Stupid GI Tricks

[Panther Al]

Originally Posted by Abbott Shaull

Common there no way they would run out of 5.56 ammo...and the rest of the story why so many troops were running around with capture AKs...lol.

You would think it would be impossible, but it was a issue with the first wave troops. 5.56 ball was ver y hard to come by (tracer on the other hand). Being a armoured cav unit (M1A2/M3) we was last in line since it was assumed we would never do dismounted ops: hence we was only given the basic draw: 210 rounds per M4. But at least we had 7.62 coming out of our ears. On my track I had some 20k rounds, being a tank has its advantages I guess. The brad guys had even more.

[Legbreaker]

I can believe it for armoured troops. Back in the day our armoured crew fired their personal weapons on exercise about once a year - they'd be throwing their issued blanks at us infantry. Mind you, we were very glad to get it as there seemed to be a serious shortage of blanks for training for some unknown reason - we'd go for days with only 1 mag while supposed to be conducting offensive actions (which chew through the ammo if done right). Most of the time we were reduced to yelling "bang".

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

I can believe it for armoured troops. Back in the day our armoured crew fired their personal weapons on exercise about once a year - they'd be throwing their issued blanks at us infantry. Mind you, we were very glad to get it as there seemed to be a serious shortage of blanks for training for some unknown reason - we'd go for days with only 1 mag while supposed to be conducting offensive actions (which chew through the ammo if done right). Most of the time we were reduced to yelling "bang".

And MILES? I saw that only for major exercises, or the time that for some reason we got it for a joint exercise in the National Guard with the Air National Guard Security Police. And I mean MAJOR exercises, such as an NTC rotation or Team Spirit in Korea.

[pmulcahy11b]

I remember the times on ranges where we were told to burn (i.e., waste) ammo just so we would not get a lesser allotment the next fiscal year. Though I did get to do fun things like fire at pop-up targets on automatic, fire M16s on M60 ranges, and fire extra M202 rockets. Fun, but wasteful.

[dragoon500ly]

The once a year qualify for your personal weapons was also a rather stupid idea, once a quarter would have been a lot better, but that would never fly.

It always amazes that the military, an organization that exisits for only one purpose, always seems to never have the money to do anything that would improve its war fighting capability...

Too many shell games being played with funds being diverted for the latest R&D, for that new construction in a certain congressman's district, that new, totally useless uniform change...you know, life as usual in Wonderland on the Potomac!

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by dragoon500ly

The once a year qualify for your personal weapons was also a rather stupid idea, once a quarter would have been a lot better, but that would never fly.

Once a quarter was standard at the 82nd; once a year everywhere else (except during Desert Shield). And strangely enough, in the Texas Army National Guard, it was twice per year with the M16, once a year with the M60, and odd range days here and there for different weapons (like the M203, M202 Flash, shotgun, M3 Grease Gun, pistols, etc). We actually did a lot of shooting in the TXARNG. I had strange qualifications like rocket launcher, shotgun, and submachinegun.

[cavtroop]

Originally Posted by pmulcahy11b

Once a quarter was standard at the 82nd; once a year everywhere else (except during Desert Shield). And strangely enough, in the Texas Army National Guard, it was twice per year with the M16, once a year with the M60, and odd range days here and there for different weapons (like the M203, M202 Flash, shotgun, M3 Grease Gun, pistols, etc). We actually did a lot of shooting in the TXARNG. I had strange qualifications like rocket launcher, shotgun, and submachinegun.

I went years without firing a weapon in the Mass ARNG. What a complete joke that was.

[Legbreaker]

We had a similar system to MILES called IWIS (can't for the life of me remember what it stands for). It was trotted out fairly regularly from about 1992 onward and while it was ok, it had it's drawbacks.
Firstly the laser unit on the end of the barrel made the weapon EXTREMELY front heavy (much more than an M203) and you'd get rather tired after a while trying to keep the barrel up out of the dirt.
The biggest problem with it though was you could be on a flat featureless plain with only one blade of grass on it - that single blade would stop the laser beam cold every time!
But the most annoying feature was the "god guns" the DS (Directing Staff) carried about. You could be crawling along in good cover unknown to the enemy and then beeeeeeeeeeeeep, a DS would take it upon themselves to turn you into a casualty. On the other hand, as a casualty you got to roll over on your back and take a rest for a while....

[dragoon500ly]

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

But the most annoying feature was the "god guns" the DS (Directing Staff) carried about. You could be crawling along in good cover unknown to the enemy and then beeeeeeeeeeeeep, a DS would take it upon themselves to turn you into a casualty. On the other hand, as a casualty you got to roll over on your back and take a rest for a while....

You always hated the god guns....until you got your chance to play with them!!!

The vehicle system always drove you nuts, especially when you got "near-missed", the early MILES had a software issue so that this happened, your own laser would not cycle for a minute or so...plenty of time for that other crew to nail you with their second round.

[Abbott Shaull]

Originally Posted by pmulcahy11b

And MILES? I saw that only for major exercises, or the time that for some reason we got it for a joint exercise in the National Guard with the Air National Guard Security Police. And I mean MAJOR exercises, such as an NTC rotation or Team Spirit in Korea.

Speaking of MILES I remember when it was discovered all one need to do was to pull cocking handle of the M16 back and let it go when the laser on the end of the barrel was on. The jolt would register as the weapon being fired. It was an interesting field exercise that time out...lol Yeah it was funny that it seemed to only really come out for the MAJOR exercises so it was like twice or three times a year...