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

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

[JohnHuang2]

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Lock and load now!

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© 2001 David H. Hackworth

Shooting first and straight while on a battlefield or a security detail is a matter of life or death. That's why weapons training normally gets the highest priority in the U.S. military.

If you're slow on the draw, you're dead, and your side loses.

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. It took the leatherneck one full second to chamber a round, another second to flip his weapon off safety and fire. By that time, the truck had smacked into the Marine billet he was securing and exploded. The Rules of Engagement forbade this expert rifleman from being locked and loaded even though his unit was on high alert for just such an attack. And those two seconds he lost arming his weapon cost 241 American lives.

Lesson learned: An unloaded weapon is useless. A lesson we've unfortunately learned and re-learned the hard way – over and over again.

Recently, the Navy dedicated a memorial to the sailors who were aboard the USS Cole when it was savaged last year by a terrorist attack in the port of Aden. But even though the members of the security detail on the Cole were at their posts on high alert – in an extremely dangerous port where they'd already been warned that a terrorist attack was highly probable – not one of their weapons had a round in the chamber. The security detail gave the small craft that almost sank the Cole and killed 17 sailors a big, friendly American wave – and the terrorists waved back – just before they rammed their human torpedo into the ship. Again, the Rules of Engagement stated no weapons would have a round in the chamber.

Not having a magazine in a weapon, even for a crackerjack marksman, adds at least two more seconds before he or she can get off a round. Four seconds is more than enough time to drive a 10,000-gallon gas tanker into a nuclear reactor, a high school, a chemical plant or some other tempting target.

Yet today, at virtually every U.S. military installation around the globe – and now at most of our airports, which are secured by the Army National Guard – the guys and gals manning the security details at exterior gates and other critical or sensitive areas, including ammo dumps and armories, are as impotent as the Marines were in Lebanon or the sailors in Yemen. They don't have a round in the chamber and, in most cases, they don't even have a magazine in their weapons. Yet America is at war, and we know that thousands of fanatics are out there ready to strike.

When I was a 15-year-old soldier in Italy right after World War II, I "walked my post in a military manner" with a loaded M-1 rifle. My sergeant, captain, colonel and general trusted me, along with thousands of other young soldiers, not to shoot myself or anyone else who didn't deserve shooting.

But somewhere along the way, that trust disappeared. In today's military, a leader makes one mistake and he or she is toast. So the brass do the big CYA thing to ensure that they don't get burned. As a result, uniformed MBA-types have made micromanagement a General Order. In a military where a soldier gets busted for drunken driving and his captain is threatened with relief, imagine what an accidental rifle discharge would bring.

Last week, in Germany, where some guards were ordered to tape their rifles' magazine wells for safety, four-star Gen. Montgomery C. Meigs actually charged his colonels with checking on the guards and reporting back to him. A job the corporal of the guard used to do when careers weren't at stake.

The other key factor in the mix is that the troops – less the Marine Corps and special units such as the Rangers – haven't been getting the training time they need on the firing range to be fully competent with their individual weapons. Even though there are millions of bucks for higher headquarters' simulation war-game playing for military planners and the brass, nowhere near enough money has been allocated for putting holes in targets.

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

For Education And Discussion Only. Not For Commercial Use.

[harpseal]

I can remeber a situation where a couple of gate guards were robbed of their sidearms by someone driving up and pointing a .45 cal at them with a magazine in the weapon and the weapon cocked. They did not even have a loaded magazine with them. this was in the early seventoes but I see this is still SOP at many bases.

Stay well - stay safe - stay armed - Yorktown

[aomagrat]

This article is correct. As a 19+ year veteran of the Navy, I have stood the OOD watch in many foreign ports protected by a POOW with an unloaded gun. I am retiring soon and will be glad to get out of Uncle Sam's canoe club so I can once again have my guns in my possession. Since I live on base, I must surrender all of my personal firearms to the authorities for safekeeping, or store them off base.

Back in the '80, when I was assigned to the Security Department of a large Southern California Navy base, we patrolled the base with unloaded weapons. I can remember responding to an armed robbery of the base gas station, driving through traffic and loading my gun at the same time. The official procedure was to load the gun once you were on the scene, and then only when threatened. The hell with that!

[Sabertooth]

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.

I don't know to what extent either of these is true, probably both in the post-Vietnam era, but I also recall considerable pressure from the Democrat-controlled Congress od the time to make the Marines less "militaristic" in this deployment. I don't remember if it was by resolution, or public pressure on Reagan, but it was there.

[300winmag]

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

Ain't that the truth. In 1970, while in Basic at Ft Campbell, I got 5 rounds in my ammo pouch for guarding the Navy installation (rumored to store nukes, but also regular ammo) inside the post. There were NO instructions as when to lock and load, much less fire.

At one Guard summer camp, my very worried captain told me he had to pick up $50,000 in cash for our payroll, and the supply depot wouldn't issue him any .45 ammo because it was "too much paperwork". So I drove in to town, and bought a box of buckshot at a hardware store, and carried a loaded riot gun while he had his empty .45

Basically, the US military does not trust its troops with loaded weapons, unless it's in a war zone, and everything is a free fire area. Safe gun handling is taught for a firing range, but not for anything in the real world, off the range. I knew more about firearms safety in the field from my hunter safety classes, taken when I was a kid, than from what the Army taught me.

