13June06

EOTech and full-auto:

At a military base on the East Coast last weekend, we conducted an Urban Rifle Course. Several of my military students brought EOTech-equipped M-4s . The EOTech system is popular in military circles, for good reason. Like me , they like the wide field of view and uncluttered reticule. In fact, my personal RA/XCR is now equipped with an EOTech, and it makes a deadly combi nation indeed! I like my EOTech forward-mounted and out of my face, easily accomplished with the XCR.

I often wondered how well the EOTech would work when firing full-auto. Specifically, I wondered if one could actually stay in the sight during lon gs bursts. I found out! Firing several, long, full-auto bursts through my st udents ' M-4, I was able to keep the reticule on target and simultaneously see what was going on around the impact area. This was all from a standing position . A useful capability, and one not shared by the ACOG!

Rain droplets on the screen still degrade the EOTech's usefulness, a s is the case with glass in general, but, of all rifle optics currently available, the EOTech surely has a lot going for it!

/John

13June06

News from a friend in the Federal Air Martial (FAM) Program:

"We're had bad publicity lately, as you probably know. We FAMs des perately want to remain in deep cover, blending in seamlessly with the general, traveling public. We don't 'activate' except in the event o f a skyjacking attempt. Our job is to precipitously shoot to death skyjackers before they can jeopardize the aircraft. Until then, it is critical that we remain invisib le. We're not there to make arrests! No one, not even crew-members, know our identity, and that is exactly the way we want it. That is also the way we want to keep it! Unfortunately, our weak-knee 'management,' unw illing to stand up to pressure from airline industry executives and others, is trying to tu rn us into semi-uniformed, 'courtesy police!'

Airline executives want us all in coat and tie, even when it causes us to stand out on many flights. They also want us to routinely break cover and get involved with unruly-passenger incidents. They even want to issue us baton s! They call it 'semi-covert,' a ridiculous contradiction of t erms on its face.

AQ's current plan for airline takeover is to first identify FAMs, wh ich will be no problem now. Four terrorists will be assigned to each FAM. Once airborne, they will suddenly and simultaneously rush the FAMs, pin them in their seats, immobilizing arms and legs, take their pistols, shoot them, and then

take over the aircraft at their leisure. None of the foregoing is classifi ed. It is all common knowledge, available from dozens of sources.

We FAMs are concerned with this current, dangerous trend. We want Congress

to can our current gaggle of so-called 'managers,' replacing them with people who actually have a clue as to what we're supposed to be doing. Our

program, and is mission, are in real trouble!"

Comment: Anyone listening?

/John