeck watch petty officers had a .45 with a full magazine but an empty chamber. This was in the 1966 to 1975 timeframe.
Early 70’s on a DDG out of Norfolk.
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