Was Al Gore being stupid with the M-16 Rifle? Was he in Vietnam with it?

Gun Watch ^ | 4 November, 2015 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

This famous photograph of Al Gore, was supposedly posted on his web site when he was running for president in 1999.  It has been floating about the Internet ever since.  Many use it to mock Al Gore for his weapon handling skills, or lack thereof; but the weapon handling does not look too bad to me.  There is no magazine in the rifle, so it is likely unloaded, even if the selector switch is on "semi" and not on safe.  The muzzle, on close examination, seems to be pointing to the left (his left) of his head. He seems to be adjusting the sling on the rifle, and it is likely a pose for the photographer.  Some claim that Gore stated that the picture of him was taken in Vietnam.  That is less certain.  Here is a critique by James Welborn at thefireingline.com:

While I laughed until tears were streaming down my face I did not at
that time look very close at the photo until a few days later. This photo
was on Al's own website, supposedly showing Al in Viet Nam. The photo is of Al. But it ain't Viet Nam. Why?...

1. The photo is supposedly Al, out in the, "field". If this is so, why  is his weapon unloaded? And why does he have no ammo at all. If I, as a photog for 25th Infantry attempted to go outside the wire with a patrol, without ammo, two things would happen. First, the team I was going out with would refuse to bring me along. And secondly, I would probably be brought up on charges because such stupidity puts the rest of the patrol in danger.

2. Al has only one canteen. There was no time of year in that area of
Viet Nam where you would not carry as much water as you could with you.  Drinking fountains were thin on the ground in the bush.

3. Al has a rubberized jacket of some sort on, over his fatigues. Aside  from the fact that you would keel over after about 5 minutes wearing such a thing in the heat and humidity of that country, no such thing was issued to troops incountry. Rain cover was provided by a poncho liner and, (a tent half with a hood in the center of it.) Enlisted troops were not authorized to make up their own version of the field uniform. Nor were officers for that matter.

4. Notice in the photo that Al has what looks to be a winter sleeping bag on  his "ruck." Try sleeping in one of these in Viet Nam and you would have a very hot and wet night inside the bag.

5. Wasn't Al supposed to be a journalist or something? But he has no
camera, no cassette recorder. No film. And if he was acting a regular
"grunt," then he would be carrying lots of ammo, both for himself and
for the M-60, belt fed that goes out with any medium to large patrol.

6. No food.

7. No grenades.

8. Maybe in the special forces and seals, an enlisted man would be  allowed to go to the field with a boonie hat on. Nowhere else. Troops were required to wear the steel pot and liner and you could be brought up on charges for not doing so.

Sooooo, this is a photo of Al acting stupid in some basic training  center in the US, where you would go to the field without ammo, water and food, and with clothes that were not authorized for use in Viet Nam. Al is lying again. He might have been in Viet Nam, but this photo was not taken there.

Here is another take:

1. Look at the muzzle brake on the M16A1.
2. Not a bead of sweat on him
3. NO LBE gear on him
4. Look at his haircut
5. Read what James Welborn for the rest.

Others note that it is well known that Al Gore served in Vietnam, and that everyone should be honored for their service.  I agree with that statement, and with the observation that sons of senators are often treated a bit differently than the common soldier.

I do not think it matters much if the picture was taken in Vietnam or not.  Al was in the Army during Vietnam.  He served.  So, he was not a Navy Seal or an Army Green Beret.  Not everyone can be. During Vietnam, I served my tour in California, in an Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation (RDT&E) outfit.  Most of us who served have some photographs that we keep to fondly remember our service.    This is likely one of Al's.

I am glad that he did not become president; but I also appreciate that he served.

©2015 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included. Link to Gun Watch

[fella]

When in the Boy Scouts going up into the Blue Ridge Mountains for a camping trip our gear was better stowed than that.

[DJ MacWoW]

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[deport]

Wasn’t his length of “service” FOUR MONTHS

*****************

That’s about how long he was in Vietnam. Gore enlisted in August 1969, spent two months
basic at Ft. Dix, assigned to Ft. Rucker as a journalist, shipped to Vietnam on
January 2, 1971, discharged in May, 1971.

[smokingfrog]

His dress is slightly different in the first picture. Lots of razor wire, so could be a war zone. It looks like he has an ammunition bandolier across his chest, but why no LCE & ammo pouches, first aid kit, etc?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-1956_Load-Carrying_Equipment

[Rinnwald]

The correct term is “muzzle brake”. It brakes or retards recoil by redirecting muzzle gases.

For Al’s rifle, from Wikipedia, “...the U.S. military declared the A2 flash suppressor as a compensator or a muzzle brake; but it is more commonly known as the “GI” or “A2” flash suppressor.”

[Chuckster]

I wouldn’t piss on John Kerry if he was on fire but the analysis of the photo is BS.

I was in RVN in ‘68.

Weapons were not always kept loaded and mags were often carried in bandoleers rather than the issued mag pouches. A junior Navy officer might well have them under his rain jacket.

Might not there be another canteen on the OTHER SIDE of the ruck? I usually had one INSIDE the ruck as well.

I had a US Navy anorak which I had a zipper put into that I wore during monsoon season. I was not the only one and no one ever said anything about it.

In the central highlands we were issued, and needed, down sleeping bags and field jacket liners. It was not hot, all the time, everywhere, in Vitnam.

Wasn’t he supposed to be on a Swift Boat? If I were heading out on a boat, I would probably rig my pack diferently than if I were going to be humping it all day.

Food would be IN the rucksack not dangling around his neck where you could see it.

On a Swift Boat, if there were grenades they would be in a wooden case, not hanging from the skipper’s LBE.

We often wore boonie hats on patrol and left our steel pots behind. On the fire bases we usually left our steel pots on the trails of the guns. We wore soft hats or caps most of the time when not actually engaged in a fire mission or under attack.

His M16 has the shipping cover over the muzzle. A lot of troops did this to keep debris out of the muzzle. It was prohibited but we did it anyway.

If carrying a ruck, the LBE suspenders might not be used, especially if you are just heading down to the boat. If I weren’t heading out into the bush, just taking my gear down to the boat, I would not bother with tucking and rolling the straps.

Even in the Army (And Kerry was Navy) we wore our hair very long by the military standards of the day and that was much longer than troops do now.

Kerry could not have gotten away with dressing like that in any stateside training camp but in RVN it was quite common for troops to wear non-issued clothing, forego weekly haircuts and ignore uniform regulations.

The photo was taken in Vietnam as part of Kerry’s image building program.

[eartrumpet]

[FreedomPoster]

>>>>There is no magazine in the rifle, so it is likely unloaded,

>>That assumption has killed innumerable people.

I generally like Dean Weingarten’s columns quite well, and think he missed it badly with that comment.

[Gaffer]

The M16A1 manual doesn’t say “brake” or “break” that I recall. Also the Marine Corps manual calls them a “compensator”.

I’ve found instances for both but the key is “suppression and compensation” in the FMs.

Regardless, my point besides getting dogged off about what the correct term is, my main point was that you couldn’t tell anything about the “brake/break” because it had the barrel cover over it. You couldn’t tell whether it was a birdcage or what it should have been for that time, probably a three-pronger.