Quote:
Originally Posted by rcaf_777
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I actually got to go to the range with the Flash when I was in the National Guard, once in 1984, and then once in 1986. The Cowhouse IRL up in Ft Hood has an old concrete bunker filled with bats at the far end of the range, and it was fun seeing flaming bats flap their way out of the bunker.
Going to the range with the M202 gets you a qualification badge (Flamethrower, strangely enough) good for two years. When I went on active duty in 1987, everybody was like, "where do they still use flamethrowers?" But about the same time I got there, someone else augmented and he had a Flamethrower badge too, so we were able to let everyone know what it meant without repeated explanations.
While my unit in the National Guard had M202s, I never saw one on active duty. And when I was in the National Guard, we never took them to the field, even during Annual Training.
The Twilight 2000 Heavy Weapons Handbook says that there are HEAT clips for the M202. I've since discovered that in reality, while the Army experimented with using the same rockets as used in the LAW in the M202, the idea was never approved for issue or use.
Though I never saw one on active duty, I saw a photo the other day of an SF soldier using an M202 in Afghanistan. So they are at least in SOCOM's inventory, or were at that point.