Posted on 05/19/2010 1:53:30 PM PDT by Crush
Commanders have reportedly ordered a U.S. military unit in Afghanistan to patrol with unloaded weapons.
Some soldiers are being ordered to conduct patrols without a round chambered in their weapons, The US Report has learned from an anonymous source at a forward operating base in Afghanistan. Our source was unsure if the order came from his unit or if it affected other units.
On war correspondent Michael Yon's Facebook page, commenters stated that this is a common practice in Iraq, while others said that it is occurring in Afghanistan as well. According to military protocol, “Amber” status requires weapons to have a loaded magazine, but the safety on and no round chambered.
"The idea that any combat unit would conduct any operation, including patrolling and even manning a security post -- in which direct action may-or-may not take place -- and not having weapons loaded, borders on being criminally negligent in my opinion," says Lt. Col. W. Thomas Smith Jr., a recognized expert on terrorism and military/national defense issues. "This is nothing more than infusing politically correct restrictions into already overly restrictive rules of engagement. And this PC nonsense is going to get people killed."
According to Smith, "American soldiers are highly skilled in the use of 'loaded' weapons, and so should be trusted to operate with 'loaded' weapons. If someone overseeing decisions on ROE thinks not, then ratchet up training. But don't put a man on the street and force him to go through multiple prompts when a gunfight breaks out. Remember, the situation can go from quiet to kinetic in half the time it takes to breathe."
In an ambush situation, just how long does it take to engage a target when your weapon isn't already loaded?
(Excerpt) Read more at theusreport.com ...
registered Democrats are happy. They love dead US military personel.
The sentries on the USS Cole were under the same ROE.
Sounds like Viet Nam all over again!
I call BS
WHAT?
I can almost guarantee they have their weapons locked and loaded.
No effin way.
Idiotic. I don’t go out of the house without one in the chamber.
Same here. This may as well be written on a men's room stall.
Pure insanity!!! George Bush is a murderer for ordering troops to battle? This a@# clown willfully condones the death of US troops. F’em, F!*K all those at the Whitehouse, and the Pentagon that willfully conduct themselves in this manner.
That was sarcasm folks!
I call BS
Me, too. The troops won’t put up with this BS and neither would their field commanders.
This just makes the courageous restraint award that much easier to obtain.
My MP nephew in the NG told me that they carry the M9’s without a round in the chamber even though the first shot is a double action pull length.
With the current ROE I’d think they’d have plenty of time to lock and load before firing back.
I do not know if the story is accurate but I do know from persoanl experience we were not allowed to keep a round in the chamber in Viet Nam.
As I mentioned on another thread, some regulations are stupid. I figured I would rather be punished for having a round in the chamber while on patrol then be dead. I always kept a round in the chamber.
If this is true, which I kind of doubt, I guarantee that it’s an order that is given with a wink-wink-nod-nod in the field.
The RoE’s are worse and worse
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