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Old 02-17-2022, 08:49 AM
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Originally Posted by swaghauler View Post
It probably didn't hurt us that EVERY 5-Ton in our Battery (we had just converted from tracked SP 8" M110s to 155mm/6" M198 towed Howitzers) had a .50 Caliber machinegun mounted on it. It was like the Depot Commander at First Army was just standing there watching us load when a Corporal said to him "Hey Sir, what are supposed to do with all these extra M2's over there?" and the Depot Commander said: "Give them to those guys. They have a bunch of 5-Tons with ring mounts on them." We LITERALLY HAD 2 40mm M203s, 2 M60s, 2 M2HBs, and 2 M9's (for the drivers, in place of our Grease Guns) IN EVERY GUN SECTION. In addition, Maintenance (our supply, commo, NBC, and mess sections) had either a .50 Caliber or a MK19 Grenade Launcher, an M60, and a 40mm M203 per section as did our three motor pool trucks, our two FDC trucks, and our three Headquarters/Command vehicles (hummers). We had so many belt-fed MGs that half our ammo draw wasn't even 5.56mm.

But now I know we weren't the only ones who the Army did this for, because I watched the Chieftain's Hatch video on the M1 abrams and those lucky bastards even got a Mossberg 590a1 12 gauge. I'd have been bird hunting while I was deployed if they had issued me a shotgun during RESTORE HOPE (although we did shoot a wild boar that wandered into our battery area once).
That was a surprise when I transferred from 2/7 at 24th ID (now 3rd ID), where most of the trucks, even the legacy deuce-and-a-halfs, had ring mounts for either M60s or M2HBs. When I got to G3 at 2X (2nd ID HHC), none of the trucks had ring mounts for anyone. The MP company that deployed with us had heavily-armed HMMWVs, and once we pulled into a position, we dug pits for "infantry" positions (I, Eric Harmon, and Mike McCauley, as the only true infantrymen in the DTAC, along with a superfluous officer, had to set up those defenses, sleeping positions, the "latrine," etc) we dug fighting positions for heavy and medium machineguns, Dragons, and our single TOW launcher.

When I got to 2X, I was the only one qualified on the Dragon, as well as the only one who knew how to use a ground-mount TOW launcher (though I didn't have a qualification), so I immediately was put on rectifying that problem. And Eric, Mike, and I also had to teach the REMFs how to use about a half-dozen "infantry" weapons, and serve as range personnel when we did M16 qualification. 2X G3 was an awesome unit, and I learned more than I can keep in my head at this late date, but as far as defending the DTOC and DTAC, it was a cluster. Probably why Eric, Mike and I got MSMs when we left the unit.
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