I walked guard duty at Fort Hood in early 70’s and I was armed with my M16 and a full magazine. I also was armed when hauling arms and ammo from Red River Depot to Fort Hood. Times have changed I guess.
We have completely opposite stories. LOL
Hmmm, I was in Camp Lejeune 1970 and walked guard duty with an empty M14. Perhaps it is up to the base/division/battalion/Company commander? Or maybe you were guarding something more important then me, lol. At the time I was a lowly PFC right out of boot camp. But we did have an armory and could arm the entirely company in about 10 minutes or less if we had too.