thedrifter
07-09-07, 10:14 AM
No More Pistols?
Many U.S. Marine Corps Leaders To Carry M4
By KIMBERLY JOHNSON
The phrase “every Marine a rifleman” has taken on a whole new meaning.
The U.S. Marine Corps on June 22 announced a major shake-up in weapon assignments, saying that staff sergeants and up, as well as second lieutenants through lieutenant colonels and chief warrant officers, will now be issued the M4 carbine as their T/O, or “table of organization,” weapon — the weapon associated with their rank. Marines in those pay grades were previously issued the M9 pistol, which colonels and up will continue to carry.
Privates through sergeants will still be issued the M16A4. Assignment of automatic rifles will not change.
Sailors E-5 and below who are with Marine units will be issued the M4. The remaining pay grades will still carry the pistol.
Outfitting officers and staff NCOs with greater firepower is a reflection of what’s happening on the ground in Iraq, according to the Corps’ top range officer. In years past, officers and senior enlisted could stay back and direct traffic while junior Marines did the shooting. But in a war lacking a front line, everyone totes a rifle.
“I believe it’s a matter of service policy that everyone is required to carry a long gun outside the wire,” Chief Warrant Officer 5 Daniel Luke said.
So forget the 9mm. During his tours in Iraq, Gary Wilson, now a retired colonel, said he carried an M4, a shotgun and an AK-47 rifle, along with an MP5 submachine gun with two 50-round magazines, when he went outside the wire.
“All the officers ended up carrying M4s and M16s and shotguns, because the 9mm is useless against an AK-47,” said Wilson, a reservist who has written extensively on fourth-generation warfare.
The AK-47, a Soviet-made assault rifle that’s popular with insurgents in Iraq, fires a standard 7.62mm cartridge that many combat veterans and weapon experts contend packs more “stopping power” than the lighter 5.56mm round used by the M4 and M16.
Wilson wasn’t the only commander in Iraq packing extra heat. Combat commanders are regularly exercising their ability to outfit officers and staff NCOs with rifles, said another Corps official.
“Commanders in Iraq and elsewhere have the flexibility to task organize with available resources to optimize their capabilities,” said Lt. Col. Pat Beckett, combat integration officer for the fires and maneuver integration division at Marine Corps Combat Development Command. “This policy incorporated direct input from the operating forces in order to capture ‘frontline’ requirements.”
It was unclear at press time whether this policy created a direct rank-to-weapon relationship in Iraq that had not existed before. A review of Marine photographs taken in the war zone showed Marines of every rank carrying different rifles. Some staff sergeants carried M16s, while NCOs carried M4s. Beckett, who would respond only to questions e-mailed to a spokesman, could not be reached with a request for further information.
The weapon distribution policy was set into motion in January 2006 after the Marine Requirements Oversight Council signed off on recommendations made by the Marine Corps Equipment Review Group, Beckett said.
“The priority continues to be units/individuals deployed or preparing to deploy” to Iraq, Beckett said. “The transition will be taking place over time in accordance with acquisition plans” and is based on the number of weapons delivered monthly by the manufacturer, he said. It was unclear at press time how far along that process was.
While the requirement decision has been in place, there haven’t been enough rifles to go around. Traditionally, because of its smaller size, the M4 has been issued to Marines assigned to tanks, light armored vehicles and assault amphibian vehicles.
“When the decisions were made, we had a limited amount of M4s in the arsenal,” Luke said. “Now that we’re going to 202,000 and increasing our end strength, we’re going to need more M4s.”
A bigger end strength — expected to be achieved by 2011 — also means additional M4s will be needed for the increase in support troops, such as Navy corpsmen, he added.
Smaller, Lighter
The Corps has already received 23,000 M4s and has ordered 40,000 more that will be delivered over the next 12 months, said James Battaglini, chief operating officer of M4 manufacturer Colt Defense.
Battaglini, a retired Marine major general, said the shift from pistol to rifle would not likely result in much of a culture change among the ranks.
“Still, everyone has their role,” he said. “But it does provide the officer and the staff NCO a personal weapon that will be more effective and practical on today’s battlefield.
“The [M4’s] collapsible butt stock is particularly useful when you need to make an adjustment to the weapon due to body armor,” Battaglini said. It’s well-suited for the urban battlefield, the jungle and mountainous terrain, such as where troops have to enter caves, he added.
