23 Nov 03

From a friend currently deployed in Afghanistan:

"I made it to Kuwait and Iraq before they sent me here. The differences in attitudes towards personal weapons among the three places is worth noting:

First, upon arrival in Kuwait, we weren't allowed to possess any rifle ammunition at all. Smart ones among us all carried (concealed) handguns, bu t the practice was, of course, frowned upon. Nonetheless, so long as pistols were not visible, no one seemed to care.

Suddenly, they graciously permitted us to keep a single rifle magazine on us , but, of course, we were told never to insert it into our rifles. That curious policy made things interesting when a local insurgent (whom the Kuwa iti government insists don't exist) decided to drive his car into the line of so ldiers waiting to get into the PX. Fortunately, some of those soldiers saw it coming and loaded in time to pepper him, but not before he injured ten of us . The driver survived (chalk up another failure to the 62gr 'penetrator'), and was treated at the camp hospital until he was well enough to hand off Kuwaiti police. He is probably not enjoying his stay with them!

When I arrived in Iraq, we were issued our basic load and then we all locked and loaded, once we were past the berm that divides Kuwait and Iraq. Howeve r, back in a 'secure area,' we were required to unload our weapons, at least the ones they could see. We did get to keep our ammo. By this time, we veteran s were all 'carrying concealed,' everywhere and constantly.

I then returned to Kuwait in order to go to Afghanistan. While there, I had the misfortune to pass through Camp Doha, where all the West Point pretty bo ys hang out. Saigon during Vietnam must have been something like this! We new ly arriving GIs came in from Iraq dirty, smelly, and, to the horror of all the antiseptic and meticulously manicured folks there, bearing arms. They were aghast! The first thing we had to do was rid ourselves of those evil, dange rous things. So, we (once again) obediently divested ourselves of all our weapon s (that they could see).

The command attitude here in Afghanistan is much improved. They want us to carry our rifles in transport mode (empty chamber, magazine inserted) in 'safe' areas, and we can carry all the ammunition we want. Indeed, I found the sight of a M249 with a hundred-round box of ammo, carried by a fellow soldie r in line at the PX, to be comforting. Outside the wire, it's as it was in Iraq: full gear, locked and loaded (carry mode).

As in most wars, there are some bright spots here, but the welfare and safet y of soldiers is the last thing anyone seems to consider. As you constantly remind us, 'we're on our own!'"

Comment: My friend is right. Vietnam was exactly like that! Soldiers were, and still are, trained only to operate weapons. They are never trained to live with them. Despite the best efforts of the pretty boys however, as we can see from the above, we are finally getting competent personal weapons traini ng to some of our soldiers and Marines, making them into professional gunmen, n ot just gun operators.

/John

23 Nov 03

Length of domestic gunfights: At a recent gathering of police trainers and range officers, a lecturer posed this question: "How many of you guys have ever arrested a person and subsequently, during a personal search, discovered and removed a concealed gun from them? For that matter, how many of you have ever seized a gun during a pat down?" The response was immediate and 100%. Everyone there had done it multiple times.

He acknowledged the response and then asked: "Okay, how many of you, upon discovering a gun on an arrestee, have ever also discovered spare ammunition in the form of fully charged spare magazines, speed loaders, or a second gun? The response was just as dramatic. None ever had!

This pattern appears to be common among at least criminals in this country. Violent domestic criminals, armed robbery suspects and mugging suspects, when the do carry a gun, almost never carry any more ammunition than is in the gun itself. They are not notorious for long-range planning!

The implication for us on the other side is: The most important part of the gunfight is the first five seconds! After that, most armed criminals will have expended all rounds they have and will have no ability to reload. Having the tactical knowledge and skill (movement, use of cover, tactical planning, shooting and gun handling acumen) and equipment to survive the initial burst of violence is critical. After that, victory is virtually assured (not that we should ever relax). We need to be able to literally outlast any opponent.

/John