26Nov05

Counterpoint, from a young lad in Country:

"Mr Farnam, I witnessed a negligent discharge in a mess hall over h ere. The culprit was, of course, the mishandling of weapons. It is not uncommon. Thus, here is the other side of the argument:

My unit deployed to Iraq on short notice, with little additional arms training. We have eighteen-year-olds walking around with 9mm pistols, who have only touched them on one previous occasion, and that was a paltry ten round s of familiarization firing just prior to departure from CONUS, and under the tutelage of instructors who knew precious little more about the weapon than did their students!

Lack of muzzle consciousness is, by far, the biggest problem over here, and

the lamentable affliction makes no distinction with regard to rank or age!

Accordingly, unit commanders will not allow the carrying of loaded weapons inside camps. The rational is that there is little reason to carry loaded inside a guarded area."

My reply: Thanks for your note, son, and I understand the hesitancy of you and your colleagues to be "hot" all the time, even if it wer e permitted.

"Guarded area," huh? The fact that you're drawing "combat pay" should be a hint to both you and your hesitant and naive commanders. When in Vietnam

thirty-seven years ago, OUR "CAMPS," SURROUNDED BY WIRE, JUS T LIKE YOURS, GOT OVERRUN ALL THE TIME! With any luck, that phenomenon will not become a big

part of your life over there, but it only has to happen once for a lot of hapless and unarmed men to be wretchedly massacred, because they cannot sho ot.

YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN CAN BE TRAINED TO SAFELY CARRY LOADED PISTOLS ON A REGULAR BASIS. In our Marine Programs, we teach them to do it in two days! We've never had an ND, and our students come away as competent gun handlers, as well as fast and deadly-accurate shooters. They think of themselves as professional gunmen, and they carry hot, proudly and confidently.

The problem with the "no-gun" policy, common in CONUS, is th at it creeps into our daily routine, even in areas of active fighting, where you now find yourself. Shifting gears becomes more and more indecisive and incomplete.

Some are even hesitant about carrying hot OUTSIDE the wire! When will we s top being afraid of ourselves?

You better understand something about warfare, lad: Active war is going to

be a continuous part of world landscape for the remainder of your lifetime. On behalf of my generation, I apologize to you and your colleagues for the hash you've inherited from us. With that said, you better get used to a pitilessly indifferent world, and YOU BETTER DECIDE RIGHT NOW TO BE A SERIO US, DANGEROUS, HARMFUL HEAVY-HITTER, and that you're going to be in a h igh state of readiness, all the time, no matter were you are, regardless of "rul es." I pray you make that decision while you still can!

/John