Good post...and as I recall, the 5.56 round was preferred in Nam because it was lighter and the troops could pack more ammo on patrol.
We had M16s on our Swift Boats and they worked fine in our environment.
You didn’t happen to serve alongside ‘old John Kerry, didja?
Don’t get me wrong, any cartridge has its limitations. For too many, however, the 5.56/AR15/M4/M16 is not a good round/weapon because they said so....and for no other reason.