Lock and load now! David Hackworth blasts brass for not trusting, training troops

WorldNetDaily.com ^ | Tuesday, October 16, 2001 | Col. David Hackworth

[cbkaty]

Do you think Rumsfeld knows about this?

The more significant question: Do our enemies know this?

Answer: YES

[RJayneJ]

Quote of the Day by jwalsh07

[Newbomb Turk]

I had to purchase my own handgun 92sf Beretta and an armalite ar just so I could improve my qualifying score for promotion. We only shoot once a year for qualification and never practice during the year to improve skills. The stated reason is usually lack of funding.

[Newbomb Turk]

SMILE when you go through the airport you might see me Guarding it today.

[riley1992]

Where did this order come from and when did it get implemented? I have read an amazing amount of unbelievably ludicrous things but this one takes the cake. How in God's name can you expect troops to defend when they are holding what amounts to a water pistol without it being loaded?

[Newbomb Turk]

Yea it's one of my favorites when I need a good laugh.

[TEXASPROUD]

Whenever my daughter (Gunner's Mate/Guns) came home on leave she always had me set aside a couple of days to spend at the range shooting M1A, AR-15, Beretta 92 FS, Colt 1911A1, Mossberg 590, and Remington 870. She could not believe how cheap the Navy could be about letting them practice.

[Flint]

If the examples cited in the article are true, I am more than just worried.

They are. You, we all, should be.

[Flint]

Where did this order come from and when did it get implemented? I have read an amazing amount of unbelievably ludicrous things but this one takes the cake. How in God's name can you expect troops to defend when they are holding what amounts to a water pistol without it being loaded?

Hey, I can top it. I was part of the Battalion Landing Team that went into the Dominican Republic in 1965. There had been a shooting revolt and the Marines were sent there to be police. We made a full Marine anphibious assault on the city of Santo Domingo. Not one round was in any rifle or pistol of any Marine (except perhaps the officers) during the landing on a hostile beach. The big joke amongst the troops was that when the bow door opened we were all to yell, "Bang, Bang, Bang:, as we ran up the beach to take defensive postion.

[sneakypete]

Hell they care more about our boots being shiny then us knowing how to shoot.

Don't kid yourself. There is nothing new about this.

[zog]

--I noticed that, too. Seems like any guard would have blasted the limo, but they didn't. But, no doubt it wouldn't have done a lot of good, bullets to bagels that particular limo has shootout proof tires, layers of kevlar, lexan windows, etc, etc. Because politicians, especially anti gun goon politicians, are "special".

It would be interesting to know exactly how many weapons were in that limo, plus on that private plane, I bet quite the deadly arsenal.

[sneakypete]

We take our first shooting lessons tomorrow

Congradulations! Chances are you will have a lot of fun,and end up loving it.

[logos]

I have a hazy memory of a young Military Police private on gate duty at Patch Barracks (7th Army HQ) many years ago who, when the general's driver ignored his upraised hand and drove through the gate, fired a warning shot from his .45 into the air, and pulled down on the limo. The driver hastily backed up to the gate, the general got out, and the private was promoted to Sgt on the spot.

Those days are long gone.

[sneakypete]

By the way, this posture among guards in Beruit was not dreamt up by the local Commander of the Marine Task Force - It was directed by the Head of U.S. Forces in Europe (I think an Army General in Italy at the time) to whom the Marine Task Force reported.

Nope,it was a civilian decision made by those elitist cowardly bastards in the US State Department. They are ALWAYS the people who make these decisions unless there is a actual war declared. Maybe even then,since they flat don't give a damn about American military people dying if it might make THEM "look bad" to the host gooberment.

BTW,never mind the guards at the gate. While it is true they should have had loaded weapons,the reality is they are only "speed bumps". There SHOULD have been some Marines manning a M-2 on the roof or some other commanding position that was set back but had a clear field of fire.

[ImpBill]

"Will it take another USS Cole disaster before we allow the troops to lock and load?"

Hack has a way with the language doesn't he? I wonder if it will take another WTC/Pentagon mass murdering before our news media and elected officials will give Hack and others like him the air time to educate our fellow citizens that we are in a life and death struggle and nothing short of total victory will do.

[yarddog]

Back in 1967 or 68 three of my friends and myself decided to take a tour of Eglin AFB. The Base was an open base although certain areas were not.

After driving around and rubbernecking all the planes etc. we decided to drive out to the TAC area and see the Phantoms. As we drove, we approached a sentry standing in the middle of nowhere with an M-16. The guy driving simply waves at him and keeps going. The sentry had help up his hand to halt us and the driver either didn't understand or was just stupid (I think the latter was more likely).

We all began screaming at him to stop and he did about 50 yards past the sentry. We backed up and the guard simply told us to leave. The funny part was that as we passed him, the sentry was so flustered that all he did was stare at us.

About a year later, a story went around and I think it was true that a sentry at the TAC area had killed a real spy trying to get through a chain link fence.

[OrioleFan]

Just ask the Marine guard in Lebanon in 1983 who didn't shoot fast enough when a kamikaze driver rammed his terror truck through the gate.

The explosives in that truck were provided by that great humanitarian and blood doner, Arafat.

[JohnHuang2]

Well said, my friend...Well said.