Its shorter barrel and telescoping stock — the two main features that make the carbine different from the M16 — make it easier to get the rifle in and out of vehicles, Luke said. Unlike the carbine, the M16A2 and M16A4 do not have a collapsible stock, which makes them a little more difficult to handle in confined spaces, he added.
The M16A4, which features an improved rail, is already replacing the A2, and that phase-in will continue as planned, the MarAdmin said.
“[The M4 is] a good weapons system we procured before the war really started,” Luke said. “It’s a good weapon for the type of fight we’re fighting right now.”
The M4s will be distributed to officers and staff NCOs piecemeal, through the armory’s weapons allocation for individual units.
“It’s not like if you’re an officer, you go turn in your M9,” Luke said. “It doesn’t happen on a certain date.”
When officers are tapped for weapon reassignment, they will receive their M4 by pre-deployment workup, Luke said. Some units already have weapons before pre-deployment training, while some get their weapons during the training, he said.
“It is fair to say that units that are deploying, when they get into training, they have the weapons they’re required to have,” he said.
“While in this transition period, we must guard against any degradation in the operating forces capability,” the message said. “No organization shall dispose of weapons until their replacement weapons have been fully fielded.”
The weapons distribution policy, however, will not necessarily prevent those officers previously assigned an M9 from doubling up.
“The Marines in the past who were required to carry pistols will carry M4s,” Luke said. “They will now have the opportunity to carry both at the commander’s discretion.”
One major piece to this weapons change, and one that is still up in the air, is the issue of training staff NCOs and officers on the M4.
“There are training and qualification-related impacts to the implementation of this decision,” which the Corps is studying, Beckett said. The study will be conducted by — among others — MCCDC, Training and Education Command, operating forces and Marine Corps Systems Command, he said.
With the weapon requirement comes the need for more range time, Luke said. “There will be more rifle training of the senior staff NCOs and field-grade officers now that they’re not required to carry a pistol.”
Wilson had no complaints about the M4, a lightweight weapon that he thinks everyone should get.
“It was good for an officer and, I think, for generals and below and staff NCOs, who ought to have the M4 and the .45,” he said. “But it didn’t have the punching power of a 7.62. That’s why people found the AK-47.”
He’s all for the Corps giving up its 9mm pistols, which, he noted with seriousness, “you could use ... as a paperweight.” •
Gidget Fuentes contributed to this report.
Ellie
Many U.S. Marine Corps Leaders To Carry M4
By KIMBERLY JOHNSON
The phrase “every Marine a rifleman” has taken on a whole new meaning.
The U.S. Marine Corps on June 22 announced a major shake-up in weapon assignments, saying that staff sergeants and up, as well as second lieutenants through lieutenant colonels and chief warrant officers, will now be issued the M4 carbine as their T/O, or “table of organization,” weapon — the weapon associated with their rank. Marines in those pay grades were previously issued the M9 pistol, which colonels and up will continue to carry.
Privates through sergeants will still be issued the M16A4. Assignment of automatic rifles will not change.
Sailors E-5 and below who are with Marine units will be issued the M4. The remaining pay grades will still carry the pistol.
Outfitting officers and staff NCOs with greater firepower is a reflection of what’s happening on the ground in Iraq, according to the Corps’ top range officer. In years past, officers and senior enlisted could stay back and direct traffic while junior Marines did the shooting. But in a war lacking a front line, everyone totes a rifle.
“I believe it’s a matter of service policy that everyone is required to carry a long gun outside the wire,” Chief Warrant Officer 5 Daniel Luke said.
So forget the 9mm. During his tours in Iraq, Gary Wilson, now a retired colonel, said he carried an M4, a shotgun and an AK-47 rifle, along with an MP5 submachine gun with two 50-round magazines, when he went outside the wire.
“All the officers ended up carrying M4s and M16s and shotguns, because the 9mm is useless against an AK-47,” said Wilson, a reservist who has written extensively on fourth-generation warfare.
The AK-47, a Soviet-made assault rifle that’s popular with insurgents in Iraq, fires a standard 7.62mm cartridge that many combat veterans and weapon experts contend packs more “stopping power” than the lighter 5.56mm round used by the M4 and M16.
Wilson wasn’t the only commander in Iraq packing extra heat. Combat commanders are regularly exercising their ability to outfit officers and staff NCOs with rifles, said another Corps official.
“Commanders in Iraq and elsewhere have the flexibility to task organize with available resources to optimize their capabilities,” said Lt. Col. Pat Beckett, combat integration officer for the fires and maneuver integration division at Marine Corps Combat Development Command. “This policy incorporated direct input from the operating forces in order to capture ‘frontline’ requirements.”