"Elite" military forces get plenty of range time, and are also taught a lot more about safe gun handling. But for the other 99% of the military, all you're expected to know is "keep the muzzle pointed downrange" while at the firing range. That's because military thinking assumes the only time a troop needs to use a weapon is in a full-blown war with hordes of screaming gooks coming across the wire. That's why using our troops as guards for critical sites in this crisis is just a bad joke.

[aomagrat]

FYI!

[Shooter 2.5]

What about all of these troops guarding the airports? Are they standing around with a glorified club in their hands?

[Charles Martel]

Sad but true. Someone remotely piloting a Predator has to ask "Mother may I?" before shooting the very person he was looking for! Try that playing a stupid video game like Quake and see how long you last. Children could come up with a better policy.

Hopefully the ones who can think are already considering a time-honored policy that actually *works*: "Beg forgiveness, not permission."

[sneakypete]

I was also in the DR in 65,and can not only verify that,but can top it. There was a sign as you entered rebel-held territory between San Isidro airport and Santo Domingo that read,"If you are fired upon,take cover. Do NOT return fire unless ordered to do so by a comissioned officer." One PFC from the 82nd Abn Division spotted the sniper pinning them down,and killed him. The trouble was there were no officers around,and he was tried for murder and sentenced to 30 years at hard labor at Ft.Leavenworth.

Can you say "Thank you,US State Department"?

[Stefan Stackhouse]

We really ought to be looking at the Swiss Army as a model. The average male citizen gets more live fire experience during training exercises and on civilian firing ranges in an average year than most of our guys in uniform do in their entire military careers.

[sneakypete]

Those days are long gone.

Sad to say,but I think you are right for the most part. It still doesn't pay to screw around with the guys guarding access to briefing rooms,no matter what rank they OR you are. The people who pick these guards generally tend to pick the hardnoses,and these people WILL fire you up at the slightest provocation. If you ain't on the list,you don't get in. Period.

[DCPatriot]

My son guarded American Army ordnance and artillery in Germany just before the Gulf War.

Guarded with an unloaded rifle.

Forget not having "one in the chamber...", he didn't have any ammunition on him either.

[sneakypete]

No arguements here.

[sneakypete]

What about all of these troops guarding the airports? Are they standing around with a glorified club in their hands?

Yes. All image,no reality. They ain't even allowed to beat you with the club unless somebody's life is in immediate danger from you if they don't.

[SamAdams76]

As a Marine who served 1981-85, I can verify the truth of this article. I had to go to the armory every month to "clean" my M16A1 rifle, but I only got to shoot it once a year if only because every Marine must requalify as at least a marksman every year with the designation sharpshooter and expert if you were especially good at it. (If you had a buddy working in the "butts" for you, you probably got a "paper" expert rating).

Even on the yearly trip to the range however, we were contantly being badgered with needless "safety" regulations. For example, on the range, we had to have flourescent "T-squares" in the chambers at all times. We were only allowed to remove them once we were in position to shoot. After we finished shooting that particular round, we had to immediately insert the T-squares back in. Also, we had to keep our rifles pointed downrange at all times (even with the T-square inserted). They were so ridiculous about this that as we walked onto and around the range, we had to rotate our bodies around the rifles so that they would always be pointed in the "downrange" direction. Any deviation from this would result in immediate ejection from the range and disciplinary action.

Now some here may say "what's the big deal with that." Well I'll tell you. It made us all paranoid. It didn't make us comfortable with the weapon at all. In a war situation or even a high alert situation, we need to be comfortable with toting around a loaded weapon. Flourescent T-squares aren't going to cut it on a battlefield.

[Capt_Hank]

While stationed in Germany (67), I had to deliver a piece of crypto equipment to a remote location. I was given a driver, full mag for my M14 and 1911 along with grid coordinates. Orders, "protect this equipment with your life". I was locked and loaded while driving along the German country side. The next time with a loaded firearm, was to escort an "ass" who had went AWOL to the Provost Marshall. Times have changed.

[marcde]

These are the effects of allowing a politically correct agenda dictate policy. Liberal leaders instill policy based on a utopian farce, the real world has been ignored by these fools. Know who you put in power, this is complete proof elections matter.

[Shooter 2.5]

I had already stopped meeting visitors at the gate and started to greet them at the baggage area. Carrying my hardware wasn't for terrorists as much as it was for the people loitering in the parking garage.

Members of my Army Reserve unit told me that when they were activated for the King riots in Chicago, they didn't have any ammo issued. The person who told me this said that he did have ammo. It just wasn't issued.

[Alabama_Wild_Man]

I was traned on the belief..if you need a Safety on your weapon, you either don't need that weapon or aren't smart enough to operate it.

Safety ON Finger OFF Trigger...
Safety OFF Finger ON Trigger...

[Shooter 2.5]

You are correct. There is a world of difference between knowing how to shoot and knowing how to handle your weapon. I'm not sure how to explain. I think it would be the difference between being a dancer and playing "statue".