In typical USMC lying BS he forgets that we had LMGs in WW1 for squad-level fire support/suppression (British Lewis Gun, Browning BAR, French Chauchat). These did not break the deadlock of the trenches and heavy casualties still resulted. Let's keep this in mind that LMGs are no panaceas.

Mobility

Let's get to the heart of the "AR" matter. A thorough test would be to get a squad of men about the same size, weight and combat physical fitness and give them metal objects shaped like LMGs to hold in their hands and have the squad move by walking, fireteam and individual rushes and IMT (something USMC does not have) of high crawl, low crawl a 5 second rushes with a roll-over to alternating sides upon landing to prevent enemy targeting. Do this with surrogate LMGs of 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 pounds and get your data about how much slower troops become.

But Eby as a rigid dumbass doesn't get this. If you want an Automatic Rifleman FUNCTION, you have an Automatic Rifle already, its called an AR-15 (M16). Do not go overboard on weight with the Colt HBAR at 15 pounds which is definitely a LMG and no longer an AR. Get a M16 with a slightly heavier barrel (from Bushmaster get armorer to attach and gauge) and a FUNCTIONAL, sturdy bipod attached securely and you can fire the M16 on full auto (if you put M16A1 trigger group parts in) from the prone to be mini-base-of-fire. "AR problem" solved. If barrel overheating is too much, then contact Colt or someone to get a quick-change barrel and have AR man carry extra, probably fluted barrel. Develop 30 round magazines that clip together like the Swiss Army rifle has and you don't have to ascertain if C-MAG 100 round drums work or not work. The Russians already have an "AR" ehh, "LMG" adapted from an AK, the RPK.

The M249 is a belt-fed LMG that is heavy and bulky. 30-round M16 magazine feed does not work in the M249. It does indeed impede the ability of the rifle squad to maneuver and avoid being hit. The fact of the matter is the USMC in typical dumbass has 3 x M249 LMGs in 3 fireteams in a bloated 13-man rifle squad that causes other dumbasses at HMQC to insist that amphibious tractors be even more bloated to carry at least 1 and a half rifle squads (20 men) that make everyone huge targets for the enemy as mechanically the vehicle cannot be mobile or armored enough.

Firepower

The AR and Assistant AR construct is a defacto Gunner/Assistant Gunner arrangement that indeed bumps the M203 40mm grenade launcher off the radar screen of use by a busy fireteam leader and is yet another USMC FUBAR. Our biggest need on the non-linear battlefield dominated by high explosives is MORE HE WEAPONRY not more gunslinging and garden-hosing which the Eby article represents. His dishonesty at the end saying we do not need to replace the M249 and then saying we need a new AR when we have one in our hands is sickening. What needs to happen is the USMC rifle squad needs to reduce to a reasonable 9-man size with two fireteams lead by do-what-I-do leaders not the current constantly-look-back-at-the-leader USMC "herd". We have 40mm grenadiers for point accuracy but every rifleman has rifle/hand grenades to blast the enemy, too. The lack of 5.56mm bullet penetration/lethality was not addressed, so we can solve it with a 7.62mm sharpshooter in every fireteam.

Armor

All have gunshields to protect their faces, necks, arms when firing and moving dismounted. Should move mounted in reasonable sized M113 Amphigavin light tracked amphibious armored fighting vehicles.

www.geocities.com/armorhistory/amphibiousinfantryfightingvehicles.htm

USMC Reorganization

Rifle Squad

Squad Leader: M16A5 5.56mm with rifle handgrenades

Fire Team Leader A: M16A5 5.56mm with rifle handgrenades
Automatic Riflemen: M16A5 5.56mm with heavier barrel and bipod
Grenadier: M16A5 5.56mm/M203 40mm grenade launcher
Sharpshooter: M16A5 7.62mm

Fire Team Leader B: M16A5 5.56mm with rifle handgrenades
Automatic Riflemen: M16A5 5.56mm with heavier barrel and bipod
Grenadier: M16A5 5.56mm/M203 40mm grenade launcher
Sharpshooter: M16A5 7.62mm has mini-SKEDCO to MEDEVAC/resupply back to Weapons Squad or all the way back to platoon headquarters

Next, the 3 x M249 LMGs displaced by the M16s with heavier barrels and bipods and the 4 men left-over from the bloated WW2 13-man bullet sponge construct go into a WEAPONS SQUAD that gets an Amerikanski RPG that is enhanced by our better optics and night vision but can still fire enemy RPG rockets/boosters when found. Tows the squad's Darby ATACS cart/sled for MEDEVAC/resupply. LMG and RPG fire teams work for the Rifle Squad leader to give him a sustained base-of-fire over time to suppress enemy positions and a "blaster" capability to bust buildings, bunkers and light armored vehicles and trucks. The Squad Leader can have the extra 2 x M249 LMGs in the squad cart/sled or in the squad's M113 Amphigavin tracked AFV if USMC got smart to bolster a defense or increase the BOF in offense as needed or simply to mount left/right behind ACAV gunshields on the Amphigavin for extra mounted firepower.

