thedrifter
02-24-08, 09:48 AM
Mullen listens to Marines feeling stuck with ‘left over’ weapons
Stars and Stripes,
Mideast edition, Saturday, February 23, 2008
The top official in the U.S. military held an all-hands meeting
Thursday at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, to take servicemembers’ questions, and he got an earful, the Honolulu Advertiser reported Friday.
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is visiting commanders and making a stop at Tripler Army Medical Center to see recovering troops before heading to Australia, the paper noted.
Mullen was asked about short deployment notices for sailors who deploy as individual augmentees to other units, and regulations against Marines using aftermarket gear in place of items the Corps can’t deliver on time, the paper reported.
A Marine with the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment asked why some deployed Marines are stuck with older M-16 rifles, while officers are issued new M-4 carbines.
“Marines are stuck with what’s left over,” the Marine is reported as saying.
“That’s a great question, and I also got this question yesterday at Pendleton,” the paper reports Mullen as saying, referring to a previous stop at Camp Pendleton in California. “I haven’t got a good answer yet, but I’ll get you one, and I’ll get this question, quite frankly, very quickly to the commandant (of the Marine Corps).”
Ellie
Stars and Stripes,
Mideast edition, Saturday, February 23, 2008
The top official in the U.S. military held an all-hands meeting
Thursday at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, to take servicemembers’ questions, and he got an earful, the Honolulu Advertiser reported Friday.
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is visiting commanders and making a stop at Tripler Army Medical Center to see recovering troops before heading to Australia, the paper noted.
Mullen was asked about short deployment notices for sailors who deploy as individual augmentees to other units, and regulations against Marines using aftermarket gear in place of items the Corps can’t deliver on time, the paper reported.
A Marine with the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment asked why some deployed Marines are stuck with older M-16 rifles, while officers are issued new M-4 carbines.
“Marines are stuck with what’s left over,” the Marine is reported as saying.
“That’s a great question, and I also got this question yesterday at Pendleton,” the paper reports Mullen as saying, referring to a previous stop at Camp Pendleton in California. “I haven’t got a good answer yet, but I’ll get you one, and I’ll get this question, quite frankly, very quickly to the commandant (of the Marine Corps).”
Ellie