Soldiers Issued Inferior Rifles

You can't find a single American citizen or politician that say they do notsupport our troops (you may find one under a rock). Then why would ourgovernment repeatedly be unwilling to replace the single most important piece ofequipment a soldier has? The M4 carbine is the weapon in question. Argumentsover body armor and better armored Humvees were bad enough, but sending soldiersto war with am inferior rifle? That is criminal.

Military.Com's article: "ArmyWon't Field Rifle Deemed Superior to M4" 

The compact M4carbine - a shortened version of the M16- that is now standard issue for most Army troops, some Marines and otherspecialized units is facing increased criticism because of its tendency tomalfunction with even the minutest exposure to the elements.

The 416 is used by the Army's elite Delta Force, and a recent Army Timesinvestigation showed the service's top equipment buyers ignored data from thespec ops community showing the M4 had fundamental flaws. Enamored by thedevelopment of futuristic weapons such as the XM29 and, later, XM8 - neither ofwhich were ever fielded - the M4 stayed in the hands of Soldiers deploying tohot, dusty, austere environments like Iraq and Afghanistan.

Youwould think the government would catch on once a unit take matters intotheir own hands, and buy replacement parts to ensure their safety.

In a routine acquisition notice March 23, a U.S. Special Forces battalionbased in Okinawa announcedthat it is buying 84 upper receiver assemblies for the HK416 to modify their M4carbines. The M4 fires using a system that redirects gas from the expended roundto eject it and reload another. The 416 and SCAR use a gas-operated piston thatphysically pushes the bolt back to eject the round and load another.

"The elimination of the gas tube ... means that the M4 will functionnormally even if the weapon is fired full of water without first beingdrained," the justification for the 416 assembly buy states. "Thereisn't another company that offers these features in their products. It is apractical, versatile system."

So far, however, the Army is unwilling to buy what the special operationscommunity believes is a clearly superior system and is still spending moneylooking for another technology while Soldiers use what many say is an inferiorweapon in harsh combat conditions.

This issue is worth writing your congressman or congresswoman about. Click Here

Comments

[George]

I'm actually considering not supporting the troops. Right now I am supporting them with all my mind and all my might. Yes, my support is intangible - I don't send pop tarts or have a pen pal - however I know they feel it in the desert so I do continue to provide my support. But I'm kind of getting tired of it and I'd like to try another route since the war isnt working out so well. Maybe if i decide to not support them things will get better?

I'll keep you posted.

Oh wait, I'm sorry 10% of my salary goes to supporting them so fuck this, I guess I do support them tangibly. It's George Bush who isn't supporting them.

[Chief Administrator: Todd]

technically, 27% of all the taxes you pay goes towards the military. Only 3% goes towards education. Then again, you already saw that post from a few days ago.

I will continue to support the troops, especially the ones that are in the military for economic reasons.

[RTO Trainer]

The 411 on the 416.

The 416 is a Hekler and Koch rifle. The XM8 that the Army has been working on is also a H&K rifle and has many of the desirable traits of the 416 built in. The XM8 will probably be our next rifle.

The M4 is a recent purchase, upgrade from the M16A2 and M16A3. As such it represents a current cost on the books of assets that are nowhere near depreciation.

You can't just rush out and buy the "best" thing every time one comes out. Sometimes you have to skip a best or two and then get the one that comes after that.

Especially when talking about purchases in quantaties like the DoD.

Military.com often picks up whtever new contoversy teh Army Times decides to print, and this is one. Army Times, is a Gannet paper. It pays lip service to being for and about us, but it also never passes up an opporunity to foment dissention in the ranks and that's all that motivated the 416 story.

As a final bit of trivia, SF has never used the Army's off-the-shelf rifle. Bunch of them here are toting H&K MP5 machine pistols, but neither Army Times nor Military .com are pushing for that as a standard arm.

[Tony]

With all the money being thrown around for this war, I would think a retrofit of a barrel replacement would be worth it.

Rumsfeld said "As you know, you go to war with the Army you have. They're not the Army you might want or wish to have at a later time."

At least give the "army you have" a more reliable weapon.
If the rifle issue (which there is one) can be changed in the field by the troops, then that's a no-brainer

[RTO Trainer]

It's not just a barrel replacement, it's the upper receiver, which is the bulk of the weapon and the cost. Doing the switch is easy. Pop two pins, fit the new upper on the old lower and replace the pins.

And the reliabliy of the M4 is fine. The 416 is simply cleaner, because of its design, and so is less prone to jamming and malfunction, but a properly maintained M4 is just as reliable.

With all the money being thrown around, why add on one more wholy elective expense? It'd make my job as an NCO easier, not having to stay on my guys about weapon maintenance, but just because I didn't *have to* doens't mean I wouldn't anyway. No reason to take chances with something like that.

[Tim Wong - San Francisco]

Here is my take on several issues i happened to read 1)Really the xm8? I thought i read someone say that it was going to be our new service rifle i mean dont get me wrong its an incredible machine but it just doesn't look comfortable i thought the mp5 would have been a good choice seeing how in our recent past we migrated to urban warfare but i am no gun expert and on too my second issue..Having lost a friend over there regardless on how we feel about our sh**ty president with small man complex or how we feel about those people in iraq, our troops are over there fighting and dying so atleast if and when they figure out that their tour of duty was at no point for the iraqi freedom but more for Bushes love for the "BLACKGOld",
"TexasTea" and then finding out that america stopped supporting them too.
thats not how i would wanna show my appreciation to them