Weapons Squad

Light Machine Gun Fire Team

Gunner
Assistant Gunner

RPG Fire Team

Gunner
Assistant Gunner

U.S. Army Reorganization

U.S. Army Light, Airborne and Air Assault infantry already has large WEAPONS SQUADS with M240B medium machine guns and M224 60mm mortars. I suggest they adopt the M16 AR modification and 7.62mm sharpshooter in their rifle squads and push back their M249 LMGs into their Weapons Squads and pick up a RPG team. The LMG and RPG fire teams could be attached to rifle squads as needed to be the helpers as required but without being organic to them all the time.

Each Delta Weapons company in the Army's light infantry battalions should have M113 Gavins to give a, B and C companies armored mobility as needed. The extra M249 LMGs can be fitted as ACAV wing guns.

Logistics

Resupply on the NLB is not a sure thing. Units must be as self-sufficient as possible to include the following extreme measures. Both Army/Mc M113 Gavin/Amphigavins should tow quick-detachable amphibious trailers with Flex-Cell fuel bladders and to hold ammunition and C4 high explosives under a kevlar tarp so these dangerous items are not carried inside the vehicle and help the enemy incinerate our men. Vehicle crews must know how to on the spot adjust their engines to use civilian gasoline if that's all that's available to keep M113s running.

As we fight, a designated "Vulture" squad searches bodies and collects ammunition and weapons into their trailers so if we run out of U.S. ammunition we can use these things against the enemy. The Vulture squad's M113 Gavin/Amphigavin track would have outside brackets to fire several RPK LMGs and RPGs Ontos-style by pointing the nose of the vehicle in the general direction of the enemy. The Vulture Squad will verify the safety of the captured ammo/weapons in this manner and can issue them out for hand use by the rifle squads in a pinch. Gavin/Amphigavin rear doors and top cargo hatches would have firing ports to employ enemy and U.S. weapons when mounted. Firing enemy weapons must be an annual task ALL U.S. Soldiers must be proficient at in lieu of the typical BS lawn care and floor polishing we waste time on.

Epilogue: How did we get into this mess?

No Excuse Zone

We have known for years that the M249 LMG at 15 pounds loaded and with bulky 200 round plastic drum is cumbersome and noisy. 100 road soft assault packs help with noise and cumber but we are still talking about a man with a M249 LMG walking at 2 mph versus a man with a M16 walking at 4 mph.

We-have-only-ourselves-to-blame Zone

We do not train as we need to fight.

MILES laser tag does not show bullet penetration, high explosive effects nor rubber tire vehicle vulnerability. Canned live-fire exercises at drums and wreckage does not incur any penetration/weapons effect feedback, officials are just glad Pvt. Joe doesn't shoot his buddy.

We need to institute OWL training on what ground combat things can and cannot do for every currently serving Soldier/marine ASAP.

www.combatreform.com/cluelessarmy.htm

In all our urban combat towns they are made of cinderblock and are not allowed to be shot at with live bullets lest they be destroyed. Result is not only a lack of appreciation for penetration but our tactics are skewed towards entering rooms and spraying bullets all over to clear them of enemy inside after stacking men together in wannabe delta force fashion which is asking for an enemy to wipe out a half dozen men with one grenade blast. A lot of people talk about mouseholing with HE tank rounds, rifle grenades and backing in tracked tanks and no one is DOING it in training because the cinder block urban buildings cannot be destroyed. This stupidity must stop.

Its high time we start training as we would fight beginning with live fire against sacrificial buildings as Carlton Meyer proposed long ago. Buy a town in the far western U.S. and destroy it. Maybe downtown Detroit (already looks like a war zone). Find a ghetto area and remove people living there and give them a new start on life and our military a chance to train properly.

Inside each room simulating enemies would be sand weighted inflatable life-size people so there is a "pay-off" for achieving penetrative fire be it a tank main gun round or autocannon or heavier bullets. If the inflatable dummies are down and room clearing team enters, they have on-scene O/C assess them as taken the room by coup de main. If dummies are not deflated O/C will grade the team of how well they grenade or bullet spray to clear the room.

Fast Forward To What We will Find Out

We already know that if we do this that the 5.56mm bullet doesn't penetrate enough.

Big fu*king surprise?

No fu*king way.

Use your head. So here we are having to get inside of rooms and around enemy cover just so the tiny 5.56mm bullet has an unhindered line of flight to hit soft fleshy enemy bodies (again another rationale for the narcissist stack TTP). There is a simple fix.

Cancel the bullsh*t HK XM8 narcissist assault rifle shooting the same 5.56mm round we already shoot in M16s. Rebuild our M16s with full length 20" barrels but with a gas system that enables a SOLID folding stock to be used and stop this M4 carbine non-sense of even less bullet power using ridiculously short barrels just because you want a more compact weapon.