It was unclear at press time whether this policy created a direct rank-to-weapon relationship in Iraq that had not existed before. A review of Marine photographs taken in the war zone showed Marines of every rank carrying different rifles. Some staff sergeants carried M16s, while NCOs carried M4s. Beckett, who would respond only to questions e-mailed to a spokesman, could not be reached with a request for further information.
The weapon distribution policy was set into motion in January 2006 after the Marine Requirements Oversight Council signed off on recommendations made by the Marine Corps Equipment Review Group, Beckett said.
“The priority continues to be units/individuals deployed or preparing to deploy” to Iraq, Beckett said. “The transition will be taking place over time in accordance with acquisition plans” and is based on the number of weapons delivered monthly by the manufacturer, he said. It was unclear at press time how far along that process was.
While the requirement decision has been in place, there haven’t been enough rifles to go around. Traditionally, because of its smaller size, the M4 has been issued to Marines assigned to tanks, light armored vehicles and assault amphibian vehicles.
“When the decisions were made, we had a limited amount of M4s in the arsenal,” Luke said. “Now that we’re going to 202,000 and increasing our end strength, we’re going to need more M4s.”
A bigger end strength — expected to be achieved by 2011 — also means additional M4s will be needed for the increase in support troops, such as Navy corpsmen, he added.
Smaller, Lighter
The Corps has already received 23,000 M4s and has ordered 40,000 more that will be delivered over the next 12 months, said James Battaglini, chief operating officer of M4 manufacturer Colt Defense.
Battaglini, a retired Marine major general, said the shift from pistol to rifle would not likely result in much of a culture change among the ranks.
“Still, everyone has their role,” he said. “But it does provide the officer and the staff NCO a personal weapon that will be more effective and practical on today’s battlefield.
“The [M4’s] collapsible butt stock is particularly useful when you need to make an adjustment to the weapon due to body armor,” Battaglini said. It’s well-suited for the urban battlefield, the jungle and mountainous terrain, such as where troops have to enter caves, he added.
Its shorter barrel and telescoping stock — the two main features that make the carbine different from the M16 — make it easier to get the rifle in and out of vehicles, Luke said. Unlike the carbine, the M16A2 and M16A4 do not have a collapsible stock, which makes them a little more difficult to handle in confined spaces, he added.
The M16A4, which features an improved rail, is already replacing the A2, and that phase-in will continue as planned, the MarAdmin said.
“[The M4 is] a good weapons system we procured before the war really started,” Luke said. “It’s a good weapon for the type of fight we’re fighting right now.”
The M4s will be distributed to officers and staff NCOs piecemeal, through the armory’s weapons allocation for individual units.
“It’s not like if you’re an officer, you go turn in your M9,” Luke said. “It doesn’t happen on a certain date.”
When officers are tapped for weapon reassignment, they will receive their M4 by pre-deployment workup, Luke said. Some units already have weapons before pre-deployment training, while some get their weapons during the training, he said.
“It is fair to say that units that are deploying, when they get into training, they have the weapons they’re required to have,” he said.
“While in this transition period, we must guard against any degradation in the operating forces capability,” the message said. “No organization shall dispose of weapons until their replacement weapons have been fully fielded.”
The weapons distribution policy, however, will not necessarily prevent those officers previously assigned an M9 from doubling up.
“The Marines in the past who were required to carry pistols will carry M4s,” Luke said. “They will now have the opportunity to carry both at the commander’s discretion.”
One major piece to this weapons change, and one that is still up in the air, is the issue of training staff NCOs and officers on the M4.
“There are training and qualification-related impacts to the implementation of this decision,” which the Corps is studying, Beckett said. The study will be conducted by — among others — MCCDC, Training and Education Command, operating forces and Marine Corps Systems Command, he said.
With the weapon requirement comes the need for more range time, Luke said. “There will be more rifle training of the senior staff NCOs and field-grade officers now that they’re not required to carry a pistol.”
Wilson had no complaints about the M4, a lightweight weapon that he thinks everyone should get.
“It was good for an officer and, I think, for generals and below and staff NCOs, who ought to have the M4 and the .45,” he said. “But it didn’t have the punching power of a 7.62. That’s why people found the AK-47.”
He’s all for the Corps giving up its 9mm pistols, which, he noted with seriousness, “you could use ... as a paperweight.” •
Gidget Fuentes contributed to this report.
Ellie