Question on the HK 416

[LAW0306]

read soliders load and mobility of a nation. We do carry more today in USMC I dont know about the rest we are up to 92 pounds in OEF and that is no pack just indvidual gear.

[StainlessSteelCynic]

Originally Posted by LAW0306

read soliders load and mobility of a nation. We do carry more today in USMC I dont know about the rest we are up to 92 pounds in OEF and that is no pack just indvidual gear.

That book is indeed an excellent reference and it's a damned pity that most politicians aren't forced to read these sorts of books and officers should probably be tested on their practical knowledge of such things.

Interesting to see some practical info on the load increase over the years regards USMC too. 90 pounds is about 40kg I think. This is exactly the sort of area where the Aussie Army was (still is to a point) let down, we never had enough transport for anything and they always lumbered us PBI with "everything we'll ever need" (exactly why I carried 2 Claymores with the M60, my No2 was meant to carry them for defence of the gunpit but he couldn't pack his gear properly to save his life - just lucky I was 181cm tall with broad shoulders and big feet!)

From memory (and this was the 1980s mind you so my memory ain't so good anymore!) we would patrol with about 35-40kg of gear without the pack and yeah I see that that is a bit of an increase in the carried load over what my WW2 & Korean War predecessors carried but it isn't really too much of an increase.

They had less gear but it was heavier in general where as we've got lighter gear but have to carry more and more. From the following website it looks as though the average US Army rifleman in Europe during 1944-45 carried close to those sorts of loads, about 37kg (approx 82lbs) while a US Army BAR gunner had about 45kg (approx 98lbs). That's a nasty weight to carry for just 240 rounds on an automatic weapon!
http://www.45thdivision.org/Pictures...combatload.htm
Just goes to show, PBI really are the packhorses of the military!

[Legbreaker]

Originally Posted by StainlessSteelCynic

This is exactly the sort of area where the Aussie Army was (still is to a point) let down, we never had enough transport for anything and they always lumbered us PBI with "everything we'll ever need" (exactly why I carried 2 Claymores with the M60, my No2 was meant to carry them for defence of the gunpit but he couldn't pack his gear properly to save his life - just lucky I was 181cm tall with broad shoulders and big feet!)

Yes, this is the difference between Australian infantry and pretty much everyone else in the world. We have to carry EVERYTHING on our backs most of the time while most other nations get vehicles intergral to their organisation down to section/squad level. Now I could be wrong here, but I rather doubt those vehicle mounted/mobile troops will be throwing on their packs each and every time they get out to stretch their legs....

Back in my day the entire Australian Army had one, JUST one mechanised battalion - virtually everyone else walked unless they were lucky enough to hitch a ride with one of the APC squadrons, which was a very rare occurance. Integral battalion transport was barely enough to shift a company at a time by truck, and then only really possible by stripping the single truck assigned to each of the other companies for logistical support.