Next, equip every Soldier who has the new "M16A5" a 7.62mm upper receiver/bolt carrier group and magazines so IF WE FIGHT IN THE MOUNTAINS (Afghanistan) or in the desert or in cities (Iraq) so at the very least one man is the designated sniper/marksman/sharpshooter or even entire units can have 7.62mm x 51mm range and penetration using their same M16 and the same bullets that their medium machine guns use. Configuration 5.56mm is a LIGHT ASSAULT RIFLE (LAR), 7.62mm is a HEAVY ASSAULT RIFLE (HAR). For automatic rifleman, he gets 2 x heavier quick-change barrels and has a bipod. All new M16A5 magazines are clear plastic to see bullet quantity and attach together and/or a working C-MAG 100 round drum is fielded for increased bullet supply for all users. ALL M16A5s fire a single type of bullet-thru rifle/hand grenade. An enemy 7.62mm x 39mm bullet shooting upper receiver/bolt carrier group will be standard with all infantry squads in order to shoot captured enemy ammunition in event of our resupplies not being able to get through on the non-linear battlefield. Every infantry company will have at least 30 x AKMs in 7.62mm x 39mm to run simultaneously a firing lane on a standard BRM pop-up target range as well as conduct familiarization firing training..

Each A, B, C company infantry squad moves by either a M113 Gavin light tracked AFV owned/operated by Delta Weapons company or a pair of M2 Bradley medium tracked AFVs if they are in heavy infantry companies. Upgrades for both Gavins and Bradleys are detailed below:

www.combatreform.com/m113combat.htm www.combatreform.com/mechinfantry.htm

Each tracked AFV will tow a quick-detachable TRAILER that will be the units "rucksack on wheels". In the front wall of each trailer will be racks for the squad unit's 9 x 7.62mm/5.56mm upper receivers not being used and 9 x 7.62mm x 39mm upper receivers + magazines to insure they are available if needed at a weight cost of just 90 pounds, which is nothing for a vehicle but a hell of a something if you have to carry it on your body. During combat a designated "vulture" squad will collect enemy weapons/ammo into their QD trailer for distribution throughout the rest of their parent unit in event of resupply failure.

Annual Qualification

Day 1

First to stop wasting time, add BZO targets to the current BRM pop-up target lanes to expedite battlesight zeroing (BZO).

Every Soldier in the Army/marines would qualify against pop-up targets out to 300 meters during the day with BOTH M16A5 configurations--LAR and HAR. At night the same weapons configurations with night vision goggles and pointers. During the prone string of fire, squads of shooters will run out the back of their Gavin/Bradley/AAVs and into their 9 firing lanes to elevate heart rate and provide more realism.

Day 2

Every Soldier/marine will qualify during the day with an AKM against pop-up targets out to 300 meters and their M16A5 in 7.62mm x 39mm configuration.

Designated AR-men will fire the same pop up BRM course of fire day and night but on full auto and 200 rounds of magazine or drum ammo.

Each Soldier/marine will qualify by during the day and night shooting a dummy rifle grenade at a widely available parked Stryker truck hulk in the center left and center right of current BRM pop-up ranges. These rifle/hand grenades are re-usable.

Day 3

Every Soldier/marine will fire both the light and heavy configuration M16A5 while standing out the top cargo hatches of their Gavin/Bradley/AAVs while MOVING down a live fire lane against balloon targets. Scoring is by squad cumulative of 2 firing runs of 4-5 men standing and firing.

Soldiers/marines in weapons fireteams/squads will go thru the mounted live-fire with their M249 LMGs and M240B MMGs attached as wing guns on top of Gavins/Bradleys/AAVs.

Day 4

ALL Soldiers/marines will fam fire the M249 LMG, M240B MMG, M2 and MK19 HMGs from a Gavin/Bradley/AAV and dismounted on a tripod. Gunners will fire a qualification field of fire.

ALL Soldiers/marines will fam fire a RPG at a designated Stryker truck hulk. Gunners must hit to qualify.

Day 5

ALL Soldiers/marines will disassemble/assemble ALL weapons will being cleaned to meet and exceed a time standard. They will also have to do this in a darkened room wearing NVGs.

Summary/Conclusion

PLAY TIME IS OVER DAMIT!!

NO MORE MOWING FU*KING LAWNS, STANDING AT CHANGE OF COMMAND and RETIREMENT CEREMONIES, DOING BS SPORTS PY EVERY MORNING AND BEING BRAIN DEAD THE REST OF THE DAY. ITS TIME TO WAKE THE FU*K UP AND MAKE TIME FOR WHAT'S IMPORTANT NOT WASTING TIME ON BULLSH*T. WE HAVE BOTH THE MONEY AND THE TIME TO FIX OUR INFANTRY COMBAT AILMENTS.

Will what we propose take MORE WORK?

DAMN RIGHT IT WILL. WHAT ARE WE DOING THAT IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THIS OTHER THAN HARDENING VEHICLES (WE KNOW DAMN WELL THE NAY SAYERS DO NOT HAVE THIS IN MIND)? The status quo nay-sayers are in love with NCOERs/OERS, "counseling" sessions, meetings, "sergeant's time", and "remedial (sports) PT"...ie anything and everything but getting COMBAT skills.

Something has to give, and its high time we drop the bullsh*t.

itsg@hotmail.com