Joe Cool...
An Afghan National Army (ANA) soldier provides security during a foot
patrol in Allikozai village, Sangin district, Helmand province,
Afghanistan, Dec. 30, 2010. U.S. Marines with India Company, 3rd
battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division patrolled the area
with ANA soldiers to meet with village elders and deliver funds to help
repair a mosque. (DoD photo by Gunnery Sgt. William Price, U.S. Marine
Corps/Released)
I knew the ANA switched to M-16s and M249s, but it's still weird to see a SAW - I still expected an RPK or something.
ReplyDeleteWould also hate to see what all the dust and sand would do to those exposed linked ammo-belts; big no-no in my old unit.
that's just nasty! i mean seriously WTF! kinda negates the camo he's wearing after dressing up his weapon in clown colors....and you can't tell me that there is any reason for him to have his ammo hanging around his neck and shoulders like that.
ReplyDeletesomeone needs to correct that guy before he gets himself hurt.
um obviously because its cool cmon... but seriously one of those Marines he is with needs to fuck his shit up...
ReplyDeleteAMEN!
ReplyDeleteAs unprofessional as the ANA soldier looks, the Marine in the background with his muzzle pointed @ the head of his teammate looks just as bad.
ReplyDeleteok, he's 'muzzling' his buddy but if you blow up the pic, you'll clearly see his hand is off the trigger.
ReplyDeletepoor discipline brought about by the issuing of a DAMN carbine instead of a rifle.
I'm not following how being issued a carbine causes a lack of muzzle awareness and poor discipline. Our most elite SOF units, who are issued carbines, seem to do just fine...
ReplyDeleteuh, no they do not.
ReplyDeletebut the issue with carbines are that they're not effective at some of the longer ranges that are encountered in Afghanistan and i'm fully convinced that its a move more about form than function.
a carbine for infantrymen (whether Army or Marines) makes absolutely no sense.
the argument that they're handier in vehicles or helicopters is a pure dee cop out. the idea that they're just as effective as a full sized rifle is also an outright lie.
therefore the only answer left is that they simply look cool.
oh and one question for you. have you ever seen an M-16A4 being held like that?
no you haven't.
If you guys want a more compact rifle that can still engage at longer ranges I don't know why the Americans have never gone with the idea of a bullpup configuration. It works just fine for us Brits. Same barrel length in a more compact arrangement.
ReplyDeleteAlthough thats not to say both the UK and US need to up the calibre to engage at those longer ranges we're seeing in Afghanistan. The UK has had to buy in extra 7.62 chambered weapons (forgotten the name of them right now though).
Grim
ReplyDeleteOne of my nephews is a Marine and change a bull-pup with a foreign Army.(I think were the Australians )and said that you need to retrain every body to change the magazine.That could be the reason.
Love the arm chair generals on here...
ReplyDelete@elga: It is a slightly different action in reloading a bullpup, but not massively different, I doubt the training would be much more than you'd have to give by changing over to any other new rifle. It just takes a little longer to familiarise yourself if you're used to firing a conventional set-up rifle.
ReplyDeleteI guess the same is true in the reverse. I'll see if I can get my hands on an M16 some time and see how hard it is for me to reload, having learnt on the SA80.
So did anyone else notice those are not 556 bullets around him which the SAW fires haha
ReplyDelete