<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1">
<title></title>
</head>
<body text="#000000" bgcolor="#ffffff">
Val, your point is well taken. The support troops qualify on the M-16
in basic training, and then hardly ever fire their weapon. It is a
scandal. With fluid battle situations and no front lines, everyone
should be highly skilled with infantry weapons. <br>
I liked the M-14, the weapon I originally qualified on. Big, heavy,
with a .30 round that could knock down a water buffalo. But it could
not be fired full-auto, so we went to the M-16 (.223 round) . Light,
nice to carry, not as noisy, but not a good combat weapon, not as good
as the old M-14. We probably should have copied the klashnikov and
stayed with a .30 round (7.62 mm). If I were the king I would do just
that. the AK-47 is a splendid weapon. The soviet system may have been
dumb, but they did amazing things with their weapons. I appreciate the
fascinating story about your father. And I find your posts
consistently insightful and informative. <br>
Lynn Johnson<br>
<br>
Val Geist wrote:<br>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid00b601c4c226$4f168c00$03224346@yourjqn2mvdn7x">
<title></title>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1">
<meta content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2523" name="GENERATOR">
<style></style>
<div><font face="Arial" size="2">Dear Lynn,</font></div>
<div> </div>
<div><font face="Arial" size="2">The M-16 was trouble in Vietnam, and
appears to be so again. Issue Klatchnikows! IN WW II the German
military was reduced to begging industry to copy the Russian T-34 tank
- and forget fancy tanks. The Panther was the reply! The Russians sure
loved the one's they captured and re-used! My father in law, a
long-serving Wehrmacht officer who survived, had a professional's
admiration for Russian weaponry. It worked when the German failed!
Russia's "primitive" Moisin sniper rifle with a - superlative! - little
scope was used also by German snipers!</font></div>
<div> </div>
<div><font face="Arial" size="2">Do your support troops fail to get a
thorough infantry training? Amazing! </font></div>
<div> </div>
<div><font face="Arial" size="2">Cheers, Val Geist</font></div>
<br>
</blockquote>
</body>
</html>